200 MPH Street Cars – Who Has Reached the 200 Miles Per Hour Mark While Completing a Drag and Drive Event?
Although it’s easy to focus on the elapsed times and who wins classes at events, the big speeds are also an indication of how far racing, and power levels, have come in the last couple decades.
And although it took until the fifth annual Hot Rod Drag Week in 2009 before someone broke the mark, the next five years witnessed five more competitors join the 200 MPH club.
1. Larry Larson
Larry Larson has firmly cemented himself into the history books for drag and drive events for several reasons, including being the first to clock a 6-second pass in competition. That happened at the 2010 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week.
But one year earlier, Larson pushed his twin-turbo ’66 Chevy Nova past the 200 MPH mark, becoming the first to do so, with a 204.63 MPH run on Day Five of Hot Rod Drag Week at Muncie Dragway. It was the cherry on top of Larson’s second overall Hot Rod Drag Week win, and he added three more consecutive wins from 2010 to 2012, a Hot Rod Drag Week record.
2. Jeff Lutz
It didn’t take long for the second drag and drive ride to hit the 200 MPH mark, as Jeff Lutz joined Larson in the club the very next year at Hot Rod Drag Week 2010.
In fact, both competitors clocked runs over 200 MPH three times during the week, with Lutz’s best speed of 206.46 MPH coming on Day Five at Darana Raceway in Ohio (formerly known at National Trail Raceway).
Two years later, Lutz became the first competitor to have a 200 MPH pass on every day of Hot Rod Drag Week, with a best blast of 212.76 MPH during that 2012 event.
3. Dave Ahokas
After no new drivers joined the 200 MPH club in 2011 and 2012, it would be a pair of Camaros getting on the list in 2013. And those two competitors delivered 6-second, 200-plus MPH runs separated by about ten minutes on Day One at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky, with Dave Ahokas the first do the deed in his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro.
Ahokas had previous competed at the 2010 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week in a 1941 Willys, but when he rolled his carbon-fiber bodied ’68 Camaro out two years later, it turned heads as one of what most called ‘purpose-built’ fastest street car entries.
After a DNF result at the 2012 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week, Ahokas was able to put together a full week in 2013, guiding the slightly scaled down 1968 Camaro to a 6.83 at 202.85 MPH pass on the first day of competition. The twin turbocharged small block-powered ride added a pair of 6-second 200-plus MPH runs on days three and four, finishing second in the Unlimited class with a 7.22 average, and a best speed of 204.85 MPH.
4. Tom Bailey
The first drag and drive win for Tim Bailey at the 2013 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week was a home run for several reasons. After a 2012 DNF result in his first year behind the wheel of the former Dennis Terzich ride, Bailey would add his name to the drag and drive history books in 2013.
Bailey would become the fourth member of the 200 MPH club, and the second to do it each and every day, with a new record best of 217.42 MPH on his Day Five pass at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky.
The original ‘Sick Seconds’ ’69 Chevrolet Camaro also became the first car to produce a 6-second pass every day, as well as the first 6-second average, in drag and drive history that year. He produced a 6.72 at 214.81 MPH on Day One, just minutes after Dave Ahokas also made a 6-second, 200-plus MPH run in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
5. Doug Cline
The 2014 Hot Rod Drag Week would see the most 200 MPH runs in history, with two new members joining the club. It wasn’t Cline’s first appearance at Hot Rod Drag Week, but the turbocharged 1969 Camaro would definitely turn heads in 2014.
Cline battled Lutz hard in 2014 for the Unlimited title, and although he came in second in the standings, he was the lone competitor to produce an all 6-second week, and clocked a best speed of 216.69 MPH to go with his 6.87 average.
6. Joe Barry
A longtime drag and drive competitor, Joe Barry’s classic ’56 Chevrolet was one that some might have thought would take a few years longer to get over 200 MPH because of the weight of the car.
But Barry punched his ticket at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2014, collecting a trio of time slips with speeds over 200 MPH. The best of them would be a 206.16 MPH run on the final day of competition, ending his week with a 7.14 average and a third place finish in the Unlimited class.
In ten years of Hot Rod Drag Week competition, six different competitors exceeded the 200 MPH mark. We’ll follow up with part two of the 200 MPH club shortly, and see how many more rides can hit the magic speed mark.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Larson Race Cars, DRD Photos / Dominick Damato, Joe Barry, Jeff Lutz and Kevin Mullins.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com