Peter Russo has declared the first powered pass in his new Australian-built nitro Funny Car a success.
Russo tested the Murray Anderson-built Supercheap Auto flopper at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today, recording an easy, shut-off 4.89 second elapsed time for the NHRA’s standard 1,000ft race track, crossing the line at just 189 miles per hour (304km/h).
He had planned to launch the car, but with confidence the four-time Australian Funny Car Champion continued to the half-track mark, stepping off the throttle after 3.4 seconds.
“The run was absolutely fantastic, I think we’ve got a really good chassis thanks to Murray Anderson,” Russo said.
“It was only going to be a launch but it felt so good I legged it through to half-track. The car did everything we wanted it to do.
“It dropped a cylinder early but the numbers show it would have run a low 4.30 – so there’s a 4.20 there which should get us into the bottom half of the field.”
Russo said the car was surprising with how straight in performed in the pre-race ritual, the burnout.
“I’ve never had a car run so straight and true in the burnout, it’s a credit to Murray who has built a clean, straightforward chassis – I just hope we can do it justice.”
The Russo team has now loaded up and headed back to its US base at Colton, just outside Los Angeles, where it will prepare for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season-ending AAA Club of So-Cal World Finals on 10-13 November.
