Fred Hayes, Jr., a small business owner in Hesperia, Calif., believes he experienced the meaning of “God speed” while setting two national land speed records on his diesel motorcycles last September. Others may not think God can be found while racing across the salt flats of Utah at 90 miles per hour, but Hayes begs to differ.

“God speed” is often said when wishing the best to someone pioneering a road less traveled. Hayes qualifies as a pioneer in designing and creating the world’s first production diesel motorcycle. And he believes God has been in the details of his business every step of the way.

A fourth-generation Adventist, Hayes served in the U.S. Army’s Whitecoat project in 1966. He also worked with Vietnam combat survivors in the amputee ward at Walter Reed Army Hospital. The impact of this experience stayed with him.

It was one factor that inspired him to produce the highest possible quality motorcycle for use by U.S. soldiers. Hayes Diversified Technologies (HDTUSA), his family’s business, won a U.S. Marine Corps contract for the new diesel motorcycles that could exceed $5 million over the next three years.

Hayes is CEO and owner of HDTUSA. He and his father started the family engineering business as defense contractors specializing in difficult projects — the projects that no one else wanted. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Unisys, and the U.S. Defense Department appreicated the excellent quality of their work.

Being a small business owner requires a lot of faith, Hayes says. “Time and again God has blessed our business beyond measure with new contracts, paid invoices, the miracle of invention and other evidences.”

For Hayes, setting land speed records on his motorcycles was nothing short of God’s blessing. One motorcycle with a normally aspirated, production military spec diesel engine set a record at 85.466 miles per hour. The second motorcycle, using an identical engine fitted with a turbocharger, established an average record speed of 91.286 miles per hour. The records were set during the International Motorcycle Speed Trials in Bonneville, Utah, in September 2004.

Hayes adds, “Jeremiah 33:3 reminds me that God can do great things through those who trust and believe in Him.”