Veteran Radial versus The World competitor Paolo Giust made history Thursday evening, recording the quickest elapsed time in the history of radial-tire drag racing — in what was also the quickest side-by-side drag radial pass of all-time.

Photos by Kaitlyn Ward

Giust, driving his supercharged Mike Stawicki-powered 1968 Chevrolet Camaro with a Neal Chance Racing Converters torque converter, blasted down the South Georgia Motorsports Park strip in 3.479 seconds at 214.42 mph during the second qualifier at DuckX Productions’ Lights Out 16. The popular Ottawa, Ontario racer was .911 to 60-feet, and 2.331 to half track on the record-breaking run that supplanted the previous mark of 3.486 set by Steve Jackson at a Radial Outlaws Racing Series event last March at the Alabama International Dragway.

Another Radial versus The World standout, Ken Quartuccio, also dipped into the 3.40s in the other lane, going 3.497 at 211.33 mph to slide into the provisional second qualifying spot. Giust’s 3.47 was his second trip into the 3.40s on the day, after earlier stunning the field with a career-best 3.498 in the opening session.

With his performance, Paolo Giust is now the fourth-quickest driver in history with a full-bodied car, trailing only the slick-tire cars of Todd Moyer (3.457) , Jason Scruggs (3.460), and Bubba Stanton (3.475).

Radial versus The World competitors will haves another crack at history this weekend, as forecasted conditions are set to keep density altitudes at more than 800 feet below sea level throughout the day on Friday, and just above sea level on Saturday.