This weekend was a big weekend for the Blue Oval. With NASCAR tackling the Bristol Motor Speedway, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer, Ford felt obligated to try and take down some of the long-standing track records, among them the record for the top speed of a production car around the half-mile oval track. The all-time top speed record is 138 mph set by Sammy Swindell over ten years ago, but Ragan was after the production car record.
With David Ragan behind the wheel, the supercharged 2011 Ford Mustang GT was able to set a lap record of over 98 mph, completing the half-mile circuit just four seconds slower than fully-prepped NASCAR stock cars.
Ragan wasn’t the only one on the track trying to break the half-mile speed record. Several other racers competed in their supermodified racers, and there was even a Yamaha R1 crotch rocket driven by Scott Russell that managed to turn in a 97.9 mph run around the half-mile. Yes, Ragan’s supercharged Mustang turned a faster half-mile lap than a very fast motorcycle.
In fact, Ragan’s modified ride, which featured a Whipple supercharger, Brembo big brake kit, FR3 suspension package from Ford Racing, and other modifications, managed to go around the half-mile in just 19.582 seconds at 98.497 mph. For comparison, Carl Edwards car made it round the track in 14.9 seconds at over 128 mph. So Ragan’s street-legal Mustang was just four seconds slower than a stock car. Not too shabby, eh?