Chasing Records: Jamie Miller Reveals What It Took To Claim The 275 And 315 Radial Records

In theory, chasing records sounds simple, you’re just trying to go as fast as possible. In reality, everything has to go right, and you need a little bit of luck when you’re swinging for big numbers in drag racing. Jamie Miller just tuned Manny Buginga to a pair of radial records, and now we get to hear what it took to make them fall.

Let’s get one thing straight right away: Buginga’s Mustang, known as “Norm,” set these records in full, all-out kill trim. That means Miller had the ProLine Hemi wicked all the way up, the ProCharger spinning as hard as possible, and even a shot of nitrous in the mix. Norm tipped the scales at under 2,600 pounds, too. When you’re chasing a record, you need every ounce of performance possible, and Miller came to Rockingham Dragway with a magazine full of horsepower bullets.

Miller and Buginga also wanted there to be zero doubt about the legitimacy of the runs. That’s why the clocks were on and the timeslip was shown. The pair had talked about seeing just how fast you could go on a Mickey Thompson 275 and 315 radial, hoping to generate some buzz.

There have been claims of racers running in the 3.40s on a 275 radial, but no one had actually seen it. Miller confirmed they went 3.49 at Steele, Alabama during Norm’s first outing, but since the car was in No Time trim, they couldn’t claim the record. Now that No Time cars can officially declare themselves a No Time car again once the calendar resets in January, the duo knew it was the right moment to chase history.

According to Miller, what Carl Stevens and Jimmy Taylor did in resetting the overall door car world record helped motivate them to chase the radial marks.

“What Carl, Jimmy, and their team have done is super impressive. I think it got everybody talking about records and what the next big thing is. I don’t care if it was testing, what the car weighed, or that it had turbos, it’s just flat impressive. Manny and I talked about it and decided we wanted to see just how fast we could go on a 275 and 315 radial.”

To set records like these, everything has to be perfect. The setup, the tune, and the weather all need to line up. That’s part of the reason Miller had Buginga bring Norm to Rockingham Dragway, he was chasing perfection.

“We needed the weather to be in our favor, so that’s why we picked Rockingham. We were debating between Rockingham and a track in Florida. It really depended on the weather, because you have to have good air and the right track temperature to make these big runs,” Miller says.

Miller had no intention of easing into things when they arrived. He started with the 3.49 tune-up and the car responded with a 3.55. It spun just a little in the middle of the run, and when the driveshaft caught it, the car lost some ET. The team made some chassis adjustments and followed the 3.55 with a 3.51. A broken fitting caused an oil-down, wiping out the next pass, and cleanup took too long to make another hit.

The next day, Miller made additional adjustments with a 3.48–3.49 target in mind. With a hot tune loaded into Norm, Buginga shattered the 275 radial record with a 3.481 at 218 mph. He let it run just long enough to coast to a new quarter-mile 275 radial record of 5.682.

After securing the 275 record, Miller and Buginga immediately turned their attention to the 315 radial record. Miller knew they would need to swap gears for a max-effort eighth-mile run, which meant doubling up with a quarter-mile record wouldn’t be possible. They rolled Norm to the line once more, and Buginga delivered again, driving to a 3.44 at 218 mph, a new 315 drag radial world record.

“If there’s even the slightest slip of the tire whatsoever, the G-meter reading will come down, and then the driveshaft will catch it and slow the car down. We’re doing stuff out here that’s never been done before, so you don’t know what to expect. I’m trying to put all the clamps on the car so I can get it to go down the track. We’re on the absolute edge each pass,” Miller says.

How much does Norm have left? Miller thinks there may be small improvements left to chase, but nothing major. The truth is, Miller and Buginga don’t have anything left to prove—they came, they saw, and they left Rockingham Dragway with a pair of radial records that could stand for years.