"Corvette" sets new World Record

[MOTV8]

Frankie Taylor set a world record for the quickest run in “doorslammer” history May 21 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, Va., with a time of 3.60 seconds.

The Daily News

Published May 28, 2010

DICKINSON — Frankie Taylor knew he went fast. But he had to make sure.

Taylor got out of his 2005 Corvette and looked at the time of 3.60 seconds. In shock, he shook his head as if to wake up from a dream and then squinted to make sure that zero wasn’t an eight. His eyes and family confirmed the time, and Taylor jumped for joy.

Taylor set a world record for the quickest run in “doorslammer” history May 21 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, Va. The previous mark was 3.64.

“I knew I had gone fast, but I wasn’t sure,” Taylor said. “So before celebrating, I had to double check. When I found out, it was awesome.”

Taylor made his run during qualifying in the Pro Extreme category of the American Drag Racing League Speedtech U.S. Drags III. He ended up losing in the semifinals when he raced a 3.65.

“It’s nice to go down in the record books, because you’ll always be there,” Taylor said. “But to win the race would have been nice and brought in some much-needed money.”

And that wasn’t the only good news for Taylor on the day.

Teammate Wes Johnston, of Kauffman, also set a record. He reached a speed of 211.69 mph during qualifying, which broke Taylor’s previous mark.

Taylor is the mechanic for and works on Johnston’s car. Haning Racing owns both vehicles.

“I was happy to see Wes do that, even if it was my record,” Taylor said. “It’s good for him.”

Johnston currently sits fourth in the ADRL standings in the Pro Extreme category. Taylor is three points behind in fifth place with 756 points.

Taylor leads the Texas Outlaw Pro Mod Association with 411 points. Johnston is in third with 213.

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Taylor’s Car Details

2005 Chevrolet C5 Corvette

Jeffers Pro Car

526 c.i. blown Hemi, 3800 horsepower

PSI screw charger

Lenco drive transmission

Hoosier 34.5 inches by 17 inches by 16 inches slicks

FRANKIE TAYLOR: THE NICKNAME JUST FIT THE STYLE

The nickname stuck so Frankie Taylor just went with it.

Taylor, an ADRL Pro Extreme racer from Dickinson, Tex., just smiled when the name Mad Man was bestowed upon him.

In fact, as Taylor surveyed his driving style, which is a combination of kamikaze and over the edge of the envelope, he wondered if the name might have accurately pegged him.

Taylor said the Mad Man moniker was born out of an appearance on the Super Chevy Nitro Coupe series.

“As best I can remember it all started back in a Super Chevy show,” said Taylor, who was racing in his first career Super Chevy event. “I knocked a window out of the car and it busted. There wasn’t much time to fix it for the next run so I grabbed a piece of cardboard and made it into a window. I went out the next run and ran 199 miles per hour.”

Taylor never got to make a second run with the improvised “glass” replacement. Race officials said he couldn’t run with the cardboard window again.

“One of the vendors had an old piece of Lexan or Plexiglas or something, and it was all scratched up,” Taylor explained. “It was about the same quality as the piece of cardboard.”

A jokester scribbled the name Madman on the makeshift glass replacement. The nickname went on the new glass once it was installed at a later date and has appeared there ever since.

Taylor has raced this season as a mad man on a mission. In the last two races on the 2010 ADRL tour Taylor has established himself as a front-runner and in Richmond, snagged both ends of the world record.

Probably more impressive is the reality his accomplishments have come on a considerably smaller racing budget than most.

“I wouldn’t say I race on half of their budgets, maybe a third or a quarter might be closer,” Taylor said.

His success in the past season has opened the potential for a few more extra parts in the trailer, something he rarely had in the past few seasons.

“We’re not used to having a lot of the stuff we have now, now we’ve got pulleys. It used to be we had two sets of pulleys and that was it. Now different pulleys have been changed, now we can tighten our belts up. Sometimes it’s better not to have a bunch and just do with what you’ve got and you can fine tune it better. Sometimes having too much stuff you can get confused.”

The picture has never been clearer for Taylor.

The man runs a 3800-horse Hemi-powered Corvette to a new world record. He's my new hero.