Mark Donohue Talladega Speed Record - Porsche 917-30

[themechanic]

This is an interesting bit of history.

 

[44070dart]

I remember years ago Wallace ran 223 or 228 without a restricter plate at Talladega .. straight away speed.. it was just a test NASCAR wanted to see the speed without the plate ..

 

[themechanic]

Brave men.

 

[44070dart]

A little crazy helps also

 

[Budnicks]

Pretty cool piece of history...

looked like a special Penske 917 Porsche

 

[33 IMP]

Restricted 358. Can you imagine if all that development had been done to an unrestricted big block in nascar? They've been trying to slow them down since the early seventies. Remember 305 ci superbirds?

 

[44070dart]

Just looked it up..
Rusty Wallace tested a car at Talladega Superspeedway without a restrictor plate in 2004, reaching a top speed of 228 mph (367 km/h) in the backstretch and a one-lap average of 221 mph (356 km/h).

 

[themechanic]

https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=3314

Historical Motorsports Stories writes:
"When Mark Donohue Broke The Speed Record at Talladega"
Posted by nascarman on August 9, 2018
Viewed 827 times

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Mark Donohue went to Talladega on August 9, 1975 to become the fastest man to ever drive around a race track. As part of Talladega's NASCAR race weekend, the track invited the Indy/sports-car racer to prove that the 2.5 mile speedway was the fastest in the world.



The world record that Donohue chased was set one year prior. In August 1974, A.J. Foyt set the closed-course record at the Alabama track with a speed of 217.854 mph. By just rolling his IndyCar off the truck with his Indy 500 setup in it, Foyt's run came with little effort. Now in 1975, Donohue was expected to break it.

To better the record at Talladega, the 1972 Indy 500 champion and Roger Penske brought one of the most ferocious cars ever built: the Porsche 917-30, which competed in the Can-Am series in 1973. With Donohue behind the wheel, the car became known as the "Can-Am Killer" because its dominance led to reduced interest in the series and Can-Am folded during the 1974 season. Also nicknamed the "The Turbo Panzer," the 917 boasted nearly 1200 horsepower and could go from 0-200 in about 13 seconds. What made it really special for Talladega was its top speed: just a hair shy of 250 mph.

Almost two years had past since Donohue last drove the car. On October 28, 1973, Mark stood in victory lane at Riverside International Raceway beside the 917-30. After winning the Can-Am season finale and claiming the championship, Donohue delivered the shocking announcement that he was retiring as a driver. With the exception of an IROC race at Daytona in Feburary, Mark would never race again. Instead, he was to become the President and General Manager of Penske Racing, developing and building cars for others to drive.

"I always have said that I was a better engineer than I was a driver," Donohue said at Riverside. "Now, I'll have a chance to prove my theory!" After winning the IROC finale and championship in February, Donohue began a retirement which lasted only seven months. When Roger Penske wanted to enter Formula 1, he convinced his team president to come back and drive, thinking the car's development would be easier if he raced and evaluated it.

In 1975, Roger Penske was spreading his racing empire pretty thin. He had Donohue in Formula 1, Tom Sneva in IndyCar, and Bobby Allison jumping back-and-forth between Indy and NASCAR. When the team accepted the challenge to bring their old car to Alabama and set the record, Donohue was in the middle of a European stretch of races. On July 19th, he finished 5th in the British GP; then flew back to test at Talladega, unofficially reaching 220.465 mph. On August 3rd, Donohue fell out of the German GP after only 1 lap. The following week, he was back in Alabama, finally ready to break the record.

Painted in a red and white CAM 2 Motor Oil scheme, the Turbo Panzer was brought out of retirement for its most spectacular run yet. Under cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 80s, Donohue raced around the track with a blistering average speed of 221.160 mph, breaking Foyt's record. Receiving congratulations, Donohue said the track had more speed in it, the car did not.

"I don't think this is an ultimate speed here as far as the track is concerned, but there is a limit for technology," Donohue said. "This type of car was not built for high banks. It was set up for 200 miles per hour on the Can-Am circuit." Going fast mechanically is one thing, for a human to go faster than 220 mph presents some scary challenges.

"Going into the first turn is an eerie feeling," Donohue told reporters. "I was a little chicken and got what we call 'baloon foot.' The G-forces are strange at that speed. It gives you the tendency to fall asleep, to forget who you are and where you are."

(Gadsden Times)

Despite the Porsche reaching 241 mph at the end of the straightaways, A.J. Foyt thought the speed was relatively slow and could be beaten easily. "I believe I could back my (Indycar) off the trailer and make a couple of adjustments and run 225 right now. And it wouldn't take me two weeks to get ready for it."

He wasn't the only one who thought it could be beat. NASCAR crew chief, Harry Hyde thought that a turbocharged, Dodge Daytona wing car could hit 230 mph. Donohue wasn't expecting the record to last forever, and he wanted to go even faster.

"If someone beats my record, I'd love to come back and try again. But I can assure you, it will be in a completely different looking car built to set a record here."

Tragically, Donohue never got the chance to return. Just seven days after his Talladega triumph, the 38 year-old was fatally injured in a violent practice crash during the Formula 1 Austrian GP.

But almost surprisingly, still 43 years later, Donohue's Talladega record still stands. Cars have gone much faster at race tracks since then, but no one has ever gone around Talladega any faster. Currently the closed-course record at any race track was set by Gil De Ferran at California Speedway in 2000: 241.428 mph. With higher banking and longer straightaways, you would think speeds could be even higher at Talladega. But no one has ever beaten Donohue's mark.

 

[44070dart]

I wonder if "balloon foot " is that feeling you get when your foot feel light because you want to lift but don't ..been there but at about a hundred miles per hour slower.