Early in 2024, the crew from Cory Mac’s VW national event in Las Vegas called me to ask if I would come out in December and announce. I said yes of course, and let me tell you just how cool this event was! I mean this thing was epic. I loved every bit of it, and man were there some cool cars in attendance. And not just on the drag strip. There was a car show that featured some of the nicest Volkswagens I had ever seen. We’re talking buses, square backs, notch backs, and bugs, plus a whole lot more. And not only did these cars look good, but man were they quick. If you haven’t seen a VW bug or Karmann Ghia go down the track, you should really fix that.
These little machines weight nothing, can be quick as hell, and are a riot to watch.
While there were a ton of great cars on track, one of them that turned every head on the property was the Mexxspeed Karmann Ghia from Austria. Yeah, they shipped this car from Austria! The good news is that it doesn’t weigh much so they might have sent it air freight. According to what I heard in Vegas, this car is all carbon and weighs around 900 lbs with the driver!
Video Description:
Mexx from Mexxspeed Racing shipped his Karmann Ghia from Austria to the US, to race at the Cory Mac Vegas World Finals at The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Running in the Xtreme Class, which we were hoping to have more entries, but unfortunately only had two. Mexx in his 2977cc Karmann Ghia and Jim Grant in his amazing looking 2.9L Fuel Injected Pauter Built Beetle. We did not see Jim’s car run until the final, where it still had issues starting up and doing a burnout. Eventually the starting official timed Jim out, and Mexx went down for a single pass, taking the Win with a time of 8.93 at 149mph.
Watch the video and make your own mind up on whether Jim should have been given more time, or the official was correct in timing him out.
It did cause a lot of controversy at the time. Jim did get his car going, and made a pass shortly after, with a run of 9.62 at 150mph.
Mexx also stayed over to run at the Import Face Off show on the Sunday, where he put in another 8 second pass, with a run of 8.98 at 148mph.
Mexx’s best time over the Weekend was a run of 8.87 at 149mph, which he did after making some adjustments after his crazy wheels in the air slide in the previous run……
There’s several ways to unpack this. First, when I ran a turbo funnybike, or any drag bike, the riders usually glance at each other to make sure the other team is ready. We’d do our burnouts simultaneously. That is, if you’re interested in an honest race. I found all the competitors I raced against show this level of professionalism. Maybe they don’t do that in Austria.
Second, the red beetle sounded hurt, and whether the driver was trying ot get some temperature up to par, or was having trouble getting it in gear or to idle correctly, whatever, something wasn’t right, IMO. But for whatever reason he didn’t get it right into the bleach box, that’s on him.
Third, the fans, what infanticimal amount of them there were, came to see a show. The starter denied them that. He did wait. Did he wait long enough? Depends on whether you’re in the red beetle, or you’re in the Ghia that had already done your burnout, and your air cooled engine is getting hot.
If the starter held up for the red beetle, the Ghia guys would be crying foul if they lost. Red beetle guys crying foul now (??).
Bottom line: be professional, even if you aren’t a profession racer; make sure your opponent is ready to start before you do. If you can’t win a fair race, you’re really not a winner.