Ford’s new EcoBoost 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 in a Daytona Prototype set the fastest laps ever turned at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, in the hands of driver Colin Braun.
Braun, one of sports car racing’s top talents and a full-time driver for CORE autosport in the American Le Mans Series, set single lap (222.971 mph), 10-kilometer from standing start (202.438) and 10-mile from standing start (210.018) records at Daytona. All were subject to homologation by the FIA.
The previous fastest single lap set on the DIS 2.5-mile oval was a qualifying lap by Bill Elliott in 1987, 210.364 mph. That, though, was held on an official weekend of competition.
Here are some other speed records achieved in motorsports over the years, and additional notes regarding DPs at Daytona:
The DPs that run at Daytona race on the 3.56-mile road course for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, not on the oval. So from that standpoint you’re never going to see a one-lap speed by a DP anywhere near Braun’s lap.
Secondly, none of the marks set are a closed-course single lap record. That mark is held by Gil de Ferran, at 241.428 mph in a 1000-plus horsepower Reynard-Honda CART Champ Car in qualifying for the 2000 season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
Thirdly, there’s a series that exists where 300-plus mph passes happen on nearly every run, every weekend they race: NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing. And there, when speeds exceed 330 mph, that’s when you’re talking record speed.
And lastly, we haven’t even touched on world record speed runs to be done on the legendary salt flats of Bonneville. There, speeds have been turned north of 600 mph.
It is a credit to Braun, the Ford engineers, the Michael Shank Racing team and the Ford EcoBoost engine. They’re Daytona’s new record-setting laps turned, but not record-setting in a traditional sense.