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82-year-old racing legend pushes electric dragster to 184mph

82-year-old racing legend pushes electric dragster to 184mph

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Don "Big Daddy" Garlits rode into a new electric vehicle quarter-mile drag racing record last week after nailing 184.01mph on the track. The 82-year-old drag racing legend made the 7.258 seconds run at the Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. He was driving the Swamp Rat-37, a battery-electric dragster designed to exceed 200mph on a quarter-mile drag strip. Wired reports that the vehicle, which carries six 7.5-inch series-wound DC motors, uses lithium-polymer battery packs. Its total output is reportedly 1,500 kilowatts, or more than 2,000 horsepower.

"We didn’t get the 200 but we set a new record. Our 200 is coming up next!" Garlits remarked in a statement.

There is some uncertainty about whether Garlits' achievement is officially recognized by the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA). According to Autoblog, this is in part because there was no qualifying backup run. Kristen Stacy holds NEDRA's current record with her speed of 161.87mph.