From Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, TN — Jason Blonde was the fastest of the fast Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway as he established a new world record during the World’s Fastest Half-Mile Speed Trials.
Blonde, driving an Xtreme Sprint Series sprint car, clicked off a blistering lap of 144.871 mph in 13.245 seconds, shattering the previous track record of 138.442 mph in 13.860 seconds set by Sammy Swindell in June of 2000 at BMS during a World of Outlaws event.
The 36-year-old Blonde, a veteran sprint car racer with more than 50 feature wins on both dirt and pavement, tagged the wall earlier in the afternoon, but was totally unfazed.
“No, I might have been a little apprehensive for a few seconds, but we came in, beat it out and got right back out there,” said Blonde, a five-time Super Sprint Championships winner. “That last time out, I held my breath for two whole laps around this place. I just flat-footed it all the way around.
“I knew it was fast, but I didn’t know how fast. It was pretty great to find out that we had set the new world record. That’s pretty amazing.”
Mike Lichty set a new half-mile Supermodified world record with a lap of 144.634 mph in 13.267 seconds.
Sprint Cup driver David Ragan piloted his Ford Mustang GT 5.0 to a lap of 98.497 mph at 19.481 seconds, a world record for a passenger car.
Scott Russell and his Yamaha took on the World’s Fastest Half-Mile and set a half-mile closed course record for a Superbike with a run of 97.990 mph, which he covered in 19.582 seconds.
Others participating in the World’s Fastest Half-Mile Speed Trials were USAC Sprint Car driver Bryan Clauson and ISMA Supermodified driver Brad Noffsinger.
“Jason, his wife Jenny and his team are first class people and great competitors, all of us at Must See racing couldn’t be more happy and proud of them. They just set a very significant record with no trick parts or set up in a MSRXSS rule compliant race car using our new American Racer tires.” said MSR president Jim Hanks.
Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series sponsors BioBased US, Engine Pro, TruFuel, Royal Oak Charcoal, and Turtle Wax are proud of Jason Blonde , his team’s outstanding effort and his Bristol Motor Speedway world record.
Action continues at the .533-mile oval tomorrow with the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City. Tickets are available and may be purchased at the BMA ticket office or by calling 423-BRISTOL (274-7865) or by visiting www.bristoltix.com.