Last August, Eric Calabrese and Scott Fetherolf accomplished what no other Volkswagen-powered doorslammer had ever done, as their “Red Baron” 1957 VW Sedan sailed into the seven-second zone with a 7.98 at the Speedworld Dragstrip in Arizona with their 2.3L, air-cooled boxer engine. This of course is no small feat when

you consider the design of these engines, with their four horizontally opposed cylinders and the rather small power output numbers they produced originally.

With the site once again the Speedworld Dragstrip in Wittmann, Arizona, the “Red Baron” team gained some company two weeks ago when 2011 Pro Racing Association (PRA) champion Kris Lauffer and the VW Paradise “Hater Maker” team became just the second VW-powered racer to pick up a seven-second time slip, recording a 7.99 at 177 MPH, which was then backed up to reset the PRA Pro Modified record.

Lauffer’s killer pass appeared off to an auspicious start with a lazy, almost rolling launch before the little Volkswagen began to make hay just beyond the 60 foot marker and blasted on through the quarter mile to the 7.99 that ignited a raucous applause from those in attendance.