Doug Herbert isn’t making a run at Bonneville Speedweek this weekend, but the multi-time NHRA Top Fuel champion will take an important step toward a long-term goal when he unveils his new streamliner, THE BEAST NextGEN, at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Friday.
Herbert will bring the nearly completed machine to Wendover, Utah, for an early inspection by Southern California Timing Association technical officials before construction is finalized. The visit is intended to ensure the streamliner meets SCTA requirements before Herbert begins pursuing a target of 500 mph in the organization’s premier AA/BFS piston-powered, supercharged fuel streamliner class.
The project carries significance beyond land speed racing.
THE BEAST NextGEN is Herbert’s tribute to his late father, Chet Herbert, a pioneering engine builder, hot rod innovator and Bonneville competitor whose record-setting streamliners frequently carried the “BEAST” name. Doug Herbert originally envisioned the project as a father-and-son collaboration before Chet Herbert died in 2009.
“I imagined this latest THE BEAST NextGEN as a final project for me and my aging father to do together,” Herbert said.
The project also honors Herbert’s sons, Jon and James, who were killed in an automobile accident in 2008. Their deaths inspired Herbert to establish the B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) teen driver training program, which has provided hands-on instruction to more than 175,000 teenagers and their parents across the country.
“B.R.A.K.E.S. growth has been driven nationally by both local and partner support that run their own calendars,” Herbert said. “We run weekend training sessions throughout the year in cities across the nation. I am pleased that it can now almost run on its own, because we have such a great team in place.”
The project also reminded Herbert what racing has always been about. Friends from every corner of the sport pitched in, with Ray Evernham providing engineering support, Dr. Eric Warren tackling the aerodynamic work and Jeff “Pancho” Weaver and Sprint Car champion Brad Noffsinger taking the lead on the chassis.
“I am so fortunate to have many great friends and experts involved in my project,” Herbert said. “It has been absolutely incredible to work with these extremely talented and dedicated folks.”
The completed streamliner measures 35 feet long and just 36 inches wide. It will be powered by twin ProCharger-supercharged Dodge Viper V-10 engines producing an estimated 5,000 combined horsepower on methanol through FuelTech electronic fuel injection. The four-wheel-drive machine features custom driveline components, carbon-fiber bodywork and a steel safety cage designed to SCTA specifications.
Herbert said bringing the car to Bonneville before it is race-ready allows SCTA inspectors to identify any safety concerns early in the build.
“Lee Kennedy encouraged me to bring THE BEAST NextGEN here this week, even if we are not ready to race, to give it a proper inspection, before I got too far along,” Herbert said.
Beyond its land speed ambitions, Herbert hopes THE BEAST NextGEN can become a tool for promoting STEM education and expanding the reach of the B.R.A.K.E.S. program.
“I believe THE BEAST NextGEN project can have reach beyond just going fast,” Herbert said. “I’m searching for ways it can be used to excite young people about racing and the technology of building things by hand, just as I was, by what my father did years ago.”
