Most people know or have a rough estimate of how fast they are in a quarter mile, but have you ever wondered how fast your car or bike can go in a standing mile? The Texas Mile, now held 3 times a year, is a national event held at an old airport in Goliad, TX, where speed demons zoom down a runway to see what their top speed is at the 1 mile mark. 220 participants registered for unlimited runs down the mile for either 2 or 3 days while 30 others were on the waiting list to take up the spots of any cancellations or no shows. I wanted to test my bimmer out there, but I had to hold back the awesome power of my 150HP BMW 323i as I still had to get back to Houston.
A sea of speed demons waiting to go balls out.
What are the fastest mile records so far? 324MPH by a Turbo Jet turbine car, fastest bike record holder 278.6MPH by Bill Warner, and Richard Holt’s Underground Racing TT Lamborghini Gallardo holds the record for fastest car at 250.1MPH.
The A.R.T. TT #1800 Viper set the record for fastest Viper and vehicle of days 1 and 2 with a best of 240.9MPH.
Some of you may remember last year when the fastest car, Underground Racing’s TT Gallardo, went airborne after hitting a berm while trying to slow down at 240MPH. This year, Hinson Motorsports’ C6 Corvette followed a similar fate as it crashed in speeds of over 230MPH trying to slow down. I was able to snap a shot of the vehicle right at the 0 mile mark as it was taking off, but I was unable to get any shots of the wreck. You can see photos and video of the damage here.
Hinson Motorsports' C6 Corvette Z06 at the 0 Mile right before crashing at 230MPH.
Before anyone can head out to the 0 mile marker, one would need to register with the front desk, attend a drivers meeting, and then pass tech inspection. It was important to attend just for your own safety as it is the number one priority of staff members at the Texas Mile.
Crystal Reyna helps with the registration at the Mile.
Black and yellow emergency life flight.
The cool thing about attending the mile is just meeting all the different types of people. While I was just walking around people offered me beer, food, and even rides. I even got to play a game of washers.
That's a pretty bad farmers tan.
You get points by trying to get it near or in the hole. Kinda like in real life.
The new boom boxes are a bit silly now...
Edafe was spotted around the Mile rocking a Stanceworks shirt.
The spectators attendance was a little over 1,000 which is pretty impressive since Goliad is about 80 miles away from the nearest city of San Antonio. To get around the mile you either had to walk, bike, or hitch rides with random people. I was able to hitch rides, but I walked a good 3.5 miles and probably lost about 10 lbs. from sweating.
Spectators were allowed in as early as 8AM.
Definitely no limits at the mile.
Definitely needed if you plan on attending future Texas Mile events.
15MPH was the goal for this 4 wheeler.
The pits of the mile were open to anyone and everyone. You were able to chat with the mechanics or drivers about the life history of their car and how they tuned them.
A.R.T. doing work to get the fastest speed of the days.
Corvettes were the main choice of weapon for a lot of drivers.
Beefy.
Twin powered blowers.
Choose your weapon.
Race gas was stationed in several areas of the mile.
Bike gear was mandatory.
Evolution Motorsports brought out their GT775 and EVT1500 997.1TT.
Immaculate interior of a 56 Corvette.
Mint condition.
Any bike manufacturer you can think of was probably there.
Ryan Gates setting up his EVO for day 1 of the mile.
The most nerve wrecking part of the mile had to be the wait at the 0 mile point. There were three lines of first come, first served. The order of runs were 5 cars then 5 bikes and so on. Runs started at 8am til dusk.
Waiting for the go.
Vehicles were not supposed to be left unattended... oh well.
The crowd's favorite: Big Red.
An older gentleman in bike gear waits for his turn to break 170MPH.
Ready for take off!
Ryan Gates' Time Attack EVO
Wonder why that towel is there?
Where are the headlights?
Serious aero.
I was rooting for this Ford Fiesta.
Not sure if he hit his goal of 105MPH but he did come close at 103MPH before I had left.
Skittles.
Alamo racing's CRX on Enkei's ran 180MPH for the mile.
Alamo's racing CRX driver focused.
Just chillin'
EvoMS's 997 TT ran a mile speed of 234.6MPH.
The A.R.T. Viper getting ready to scream down the mile.
The fun part of the mile was just hanging out with friends and talking with other media sources such as Ryan Gates’ media crew, Corpus Christi’s newspaper “The Caller” staff photographer Michael, Linhbergh from Speedhunters, and James Evins for Modified.
Gates' Media Crew was out in full force filming for Mitsubishi.
Linhbergh captures the soul of James Evins through his camera.
I was next.
For the next mile event in May, I’m definitely bringing sun block, a big ass cowboy hat, and a bike. Without these necessities at the Mile, you’ll end up burnt physically and mentally.
If you plan to stay overnight, a nice 2 person tent is great to have! This one was used by James Evins and Linhbergh.
I’d also like to thank the staff members of the Texas Mile for making sure I was able to have a good experience at the mile. I’ll definitely be back and hopefully with the rest of the Mayday crew.
Crystal and Jessica Reyna
Pictures taken by Myself exclusively for MaydayGarage.
Results from the Texas Mile can be found here.
–Danh–
dphan@maydaygarage.com