Back in 2010, colorful small-tire race promoter Donald Long concocted a one-of-kind racing category known as Radial versus The World, that had one single principle: bring whatever you’ve got, no matter what it is, slap a set of a radials on it, and let’s see what you’ve got. In the four and a half years since that time, the class has seen a conglomeration of Outlaw Drag Radial cars and former and current Outlaw 10.5 cars take on the field, but it wasn’t until this spring that the extremes of that no-holds-barred intent were approached, when former ADRL Pro Nitrous champion Jamie Hancock entered a lightweight, full tube chassis Pro Modified car running on a set of 315 drag radials. 

Hancock was quick right out of the gate, leaving many to wonder just how quick a dedicated, thoroughbred race car could go on radial tires. Well, that answer was given loud and clear over the weekend, when Hancock became the first racer in history to record a 4.0-second lap in his Chevrolet Corvette during the Outlaw Radial Shootout at North Carolina’s Shadyside Dragway on Saturday night.

Hancock tripped the sixty-foot clocks in an incredible 1.03-seconds on his way to the unbelievable run, which also came with a record speed — for a nitrous car — of 180 MPH. Hancock had already been in the teens over the course of the event, as had Scotty Gaudagno and Kevin Mullins, but it was Hancock that threw the gauntlet down with the first ever 4-oh.

Naturally, Hancock’s big run has already stirred some debates about the race weight of the car and the legality under the RvsW rules and even the simple fact that it’s a purpose-built Pro Mod. The fact remains, though, that Hancock got it done on radials and was fully legal for the event for which we was competing in, and there’s not much more you can ask for beyond that.

And with that, the race to the ‘threes’ officially begins….

Video Credit: Zac Clontz