Oak Creek Students Aim To Set New Land Speed Record At Bonneville

OAK CREEK, WI — When students and go back to school in fall, members of the Oak Creek Knights racing team will begin building a bike designed to set a new land speed record.

In order to make their yearlong effort a reality, they need help from the public help fund the parts, supplies and trip to the salt flats of Bonneville to make it happen.

Knights Racing is an after-school group run by Chad Hanebrink, who teaches welding and machining, and Steven Agg, an autos teacher at Oak Creek High School.

Chad said the group bought a 1971 Honda CB 350 for $300 from Mach 4 Motors in Appleton. Over the next several months, students will be cataloging parts, cutting into the frame, determining the new design of the bike, welding, boring out the engine, and giving the bike a new look and color scheme.

How To Help

Knights Racing Land Speed Record Attempt

The Oak Creek Racing Knights need enough money to make it to Bonneville for Speed Week 2021 to try for the land speed record.

"We're going to throw a turbo on there. It's pretty hard to turbocharge a 50-year-old carburetor" he said, referring to the group's plan to turbocharge the bike.

They hope to be ready for Speed Week 2021 in Bonneville. Their aim is to run the modified bike in the 350cc class, and take it past 120.097 miles per hour to set the record in the M-BG Modified Frame Turbocharged Gas division.

"If you set that record, your name is known worldwide," Chad said.

"At the end of the day, as simple as going fast is, it's not cheap," Chad said, noting that the club is entirely self-funded, yet relies on businesses like Charlie's Place and Wiseco Pistons to come through needed help. Charlie's Place, a local parts manufacturer is sponsoring the bike's ignition system, and Wiseco Pistons is sponsoring the pistons portion of the rebuild.

The Knights Racing Team, made up of Oak Creek High School students Nate Beierle, Ryan Nelson, Kordin Tregellas, Nick Johnson and two newcomers at the start of the school year, are hoping organizers can raise $5,000 toward the project.

"We feel like $5,000 would not only allow us to build the bike, it would get us to Bonneville," Chad said. "That would cover registration, transportation out there, food, hotels. It would cover everything."