NASCAR
15 Aug 2019
Credit: Facebook/Roush Yates Engines
Aaron Brown will attempt to break the NASCAR speed record on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in the SCTA Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Week event.
The current FIA speed record for NASCAR machinery is 244.9 mph, which was set back in 2007. The car on that occasion was a specially-tweaked 2007 Dodge Charger prepared by Brown and driven by Russ Wicks.
This time Brown will be driving, and the car is a re-liveried 2018 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion that was campaigned at Talladega last year (pictured above). It previously ran at the Arkansas mile, clocking a class record speed of 216.87 mph in the standing mile – a run that was made without any adjustments to the car.
“This car is light years ahead of the 2007 Dodge Charger we built for Russ Wicks that set the FIA record back in 2007,” Brown told Jayski.com. “Our goal is to get comfortable with the car on the short course before moving to the long course and attempt to beat the current FIA record on the salt.”
Brown will be looking to emulate close family friend, Bobby Isaac. The late NASCAR racer set the original NASCAR speed record on the salt back in 1971, clocking a speed of 216.945 mph, and Brown is determined to set another record to emulate the 37-time race winner.
“I made a promise to the Isaac family that I would get Bobby’s record back and we did that in 2007 with the 244.9 mph record,” Brown said. “Now my goal is to shatter it once again in tribute to my hero, Bobby Isaac and his legacy.
The current on-track speed record for NASCAR machinery is 228 mph, which was set by Rusty Wallace in 2004 when he completed a run around the Talladega Superspeedway without a restrictor plate fitted to his Dodge Intrepid Cup car. However, that figure wan’t achieved in racing conditions; the ‘official’ on-track NASCAR speed record is 212.809 mph, set by Bill Elliott at Talladega 1987.
