Pro Line Racing’s Eric Dillard was unhurt in an incident that occurred during a private testing session at the Virginia Motorsports Park on Wednesday at the controls of the El General Racing/Q80 Pro Extreme Corvette owned and campaigned by Jose Gonzalez.

Dillard, one of the best wheelmen in the business who has driven every type of turbocharged car one could imagine at one time or another, was shaking down the brand new El General C7 ‘Vette with Pro Line power under the hood, and earlier in the day had cranked off a stout 3.56-second pass at 224 miles per hour and change, marking one of the  fastest 1/8-mile speeds ever by a doorslammer.

According to Gonzalez, on a subsequent pass, tuner Steve Petty turned his magic and Dillard was actually three-hundredths quicker to the 330-foot clocks before shutting the car down early, proving that low-3.50s are more than possible. On the next run, Dillard reportedly got loose just before the 60-foot clocks in the cars’ own fluid, turning it abruptly into the guardrail.

Dillard’s 3.56-second, 224 mph blast

The team, hoping to make the PDRA World Finals at VMP next weekend, has already transported the Corvette to chassis builder Jerry Bickel in Missouri for repairs.

“It’s not going to be easy but we might as well try to [make the World Finals]. The important thing is nothing happened to Eric and the car is running very well, and finally, we can say we have a car capable of winning,” says Gonzalez.