Modified GT Sets World Speed Record at SLF

A modified Ford GT set a world record during testing June 16 and 17 when Johnny Bohmer reached 223 mph on the runway of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. A Guinness World Records judge authenticated the accomplishment, confirming Bohmer's place in automotive history, along with Kennedy's role in the achievement.

Bohmer's Performance Power Racing modified the car and was testing the suspension and aerodynamic coatings at the runway. The record is the first in the new Guinness category of standing mile for a street-legal car. That means Bohmer began from a standstill and revved up to speeds faster than the space shuttle's average touchdown speed.

"This is probably the best place on the Earth," Bohmer said before the run. "It's very nice, I'm very happy with it. I took it up to 210 (June 16) without trying."

Built for spacecraft returning from orbit at high speeds, the three-mile long concrete runway is becoming a preferred testing ground for drivers and racing teams. Joe Gibbs racing, which competes in NASCAR events, has used the runway for evaluations, as have Indy Car teams.

All pay rent on the facility for each day they use it and the companies sign Space Act Agreements to use it for at least eight days a year, said NASA's David Cox, Partnership Development manager at Kennedy.

"They're learning us, we're learning them," Cox said.

The world record came as a bit of surprise for Bohmer and his team because it came during some of the hottest times of the day, conditions that are not typically kind to supercharged engines.

"The hotter the ground gets, the slower your car will go," Bohmer said.