At about 150 miles an hour, aerodynamics become an integral part of racing rather than an secondary consideration. Downforce becomes very real (and your best friend) and anything that can act like an air dam will. In land speed racing in particular, once you start going quick enough the car will quickly inform the driver that the wind is most certainly not your friend. That’s why you see people doing everything from taping up body gaps and grilles to fabricating air dams, spoilers and even nose cones to do whatever it takes to cheat the air. The Nissan GT-R is, by nature, a reasonably aerodynamic package, but when it’s doing 180 miles an hour plus at the Texas Invitational top-speed event, all bets are off. Even though the owner had taped the hood seam, it did little to keep the air from pushing in. As the GT-R chased down a Lamborghini Gallardo, the wind ripped the hood clean off of the car and lifted into a low-altitude situation. Having a hood fly up on a driver at 70 miles an hour is scary enough…trust me, I’ve been there before…but watching the hood leave the program as the car is nearing 200 miles an hour is something else altogether. Wild!