Usually, highly tuned trucks compete for Victory Lane at the Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 Craftsman Truck race in St. Louis. However, all focus was on the high speed JCB Backhoe Loader specialized specifically for the U.S. military Sept. 1.

The JCB HMEE-1 (high mobility engineer excavator), which took to the track during a pre-race precession, is intended to reduce the overall logistics footprint of the Army by eliminating the need for tractor-trailers to move equipment around the area of operation. With speed capability in excess of 55 mph, the JCB HMEE-1 is able to keep up with even the fastest moving military convoys, both on and off the road.

The HMEE-1 was displayed by local JCB dealer, Sievers Equipment, which has been supplying heavy equipment to the Gateway International Speedway for approximately 2 years.

“There are not many opportunities for the public to see this machine in such close proximity; it really is an engineering masterpiece. I’m sure many of the Crafstman Truck drivers here this weekend would have loved to have taken this onto the track,” Mark Sievers of Sievers Equipment said.

JCB manufactures over 279 different machines including: backhoe loaders; Loadall telescopic handlers; tracked and wheeled excavators; wheeled loading shovels; articulated dump trucks; rough terrain fork lifts; mini excavators; robot skid steer loaders; JCB Vibromax compaction equipment and Groundcare equipment. In addition, for agricultural markets, the company produces a range of telescopic handlers and the Fastrac tractor. JCB also manufactures the Teletruk forklift for the industrial sector.