At Daytona Today...

[ancrdave]

Ford leased the track today with Michael Shank racing to try and break the long-standing overall 1-lap speed record set by Bill Elliott in 1987 of 210+ mph... Driver is Colin Braun who got up to just over 209 mph this morning before a vibration and bad push sent him pit side... They changed some things on the front end plus switched to a different power steering system and will have another go at it this afternoon... Will update when I hear something...

[Mark Keeler]

Just did it... 218+ mph

[bubba]

Just doesnt seem that impressive to me, knowing that if you took the restrictors off a cup car - it would hit that easily. This DP is supposed to be a sleek high speed machine. I know it basically has a street motor in it for this purpose, but man - 240 down mulsanne at lemans was done years ago. Show me some big numbers dammit!

[luke81]

Just doesnt seem that impressive to me, knowing that if you took the restrictors off a cup car - it would hit that easily. This DP is supposed to be a sleek high speed machine. I know it basically has a street motor in it for this purpose, but man - 240 down mulsanne at lemans was done years ago. Show me some big numbers dammit!

If it's running a DP legal engine it's only got around 500HP. And i'm sure the aero is waaaay trimmed out, it's got to be pretty unstable even at 218!

[al_tere_go_05]

these cars are about as "sleek" as a refrigerator.




History was made Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway as Michael Shank Racing’s new Ford EcoBoost-powered Riley Daytona Prototype smashed a 26-year old track record, while also unofficially breaking two longstanding world records.

Sports car racing standout Colin Braun took the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 powered prototype to a 222.971 mph average around the 2.5-mile high banked oval.

It came after a number of record-setting runs this afternoon, all eclipsing the previous record 210.364 mph lap laid down by NASCAR’s Bill Elliott in a Ford Thunderbird on Feb. 9, 1987.

Braun’s times also broke the standing 10k (202.438 mph) and 10-mile (210.018) world records, pending FIA homologation.

Running specially designed Continental tires, the record-breaking run came with the same Roush Yates-tuned Ford powerplant that will be used in competition in next year’s Tudor United SportsCar Championship.

[Jimmy McKinley]

Penske and Rusty took an "unrestricted" Taurus to Talladega back in about 2003 or 2004, and were hitting near 230mph down the backstretch.

September 2004: Car and Driver http://www.caranddriver.com/news/rus...icted-car-news

Rusty Runs Unrestricted:

Have you ever wondered how restrictive a NASCAR restrictor plate is? Well, Rusty Wallace decided to toss his and find out. On June 9, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Wallace hit a trap speed of 228 mph in his Miller Lite Dodge. "We hit 228 at the end of the straightaway," he said. Wallace's top lap speed was 216.306 and was 25 to 30 mph faster than with a restrictor plate. "It was a helluva deal that I certainly will remember for the rest of my life," Wallace added. "We'd all been wondering what it would feel like to run at Talladega again without the plates, and now I know. I'll bet we could be running speeds up to 235 without the plates if we spent time doing some tweaking. But I'll tell you this—there's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds. It was neat to be out there running that fast by myself, but it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that." The officially recognized Talladega track record is Bill Elliott's 212.809 mph set in a qualifying run in 1987.