Vegetable Oil Will Fuel Record Attempt at Bonneville Dave Schenker enrolled at Boise State University three years ago after working in construction for 15 years. He is about halfway to a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and would like to pursue a career exploring the use of alternative fuels in motorsports. He already has a flying start. Mr. Schenker, 34, founded a student club in 2010 at Boise State called Greenspeed, which has built the world's fastest vehicle to run on vegetable oil. Now the club has set its sights on an even loftier goal. Mr. Schenker and other Greenspeed members announced Thursday at the Washington auto show that they were prepping their veggie-oil-powered racer, based on a 1998 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, to challenge the land-speed record of the diesel truck class. The mark currently stands at 215 miles per hour. "To me, it's very important to have hands-on learning," Mr. Schenker said in a telephone interview Friday. This has been a dream of mine for 10 years. The academic environment is really someplace where I can make it happen. Mr. Schenker said Greenspeed would attempt the record-setting run in August at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The S-10 broke the world land-speed record for vegetable-oil-powered trucks, previously 98 m.p.h., last November at a Southern California Timing Association trial in the Mojave Desert. The souped-up pickup, valued at $125,000, recalibrated the record books yet again with a subsequent run, during which it reached 155 miles per hour. To break the record for all diesel trucks would vindicate the belief of Greenspeed's seven members that alternative fuels are just as suited to motorsports applications as petroleum-based fuel formulations. "One of our main goals is to raise awareness of the potential of alternative fuels," Mr. Schenker said. The technology behind the Greenspeed pickup is fairly straightforward. Mr. Schenker explained that there was simply another tank in the truck for the vegetable oil, which must be heated to 185 degrees to reach the viscosity of petroleum-based fuel. "There's really no big mystery to it," he said. Because it burns fresh oil from 35-pound containers, the truck leaves exhaust that smells not unlike a cornfield, Mr. Schenker said. If it were to burn used fryer oil from a restaurant, the exhaust would smell more like French fries or fried fish, he added. The club's quest has generated a level of curiosity that has surprised its members. Mr. Schenker said a manufacturer from a large diesel company, which he did not name because a formal agreement was not in place, visited the Greenspeed display at the auto show Thursday and offered internships to club members. Greenspeed is still using borrowed parts on its truck and is looking for corporate sponsors. But the group is determined to reach its next plateau at Bonneville this summer. Mr. Schenker said he already found his calling. "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life," he said.