Ken Quartuccio Becomes The First Radial Car To Run 5.80’s In The 1/4 Mile

Just a few short weeks ago, as a bit of a preview for this past weekend’s World Cup Finals, we revisited Kevin Fiscus and Josh Klugger’s long-standing (long-standing by today’s standards, that is) quarter mile drag radial record. At the 2016 WCF, the FKR Mustang laid down a blistering 5.92 at 249 MPH to back up their previous run of 5.94 at 250 to establish the world record. Two long years later, a contender has emerged from the radial ranks to take a shot at the record, and the guys from BigKleib34 were on hand to watch as he took his shot.

Ken Quartuccio unveiled his new C7 Corvette this year and has been laying down some killer numbers. With the exception of the World Cup Finals, though, nearly every major radial race is held on an 1/8th mile format, so he hasn’t had an opportunity to take a shot at Fiscus’ record until this weekend. Knowing the weather was ideal, the track prep was on point, and his car was tuned up, Ken simply had to keep the tires planted and the nose ahead of the tail, and he did just that.

The twin turbocharged ProLine Racing Engines-powered ‘Vette almost made it look easy, with the only indication that the car was even breathing hard coming in the form of a tiny wheelstand. The front left tire never got more than a couple of inches off the ground, and it sat back down at the gear change around 150 feet into the run. After that, it was nothing but hunting for the stripe as the car sailed straight down broadway and lit up the scoreboards with an insane 5.88 elapsed time at 250.88 MPH. With those numbers in his pocket, Quartuccio is now the standing world drag radial record holder.

How long he stands atop the ranks will depend on who makes the trip to the World Cup Finals in 2019, or maybe we’ll wait even longer before a challenger emerges to make a run at the new King.