While we were shaking off the cold and enjoying the sunshine in Charlotte, North Carolina at the NHRA race, small tire and drag radial fanatics were packed into Memphis International Raceway to take in the Outlaw Street Car Reunion, a race that has quickly earned a reputation as being bad fast with a racing surface prepped to the teeth. If we thought we had a nippy weekend in Charlotte, it was nothing as compared to the Memphis weather where SNOW was actively falling at multiple points through the weekend and there was rain during what was a scheduled test session earlier in the week.

Now, the snow thing is funny but it is also telling in the fact that the air was frigid, dense, and potentially full of horsepower. Jason Michalak proved just how good the race track was and just how good his car was when he blazed the frozen tundra to the tune of a 3.79/194mph cannon shot that stands as the quickest radial eighth mile run ever made in competition. Others have gone quicker in testing but none have done it during an actual race as Jason does here. The Corvette is powered by a screw blown Brad Anderson hemi on alcohol and as you will see rolls on “itty bitty” radial tires.

The Mickey Thompsons hook up and never let go of the surface that was prepped by race organizer Tyler Crossnoe and VP’s Jason Rueckert. The run seems to be about as perfect as you can imagine with the car keeping the nose on the track, traveling in a laser straight line, and the engine sounds as clean and mean as you could ever want it to. Like the alcohol funny car run we showed you earlier today, the team had their tune up spot on here and just laid it down. The major difference between the two runs is that the alky funny car run will likely stand as a record for some time because of the conditions it was made in. This one? There are so many stout cars across the country capable of running in this general zone that we bet it gets wiped out in a month or less. (Yes, we know guys have gone quicker in testing but we’re talking actual race conditions here). That’s not to take anything away from Michalak and his crew but just an observation in the ever changing and evolving world of these radial cars.

Also…check out the crowd! There were a ton of people packed into the stands dealing with the crummy weather down there. That’s a great sign.

PRESS PLAY TO SEE ONE OF THE MOST PICTURE PERFECT RADIAL RUNS IN HISTORY AND ONE OF THE FASTEST  –