The driver then opened the door and walked off like a boss.
Drag racing is meant to be a race of speed, but it can also involve a lot of horsepower. It might seem that we are talking about opposite lock control. If the subject was a Mustang leaving Cars and Coffee you would be correct. The Y-axis must be considered carefully when the car is rated at 4,000 horsepower, has massive drag tires, two enormous turbos, and no wheels.
Alepa Racing’s C7 Corvette accelerates to 200 mph in just four seconds. The ‘Vette flew with Daniel Pharris, its driver, and reached escape velocity of 200 mph. It then sailed a few hundred feet before it landed back on its wheels. Amazingly, Pharris was able to get out of the car within minutes of landing and landed without any injuries.
The launch was unscheduled and took place at Tulsa Raceway Park in Oklahoma, during the Radial Revenge Tour. Pharris was running in the semi-finals for the 1/8 mile competition when his nose pointed upwards towards the end. Aerodynamics took control and ripped the front clip from Pharris’ car, placing it in the opposite lane. Pharris’ competition was already slowing down due to a less dramatic wheelie. Pharris’ timing lights showed a time of 4.6 seconds for the 1/8 mile run and a speed reading of 226.9 miles.
All things considered, the car appeared to not be very damaged. The car did not appear to be too damaged, despite the fact that the interior camera captured a very strong impact upon landing. However, drag racing aerobatics are known for leaving nothing but bent tubing and tires rolling down the track. The Pharris Motorsports Facebook Page confirmed that the driver was fine and that the Corvette was not a total loss. It said that it would be “down for a while” during repairs.
Let’s all hope that version 2.0 will include control surfaces for sustained flight or, at the very minimum, something to make it easier to change underwear.