Eric LaFerriere and Duy Bui have dominated six-cylinder performance standards on 275mm rear tires for several seasons, but the duo shocked the sport with three amazing blasts from their seldom-seen 2020 Lexus LC500 in outlaw doorslammer trim which culminated in a staggering 5.448-second, 266.11 mph quarter-mile attempt using Toyota 2JZ power, which obliterated every six-cylinder record in drag racing.
Rhode Islander Eric and Texas resident Duy (pronounced “Dewey”) won the 2025 HalTech World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway in the debut of their white “Sake Bomb” Lexus. The car was specifically designed to break the all-time six-cylinder quarter-mile records held by Jesus Melendez in Rafael Famania’s 2020 Toyota Corolla since November 2023, (5.546 at 264.49 mph), and the eighth-mile marks of Melendez (3.677 from 2023), and Arnaldo Santiago in a 2018 Scion FRS (210.21 mph) back in October 2010.
The team took their machine to the Shakedown XXIII at M’Town meet at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, a combination event which includes Donald Long’s Radial Outlaw Racing Series, (RORS), and the Mid-West Drag Racing Series’ Pro Modified tour, both eighth-mile programs. In good, but not spectacular, 2200-feet “air” and on a meticulously prepared track, LaFerriere opened on Wednesday, May 27, with a stunning 3.691 at 210.58 mph to steal the seven-year-old speed mark from Santiago.
A late morning run on Thursday, May 28, dropped jaws. LaFerriere wiped out both eighth-mile standards on a magnificent 3.648/213.57 record-setter. At that point, Eric and Duy asked the track operator Jason Peterson, and RORS promoter Long if, at the end of the day’s qualifying, they could make a full quarter-mile attempt in the “Sake Bomb.” The facility agreed.
During the evening qualifying session, at 9:49 p.m. EDT, LaFerriere launched the nearly silent six-cylinder to an astonishing 0.949-second sixty-feet elapsed time followed by an amazing 3.630/215.00 eighth-mile clocking. The car continued to a mind-numbing 4.61-second 1000-feet ET at an unheard-of 249.17 mph and ripped across the quarter-mile finish line with an unfathomable 5.448 at 266.11 mph.
While the rest of the assemblage was reeling in shock, LaFerriere stated he honestly thought the car could be the fourteenth passenger car to run under 5.50 seconds in the quarter mile.
“We kept it kind of conservative just to make sure it made a full run,” said LaFerriere in the pit area, “but I swear, I thought it would go a mid-to-low ‘forty’. We know now it can go in the five-thirties.”
The accomplishment has only been known by a few, but until now, never with less than eight cylinders. The car’s drivetrain is based on the fabled inline six-cylinder 2JZ Toyota which has owned six-cylinder drag racing for several decades. The engine uses a billet block, but a stock Toyota cast cylinder head with all GSC Power Division valvetrain components. It’s also equipped with an Innovators West harmonic balancer. With a single 111mm “Next Gen” Precision Turbocharger, a Liberty six-speed transmission with a QuickDrive converter drive coupled to an M&M Converter and Hoosier 36-inch slicks, the 5.44/266 effort was as smooth as glass.
The run brought drag racing to a new crossroads. Wes Buck, Drag Illustrated Founder and promoter of the DI Winter Series and World Series of Pro Mod, expressed interest in the “Sake Bomb” when it first appeared last fall. Now, however, the car’s 3.63 eighth-mile performance is within range of the World’s Quickest Pro Mod Series numbers and Buck immediately stated he will be working on rules revisions which allow this “Bomb” to compete with the quickest and fastest Pro Modifieds on the planet next winter.
As of this report, the Bui-owned 2020 Lexus LC500 is the seventh quickest turbocharged doorslammer ever regardless of engine design and is currently the tenth quickest passenger car of all time.
This story was originally published on May 29, 2026.
The post Eric LaFerriere and Duy Bui Astound the World with Six-Cylinder Power, Break Xtreme Import Records first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
