More than seven years ago, on January 23, 2009, New Yorker Dave Hance stormed to the first six-second pass in history on drag radial tires with a shot-heard-‘round-the-world 6.97, claiming what, at the time, many believed to be the last great 1/4-mile performance milestone in the radial tire racing genre. But, in the years that followed, the technology, the knowledge, the equipment — and, of course, the money — in the sport have ushered in performances once considered unimaginable, and in time, the five-second barrier became a distinct reality. And then it became a matter of when and not if.

And then, it fell.

On Friday evening, small-tire and Pro Modified veteran Kevin Fiscus forever etched his name into the history books when he piloted he and fellow Floridian Josh Kluggers’ twin turbocharged Ford Mustang to the world’s first five-second hit on radials with a 5.973-second elapsed time at a blistering 251.77 mph at the Orlando Speed World Dragway during the annual World Sport Compact Challenge.

What makes Fiscus’ barrier-shattering achievement so compelling is that few saw it coming (and many, it seems, are still in shock that it did); with the annual 1/4-mile World Cup Finals in Maryland just a couple of weeks away, many expected that event to serve as the next potential opportunity to see history made. But instead, Fiscus and the FKR team quietly descended on Orlando to make some shakedown runs for the World Cup and, following a 1.13 60-foot time, a 4.035 at 201.94 mph to the 1/8-mile and a 5.082 to 1,000-feet, they gained a lot more than just data — they became a permanent earmark in drag racing history.

For radial racers, there have been two key facts that have kept the five-second barrier at bay for as long as it has … the first of these simply being opportunity. Only two 1/4-mile events have been held annually — the World Cup and the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas — where radial racers can run their machines out the back door in competition, leaving test sessions as the only other avenue.

But the second, and certainly overriding factor, has been tires. Radial tire manufacturers have long reminded competitors that the DOT rubber being used to propel their six-second, 200-plus mph cars were only intended for nine and 10-second, hopped-up street cars when they were designed years ago. With that in mind, any attempt at the fives was a definitive risk, and at least one team (that we know of) has paid the price in an attempt to run their machine to the 1,320-foot mark. However, with Mickey Thompson’s release of an all-new 315 radial tire with consideration of modern-day performances injected into its structure, the kind of speeds necessary to run 5.97 aren’t the same risky proposition they once were.

And so, Kevin Fiscus, with what many would consider by today’s standards a relatively soft run, seized the opportunity before anyone else could — much in the way that Dave Hance did seven years ago — and placed himself forever into the history books. And, while you can never say never in drag racing, he may lay claim to the last great radial tire racing milestone to ever fall.