Tuesday Mid-Day Update
If you’re interested in the fastest pass of Speed Week 2017, read this story first. We’re midway through Speed Week and Danny Thompson’s 435mph run he completed just minutes after racing began on Saturday remains the fastest flying mile of the meet. Turbinator II has yet to make a full throttle pass but is always a threat to put up a big number. The real story so far has been the battle by the Speed Demon team to hold onto the HOT ROD Magazine trophy. They’ve won it the past six Speed Weeks and the current iteration of car, first raced at Speed Week 2016, has hit 400mph on 10 of its 10 runs.
This year, the team first ran their 441ci LS V8 in the A/BFS class and nabbed the 409.98mph record from Al Teague with a strong backup run on Sunday morning. By lunchtime, the crew had swapped in their C-class small-block in hopes of besting the Challenger II’s speed. Meanwhile, Danny Thompson and his crew were inspecting their front engine, which had a mechanical failure on their record run Sunday morning. Rather than risk further damage to the engine, Danny made the call to return the car to southern California and prepare for October’s meet.
On Monday, Speed Demon made two passes using their C-class engine before swapping in their 388ci B-class engine, which has run once so far on Tuesday. So, while there was a whole lot of alcohol and aviation fuel burned to make passes down the track, and the Speed Demon has captured a long-standing record, the race for the HOT ROD Magazine trophy still stands as it did since Saturday morning.
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