Big Red Camaro Airstrip Attack: A New Form of Land Speed Racing
April 2021
Presented by BUAMotorsport.com, RatTrapracing.com & USAutomotive.co.ukThere’s no denying that among the fastest cars on earth are those that race at Bonneville and El Mirage—but is racing on salt or dirt the only form of land speed racing? And is this form still relevant to today’s car enthusiast?
Our friends at Big Red Racing recently invited us to join them for the California Airstrip Attack at the Coalinga Municipal Airport, three hours north of Los Angeles. If you haven’t read our story on Big Red, the world’s baddest Camaro, go here: https://bit.ly/torqtalkbr.
Airstrip Attacks are sanctioned by Shift S3ctor, which puts on several events across the country in which cars compete for top speed superiority in seven different classes on a 1/2-mile section of runway. In many ways it is similar to no-prep drag racing but unlike no-prep, no pimp juice i.e. VHT compounds are allowed and it’s less about hard launches and more about achieving maximum speed within a half-mile. Simple enough, right? Even the rules are simple— you can find them here: https://airstripattack.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-Rules-and-Regulations.pdf
RJ Gottlieb, driving Big Red since he was 18 in 1987.
Big Red owner and driver RJ Gottlieb has done it all from open road challenges like the Silver State Classic, challenging the mountain at Pikes Peak to going over 200 mph at Bonneville—still waiting for that red hat by the way! So, what’s next? Well, how about 200+ mph in a half-mile?
Although a humble ’69 Camaro, the Big Red team has always been on the cutting edge of old meets new school, and at this event it was no different. After studying aero data, the team decided it was time to try Big Red’s big wing to provide the Camaro with more down force. It’s not easy putting over 1,000 hp to the ground, especially in an RWD set up on a non-prepped surface.
The last time Big Red ran at Coalinga it tapped out at 198 mph due to excessive wheel spin and wheel hop as a result of the dusty surface and the joints in the concrete slabs. This was the first race in which this wing had been tested so we will keep you updated as the team further explores the right settings to go beyond 200 mph in ½ mile. As a matter of fact, Big Red easily went 227 at Bonneville, and over 250 mph at the Mojave Mile, so it can easily eclipse that mark given the right conditions and traction.
Big Red was probably the most well known car at the event and just one of a hand full of classic muscle cars including a ’68 Camaro, a Studebaker Avanti and a Shelby Daytona kit car. The majority of the field consisted of modern muscle cars and exotics.
Top speed honors went to Patrick Kennedy’s 2015 Nissan GT-R that ran 225.45 mph, but it has a rear-biased AWD system, meaning the rear wheels are always powered, receiving 50-100% of engine torque depending on the driving conditions. As a matter of fact, six out of the Top Ten speeds were set were set by GT-Rs, with the slowest going 200.53 mph.
Wonder how the GT-R would fare on dirt or salt? Unfortunately, we may never know since the clean up after an Airstrip Attack is a simple drive through the car wash and doesn’t take weeks as it does after Bonneville and El Mirage to a lesser extent. Perhaps these events that are popping up all over the country and offering their own 200 mph club suggests that some of the older traditional land speed groups take note, as they may be on their last gallon of fuel.
Each Day drivers compete for top honors in their respective classes.
Saturday Results:
• AWD Class: Patrick Kennedy
2015 Nissan GT-R BE—225.45MPH
• 2WD Class: RJ Gottlieb
Big Red Camaro—194.89 MPH
• Ethanol Class: Bryce Diamond
2013 Mercedes Benz C63—163.82MPH
• German Class: Chris Tamer
2007 Porsche 911 Turbo—179.93MPH
• Manual Class: Serge Cigdemoglu
2001 Porsche Turbo—182.63 MPH
• NA Class: Marcos Delgado
2009 Chevy Corvette Z06—164.47MPH
• Sedan Class: Omran Isso
2014 BMW F10 M5—166.85MPH
Sunday Results:
• AWD Class: Patrick Kennedy
2015 Nissan GTR—225.23MPH
• 2WD Class: RJ Gottlieb
Big Red Camaro—194.13 MPH
• Ethanol Class: Abdulla Al-Ansari
2014 Dodge Viper —177.51 MPH
• German Class: Aro Kagramanyan
2021 Porsche 911 TT—164.96 MPH
• Manual Class: Nelson Chandara
2002 BMW M3—174.76MPH
• NA Class: Gabriel Brouce
2008 Chevy Corvette—166.36 MPH
• Sedan Class: Erik Palmer
2019 Audi RS3—171.62 MPH
For more info on this and future events you can visit www.airstripattack.co
So, what do you think of this form of Land Speed Racing? Should it even be called land speed racing or is it a totally different form or motorsport, halfway between drag racing and Land speed racing?
