Jimmy Taylor didn’t just make a killer run – he made history. Earlier this week at Maryland International Raceway, the Tennessee-based Pro Mod standout rocketed to a staggering 3.387-second, 240.29-mph blast in his twin-turbo ’69 Camaro, resetting both ends of the doorslammer world record and becoming the first driver to ever eclipse 240 miles per hour in the eighth-mile. It was the kind of pass that instantly reshapes what racers believe is possible – the moment when bold talk meets brave execution.
“We were going to be happy with a 3.39 with a nine,” Taylor said. “When the scoreboard lit up, we were ecstatic. We gained five numbers right there from our previous pass. That’s hard to do at that kind of speed. But when we looked at the data, it still had a lot more left in it.”
Behind the wheel, Taylor’s record run was a fight from start to finish. The Camaro launched hard and carried the front wheels, drifting left toward the wall before snapping back right in a violent correction. “The car had the wheels carrying in the air and it was going left – I was going to lift, to be honest,” he said. “I had the wheel turned a little too much, and when it set down it jerked hard right. I was scared to let out because I didn’t want to unload the car sideways. When it finally straightened up, I realized I didn’t have to lift, so I just stayed in it. I knew it was on a lick.” He crossed the finish line taking out a cone on the right with the parachutes – the final punctuation mark on a run that will live in infamy.
For Taylor and his tuner Carl Stevens Jr., the record was more than a benchmark – it was proof of concept. “It was huge for us,” Taylor said. “That’s been the goal – break the records and go after the Winter Series championship. I’m not saying we’re going to win all three, but I feel like we’re definitely a front-runner. The response has been wild. The internet’s gone crazy – memes, comments, everything. It’s been unreal.”
That next goal comes soon enough. Taylor and team now turn their focus toward the Haltech World Cup Finals, where they’ll attempt to make the first-ever four-second quarter-mile pass in a doorslammer – a milestone that would put them in a category all their own. “We want the quarter-mile record,” Taylor said. “We were the first in the 3.30s, the first to 240 mph, and now we want to be the first to run four seconds in the quarter. Honestly, I think it’s got a 3.29 in it if the chassis holds.”
The challenge isn’t just about horsepower or nerve – it’s also about the unknown. “It’s nerve-wracking. Nobody’s ever been there,” Taylor admitted. “I’ve been on the phone with Frank Papp at Hoosier asking if the tires will take it. That’s our biggest worry. We’ve seen 280 mph on data. We just needed to get it into the 3.30s to make the math work for the quarter-mile.”
The path to the record has been anything but easy. Taylor credits a small army of partners and problem-solvers who’ve helped him chase speed at the edge of physics. “There’s no way I could have done it without my sponsors,” he said. “Rossler Transmission was at the track every pass, tearing it apart and checking gear sets. Marty at Neal Chance built us a bigger converter with more clutch capacity after we smoked the small one. It took all of us to make it happen – if any one of them was missing, none of this would’ve happened.”
Even the night before the record, the team was troubleshooting. They had planned to stretch the car’s legs in a quarter-mile attempt but called it off after Taylor insisted on new rubber. “We had 30-plus passes on those tires,” he said. “I told them if we’re going to run it out the back, I want a new set. We put them on and it shook the tires at the hit – but we’ll be ready for it next time.”
Now, with the eyes of the drag racing world squarely on him, Jimmy Taylor stands on the brink of another barrier-breaking run. His combination of determination, raw courage, and calculated aggression has already rewritten the record books – and he’s not finished. “We’re not done,” Taylor said. “We’ll be back at the World Cup, and we’re going to swing for it again.”
This story was originally published on October 24, 2025. 
The post Jimmy Taylor Recounts Record-Setting, Barrier-Breaking 3.38-Second, 240-MPH Eighth-Mile Pro Mod Pass first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
