Drag racing fans around the world stopped what they were doing and watched as the World Cup Finals descended on Maryland International Raceway, 30 October–3 November, for the biggest drag race of the year.
It was for good reason, as two rotary records were toppled: the 13B-powered record and the outright rotary record.
Puerto Rican entry Rafaelito Racing laid waste to the 13B-powered record with a 6.162 at 222.73mph (358.44kph) with Luis Rivera behind the wheel of the team’s RX-8, while fellow Puerto Rican team Mech Tech bettered the outright rotary record that hadn’t been touched since 2015, when their New Generation Motorsports Major League RX-8 ran a 6.149 at 229.08mph (368.66kph).
Known as ‘Loquito Killer’, Mech Tech’s RX-8 houses a billet three-rotor and makes north of 1119kW; the record-breaking pass clocked in at 6.083 seconds at 229.70mph (369.66kph) — putting rotaries within spitting distance of a five-second pass. If that wasn’t enough, Loquito Killer reset the mph record with a 231mph (372kph) on a separate run.
