How can you possibly make AA/Fuel Altereds any more exciting than they already are? Known for their unpredictable nature — think bull riding on wheels and the bull is going 200 mph — these wild machines and the brave souls who had the fortitude to pilot them achieved eternal fame during their heyday in the 1960s. More than half a century later, the short wheelbase, nitro-guzzling altereds with a higher center of gravity and more a mind of their own than they ever had any business with still draw crowds anywhere they put fire in the pipes. But what if you ran them four abreast?

Last week, we shared a clip of what may have been the first four-wide grudge race ever conducted — part of a 16-car exhibition at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s spankin’-brand-new four lane strip. Well, the grudge cars weren’t the only exhibition in town.

The NHRA, granted a golden opportunity to do something awesome — and perhaps historic — invited four of the most famous and recognizable operational Fuel Altereds in the world to take part in what may have been the first four-wide contest of such machines ever. The who’s-who lineup included four internationally-famed altereds: Ron Hope in the Rat Trap, Mike Boyd driving the popular Winged Express, Randy Bradford in the Bradford Family Fiat, and Kyle Hough at the controls of the Nanook.

And a show they put on — the shortest burnout by this group … about 300 feet. The longest? Mike Boyd, who roasted the hides out beyond the 300-foot mark and rolled to a stop nearly 800-feet out (and then proceeded to back up at breakneck speed, because showmen never stop putting on a show). The quartet then cranked off side-by-side-by-side-by-side five- and six-second runs at upwards of and over 200-plus miles per hour on the 1,000-foot course.

The cool-o-meter? Pegged.