It’s amazing how far the little red Corvette that Cleetus and crew have been putting together has actually come. From it’s start as a a regretful decision coming from a knee-jerk round of “Bid Now” button mashing to an eight second car has been a fantastic watch. From it’s origins as a truck-engined, well-beaten C6 that had already gone through more lives than a cat to an eight-second barn burner that looks surprisingly composed and straightforward on the strip, Cleetus and the crew have had their fun, but have also put some sincere engineering and design into building a genuinely fast, sorted drag car. That’s the kind of redemption that a left-for-dead machine deserves.
What really throws is is the ease of operation. Cooper gets thrown into the car and immediately cuts a low nine-second run with a couple of mistakes, and his second run is Ruby’s fastest and quickest run to date. With little more than a rundown on how to operate the shifter and the basic operational checklist for a run, he put the car down into the 8.9 range with ease. We’ve seen slower cars that provide twice the drama during a run.
Now…onto the seven second class. Get on it, boys!
Entertaining as always but was anyone else wondering why the Bradenton staff sat on their asses and let a guy (Cooper), with no competition license, let alone any experience whatsoever driving a car faster than 11’s make a pass on their track in a low 9 second car? To make matters worse they let let him make a second pass! Do you think if he had crashed the car and (heaven forbid) seriously hurt or killed him self that his family wouldn’t hire a lawyer and sue Garrett/Cleetus and Bradenton? I guarantee they would. Bradenton what do you think your liability insurance carrier would think about this? Lose your insurance and you are out of business! While I am not a big NHRA fan, their safety rules are based on years of actual experience and are in place to protect everyone, Wake up guys!
Oh, and I got hit to mention that all of this was performed in a car that doesn’t meet the safety requirements for an 8 second car. Ok, I am getting off my soap box now.
BTW, I am a subscriber to Cleetus’ channel and appreciate his entertainment skills
What’s missing on it for it to be an 8 seconds car? It has a cage, it has a parachute, it has a seat in it with 5 point harness. Is there really much more they legally have to do? I mean I know there are probably million other things they can do, but legally it is a legal 8-second car isn’t it?
And if there is more then that, please inform me of what those would be. I would love to learn if there is more.