Performance Power Racing Ford GT sets 283 MPH standing mile record

On October 16, Johnny Bohmer, owner of Performance Power Racing, strapped himself into the driver’s seat of his 1,700+ horsepower Ford GT, then pointed the nose towards the end of NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility runway.

The 15,000 foot runway, located on Merritt Island, would give Bohmer plenty of shut-down room after attempting to set a new standing mile speed record. With the folks from Guinness World Records on hand, Bohmer launched his Ford GT into the history books, achieving a standing mile speed of 283.232 miles per hour.

To put it in perspective, that’s over 25 miles per hour faster than Mark Heidaker’s standing start mile run, also in a heavily modified Ford GT, at last spring's Texas Mile event. Heidaker’s efforts earned him a new Texas Mile record, and likely would have earned a Guinness record had their people been on hand to certify it.

As the name implies, the standing mile measures the maximum speed achieved, from a standing start, over a one-mile distance. Bohmer had set a similar record with Guinness in 2011, piloting his street-legal Ford GT to a top speed of 223 miles per hour in the mile.

The record run was for more than just bragging rights, too, as Performance Power Racing is developing a line of parts made from an aerospace aluminum alloy called Pandalloy. Developed in cooperation with Pratt & Whitney, Pandalloy delivers high strength, light weight and high temperature resistance, making it ideal for racing applications.