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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 11
NEW RECORD !
279.9 mph
The Texas Mile is a top speed com-
petition event held in March and Oc-
tober each year, at the Chase Field
Industrial Complex in Beeville, Texas.
Cars run, one at a time, down the
mile-and-a-half course and are timed
through a standing mile on this for-
mer U.S. Navy base airfield. Over 250
sports cars, trucks, concept cars and
motorcycles compete for top speed in
130 mph, 160 mph, 190 mph and 200+
mph classes. They are, essentially,
vying for bragging rights.
The fastest car for the past few
years has been a 2006 Ford GT pre-
pared by M2K Motorsports of Fuls-
hear, Texas and driven by one of
M2K’s partners, Mark Heidaker. He
was inspired by a fellow Texan, Ray
Hoffman, who ran 222.2mph with his
yellow 2006 twin-turbo GT in 2007. At
that time the car was described, accu-
rately, as “
The fastest Ford GT on the
planet
.” Unfortunately, Hoffman per-
ished in a small plane crash outside of
Abilene, Texas in February 2014.
Heidaker started out with a goal
of 235mph. On his first Texas Mile in
2012, he ran 257.7mph and set a new
record. After that, M2K has continu-
ally pushed the record from 257.7
through, six attempts later (each one
pushing the number up a few mph), to
this year’s 279.9. M2K’s goal is
300mph and at those speeds they have
to fight for each tiny speed increment.
The transmission appears to be the
present weak link and Hoosier, which
supplies the tires, claims they have no
method of testing at those speeds.
Here’s another interesting detail:
instead of painting the car in different
liveries for subsequent attempts, they
use a vinyl wrap just like NASCAR.
M2K estimates their car’s rear-
wheel horsepower at 2,350 at 39psi
boost. All this is likely to make your
eyes glaze over because the average
enthusiast cannot fathom top fuel
dragster-style horsepower ratings.
However, here’s one take-away to
keep in mind: this car has a com-
pletely stock exterior. No wing, spoil-
ers or stabilizing fins. The factory
aerodynamics, in stock form, need no
improving. To say Ford’s designers and
engineers “got it right” is a gross un-
derstatement.
The Texas Mile is not the only
measured mile speed record. A 15,000-
foot runway at the Kennedy Space
Center on Merritt Island, Florida is
also the site of record attempts. Ford
GT owner Johnny Bohmer, owner of
Performance Power Racing in West
Palm Beach, Florida, strapped himself
into his 1,700+ horsepower GT on Oc-
tober 19, 2012 and entered the Guin-
ness Book of World Records for setting
the standing mile speed record at
283.232mph.
Bohmer was also aiming at the
magic 300mph and about a year ago
he claimed to have hit 290mph but
had to fight 25mph cross winds so the
three century mark eluded him. How-
ever, many Ford GT cognoscenti are
skeptical of Bohmer’s claim. He does
not compete in other events like the
Texas Mile or Mojave Mile. Instead he
prefers to make his runs at the
Kennedy Space Center, by himself,
with no other participants present. He
does, however, manage to get the
Guinness folks to witness his at-
tempts.
It’s only a matter of time before
the triple-century mark is crossed.
And when it is, there is always the
301mph mark, and plenty of numbers
after that. Intriguing stuff!
DUELING GT
s