SPEED Report Highlights for Sunday

The SPEED Report (Sunday, 7 p.m. on SPEED) will feature an exclusive interview with drag racer Doug Herbert, who is teaming with championship-winning NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham on a Dodge-powered Land Speed Record streamliner with a goal of going more than 500 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2010.

The inspirational LSR project was born out of mourning, as Herbert was searching for a way to strengthen the once-strained relationship with his own father, speed pioneer Chet Herbert, after Doug’s young sons, Jon and James, were killed in a tragic car accident in 2008. Unfortunately, with the healing father-son project underway, Chet Herbert passed away in April at the age of 81 after a battle with pneumonia.

The streamliner project, however, continues to move forward. The four-wheel-drive car, powered by a pair of counter-rotating Viper motors is being built at Doug’s shop in Lincolnton, N.C., with body work being done at Evernham’s.

“The (Bonneville) course is eight miles long … five miles to get up to speed and three to slow down," Herbert said. “They time each mile, but most records are set between miles four and five. We hope to hit 500 mph coming into the fourth mile and go over 500 by the time we get through the fifth.

“I think there will be a real sense of accomplishment," Herbert added. “My boys and my dad would realize that and I think they’d be proud."