Road course racing is filled with high-performance, high-dollar cars all competing for superior track times and the ultimate thrill. But road courses aren’t just limited to sport and rally cars. As one YouTube video shows us, even the craziest of vehicles can race and succeed on road courses.

When one thinks of semi trucks, the idea of an 18-wheeler hauling stuff across country comes to mind. However, Mike Ryan, stunt driver and stunt coordinator for the film industry, is changing that perception with his racing semi. With a reputation for stunt driving race cars and semis in movies, Ryan thought it would be a good idea to begin racing a semi 15 or 16 years ago.

While the truck is a bit different than the ordinary tractor trailer, it is still a massive big rig. Sporting a huge wing on the back for down force, the truck has been a staple at road courses across the country. From 1997 to 2006, Ryan dropped the semi class record by 3 minutes and 5 seconds- the biggest class time reduction in that short of time frame since before WWII. When Ryan ran his semi at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2006, he got such a good run time that he would have placed 7^th among the 21 rally cars that participated that year, had he run in that class.

With such an improvement to the class record and amazing run times, the semi must have one hell of a powerhouse behind it- and that it does. The truck is powered by a Series 60 Detroit Diesel equipped with a compound turbocharger system. That set-up gives the big rig a whopping 1,950hp and around 3,500 pound-feet of torque.

The engine is matted to a modified ZF 5-speed sequential-shift automatic transmission that one may find in a trash truck or tour bus. Ryan is currently working with FlowMaster to get a custom exhaust system to replace the straight pipe that is jetting out the back of his truck.

While Ryan and his semi are known for road course racing, Ryan also does some trick driving with the vehicle. Inspired by the Ken Block videos, Ryan decided to shoot “Size Matters,” a video of Ryan drifting the truck. While his truck and driving skills are more than impressive, Ryan says in the video that him and his crew will continue to try things with the semi that maybe even Block hasn’t done.

We look forward to seeing more videos of this impressive truck and seeing just what’s next for the stunt driver and his racing semi.