There’s absolutely no doubt that Ziff Hudson is one of the elite radial tire racers in the world –he has a pile of records and wins that most can only dream about, but he wants more. Hudson has never run the full 1320 feet at a drag strip and plans on doing that for the first time at the World Cup Finals this November. Besides trying the quarter-mile for the first time, Hudson plans on resetting the 275 radial tire record in the quarter-mile to a number that will be difficult for any other competitor to exceed.
It may be shocking to some that Hudson has never run his car out the back door, but many tracks in the southern United States only race eighth-mile, so the opportunities are limited. For Hudson, the World Cup Finals provides the perfect opportunity to see how fast his turbocharged Mustang can go.
“I’m really interested to see how fast we can go on a 275 tire. During the World Cup, the air and track are so good the conditions are going to be ideal for us to go really fast. I’ve never been to World Cup Finals, so I’m looking forward to checking out what the buzz is all about. Jason Miller always talks about how great the crowd is so I wanted to give it a shot in front of all the fans,” Hudson says.
The World Cup Finals are an event where the fastest racers from every sanctioning body around the world show up to see who really is the best. That level of competition is what attracts Hudson to this event, and he plans on making his presence known from the start.
“Sure, there’s a lot of fast guys at this event, but I think they’re going to meet someone who can run with them. I like running against people who are bigger, faster, have more money, or nicer cars — I like the competition. I’m willing to run with them at this event and lots of people aren’t, so this drives me to be faster. I’m going to be in a class on 275s where others are going to be on a 10.5 tire so it’s going make me work harder, for sure,” Hudson explains.
Going from racing 660-feet to the full quarter-mile is going to require some adjustments for not only Hudson as a driver but his car, as well. To make sure the Mustang is ready to run the back-half of the track Hudson and his team have some work to do before they begin their journey to Maryland International Raceway.
“We are going to freshen the engine up after No Mercy to make sure it’s ready to go. Besides that, we will need to change the rearend gear and transmission gears to run it out the back,” Hudson says.
You can see Hudson take on the Outlaw vs Extreme class at the World Cup Finals November 1-5 at Maryland International Raceway. All the action will be broadcast live RIGHT HERE on Speed Video when he begins his assault on the 275 radial tire record. This live feed is brought to you by presenting sponsor ProCharger, along with Strange Engineering, SCAT Crankshafts, UPR Products, Driven Racing Oil, ATI Performance Products, Neal Chance Racing Converters, Moser Engineering, Miller Electric Welders, Ferrea, RacePak, and OStar Motorsports.
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