Matt Stutzman has made a career – and built a global following – by doing things people said couldn’t be done. The Paralympic gold medalist known around the world as the “Armless Archer” has spent more than a decade redefining what’s possible in sports. Now, he’s doing it all over again in drag racing, and at Brainerd International Raceway, Stutzman shattered one of his biggest goals yet.
For years, Stutzman has talked openly about his mission to push a race car over the 200 mph mark. It wasn’t a casual wish; it was a benchmark he’d been chasing with the same methodical determination that made him a champion in archery. This summer, at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series West Central Division event in Brainerd, Minnesota, he did more than just eclipse the milestone. He obliterated it, running a career-best 214.69 mph in his foot-controlled, Pro Mod-style supercharged Camaro.
“I’ve been chasing the dream for 200 miles per hour for a very long time,” Stutzman said after the pass. “We went 214 – and we’re just getting started.”
It wasn’t just the number on the scoreboard that made the weekend special. Competing in NHRA Top Sportsman trim, Stutzman not only laid down the biggest speed of his life but also earned his first NHRA round win. It was a breakthrough moment in a journey that has been about much more than elapsed times and reaction lights.
Born without arms, Stutzman learned from a young age to adapt the world to his own methods. He drives his race car using foot controls he engineered himself: his right foot operates a custom steering wheel, his left foot works the throttle and brakes. That unique system allows him to run side by side with some of the quickest Top Sportsman racers in the country without compromise or special consideration. He prides himself on meeting the same performance and safety standards as any other driver.
“When I set a goal, I want to do it the right way,” Stutzman said. “No shortcuts, no special treatment. Hitting 200 mph was about proving to myself – and everyone else – that I could compete on the same terms as the best in the class.”
Brainerd was the culmination of months of incremental progress. Stutzman had been steadily creeping up on the 200 mph barrier, fine-tuning the combination of his Alan Johnson-powered Camaro and honing his own comfort zone behind the wheel. Each lap in Top Sportsman trim was another data point, another chance to perfect the launch, the shift points, and the feel of the car under full power.
When the numbers came up on the scoreboard – 6.4 seconds in the quarter mile at over 214 mph – Stutzman knew the goal was in the rearview mirror. But the run itself was only part of the story. In eliminations, he staged up against a seasoned opponent and drove to his first NHRA round win, showing that the speed wasn’t a one-off fluke but part of a complete, competitive package.
For Stutzman, the 200 mph mark is both an achievement and a springboard. He talks openly about bigger targets ahead: winning a Wally in NHRA competition, stepping up to quicker and faster classes, and someday feeling what 300 mph is like in a drag car. “Maybe 10 years from now, I don’t know,” he said with a grin. “We are progressing at a rate that we know we can handle it, and we’re just going to keep going until we get there.”
The Brainerd breakthrough resonated beyond the drag strip because it was another chapter in Stutzman’s lifelong habit of demolishing perceived limits. His athletic résumé is already unmatched: Paralympic silver in 2012, gold in 2024, and a Guinness World Record for the longest accurate archery shot ever made at 310 yards. Drag racing is his newest arena, but the approach is the same – set a goal that scares you, work relentlessly toward it, and don’t stop until you’ve surpassed it.
The fact that he’s doing it in a category as competitive as Top Sportsman only adds weight to the accomplishment. The class is a hotbed for innovation and driving skill, filled with veterans who can cut lights and run dead-on. To win in that environment, especially in a debut season, is no small feat.
“I want to race against the best,” Stutzman said. “I want to line up against people who make me bring my absolute best every run. That’s how you get better.”
Breaking 200 mph was a goal measured in numbers, but the path to get there has been defined by intangibles – resilience, adaptability, and an unwavering competitive fire. At Brainerd, those qualities all came together in a weekend that delivered not just a personal milestone, but also a signal to the rest of the Top Sportsman field that Matt Stutzman is more than a great story. He’s a racer who can win.
And now that 200 mph is behind him, the goals will only get bigger. In the same way his 214.69 mph pass dwarfed the milestone it was meant to beat, Stutzman’s vision for what’s next is already stretching beyond the horizon. “If you’re not chasing your dream,” he said, “are you truly living?”
At Brainerd, Stutzman chased it – and caught it at over 214 miles per hour. Everything from here is just the next dream in line.
This story was originally published on August 11, 2025. 
The post Matt Stutzman Shatters 200 MPH Goal With 214.69 MPH Pass, First NHRA Round Win in Brainerd first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
