NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

This is the race track where Chevy’s 409-cid V8 became a 427-cid, where Chrysler’s 426-cid Hemi was to debut, and where the 1968 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet won its first rounds with a 390-cid big-block under the hood. Decades later, the staging lanes are still a supply chain of performance that power this sport and prove-out cutting-edge automotive technology.

The second race of the 2024 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series was no exception. Ford Performance demonstrated its electric drag racing vehicle prowess, with its Super Cobra Jet setting a new world record for the fastest quarter-mile pass by a full-bodied drag car, 7.759 seconds at 180.14 mph. This marks the second historic record for the Cobra Jet EV within the NHRA realm, following its initial record-setting run of 8.128 seconds at 171.97 mph back in 2021. To accomplish this task the original Cobra Jet 1400 EV has been tuned with an all-new battery system that are 30-percent more powerful and 40-percent lighter than the original packs.

Pat McCue of MLe has arguably more experience driving electric drag cars at this level than anyone else on the planet. He was the driver of record for the attempts and is knowledgeable about all aspects of the car. “Boy, it just took off,” said McCue of the March 22, 2024, record run. “We turned it up and kind of let it eat and it pulled the [front] wheels up and did a nice wheelstand and just held it out.” When describing the pass you see in the video McCue makes it sound almost too simple, “It got up on the wheelie bars and went a little left, then I sort of wrestled it back in, into the groove, and let it ride… 7.75 [seconds].”

“Everything we are doing here, we make sure we are sending back to the rest of the company—we are pushing the limits of battery technology.”—Brian Novak, Ford Motor Company

“It's just a testament to the efforts from PMR and MLe, and the Ford Performance team,” said Brian Novak, Ford Performance motorsports supervisor. “There’s years’ worth of work into this car, and to get another world record really pays off and shows what we are doing here at Ford Motor Company,” said Novak about the technology being demonstrated on the NHRA dragstrip. “Everything we are doing here,” said Novak, “we make sure we are sending back to the rest of the company—we are pushing the limits of battery technology.”