Fastest speed on pavement with a non-dragster

[Franklin]

In 1987, in addition to setting the 257 mph closed-course record with the short-tailed version of the Oldsmobile Aerotech, A.J. Foyt also went for the FIA under 2.0 liter supercharged record with the long-tailed version of the Aerotech. A flying mile trap was set up on one of the straights at Fort Stockton. During one of his passes, Foyt clocked 278.325 mph through the mile with an exit mph of 290 mph (less than three seconds from entering the turn).

[Bluebottle]

And....?

[Crash Test]

....they all lived happily ever after...

[Franklin]

Actually, that is the point Crash Test. Too many road racing officials look at speed as some kind of impenetrable barrier that'll rip your ears off, instead of learning to deal with it.

[Crash Test]

Cheers Franklin, im going to sleep well tonight!

[KC]

Franklin, if the old axoim the safety nazis used were true Speed kills!, then there would be no race drivers alive today. The axiom should read Speed differential kills! meaning that while it is perfectly easy to travel at speeds over 250 mph on a race course, hitting the unmovable object is unacceptable. If F1, CART, NASCAR, etc all raced at the LSR sites around the world, I am sure we would all see some incredible numbers posted as they represent some of the best race engineering talent in the world at their particular disciplines. There is nothing wrong with pursuing LS records, but they cannot be done at Spa or Laguna Seca or even Daytona. What is served by allowing speeds to go unhindered? Even in drag racing, the last home of head-to-head motor racing where top speed rules, they are running out of room on 80% of the tracks and are forced to change the cars to slow them down. Just because Penske's 'pushrod 209' Indy cars could achieve 260 mph at Indy a few years ago doesn't automatically mean that everyone should pursue that goal. The objective is to win races not get killed at them. Even the best prepared LSR cars sometimes break for no apparent reason and kill the driver. Does this make the driver a hero? No it only makes him dead. Does it console the wives and children of the driver and fans who are killed by shrapnel when the 300mph car that will not turn punches through the wall at Indy? I don't think so.

The records that are held in the pursuit of pure unadulterated speed are worthy of our respect as race fans, but they do not have anything to do with relative speeds in any other form of racing. They are completely separate and have no comparisons.

BTW, if I remember correct Foyt set the closed circuit record at Texas World Speedway near Waco, Texas on a massive 3 mile oval and it was subsequently beaten by Jim Hall's Pennzoil CART team a few years later. Also, for your information, the highest recorded speed at LeMans on the Mulsanne straight was 251.65mph by the Peugeot WM car.

[Franklin]

Foyt set the record at the Fort Stockton test track, not the Texas World Speedway. His average of 257 mph remains unchallenged.

[KC]

You are right. The last I had seen was when Foyt's record was broken by Hall and then subsequently broken again by Foyt.