Bob Tasca III piloting his custom-built Ford Mustang Nitro has smashed through his own 1,000-ft acceleration record at a drag strip in Bradenton, Florida, USA last weekend. The results are now official even though the driver didn’t show the best time, The Drive reports.
In his first evening on the strip, Tasca hit 546.97 km/h (339.87 mph). He returned on the next day to complete the 1,000-foot (304.8-meter) run in 3.84 seconds and reached 549.88 km/h (341.68 mph) at the finish line.
Austin Prock, who competed against Tasca, set the best time with 3.82 seconds. He accelerated to 543.01 km/h (337.41 mph) towards the end.
The 304.8-meter-long drag strip racing is considered a new standard since 2008. The record in the traditional quarter-mile racing (402 m) is still held by Sammy Miller, who ripped through the track in 3.22 seconds and hit 646.96 km/h (402 mph).
Having said that, Miller was driving a purpose-built rocket car powered by a 28,000-horsepower (21-megawatt) jet engine. In contrast, the Ford Mustang Nitro had “just” 11,000 hp (8.2 MW) of power heading for the wheels through a transmission.