In the opening round of ODSS Pro Mod eliminations at the Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, Danny Blankenship steered his blown 1940 Ford (formerly ’41 Willys) to an unofficial quickest pass ever by a Powerglide-equipped doorslammer.

In just his first outing with the car recently acquired from Terry Leggett and only his fifth pass in it, Blankenship left with a .975 60-foot time, followed by 2.604 to halfway (330 feet) and 3.959 at 181.96 mph that beat Eddie Smith to Orangeburg Dragstrip’s eighth-mile finish line.

In the opening round of ODSS Pro Mod eliminations at the Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, Danny Blankenship steered his blown 1940 Ford (formerly ’41 Willys) to an unofficial quickest pass ever by a Powerglide-equipped doorslammer.

In just his first outing with the car recently acquired from Terry Leggett and only his fifth pass in it, Blankenship left with a .975 60-foot time, followed by 2.604 to halfway (330 feet) and 3.959 at 181.96 mph that beat Eddie Smith to Orangeburg Dragstrip’s eighth-mile finish line.

“I was surprised, given the conditions,” Blankenship said of the 100-degree air, 135-plus degrees track temperature and corrected altitude in the 3,700-feet range. “But the track was like I’d never seen before—ever.”

When informed of the role VP traction specialist Jason Rueckert played in preparing the surface, the Columbia, South Carolina-based driver responded, “Well, Jason’s the man, then, ‘cause the track has always been good, but it’s never been better.”

Like a true racer, Blankenship said there’s still “a lot more” left in the car, but he never got to find out as his race day ended a little prematurely when he turned on the dreaded red bulb in the second round against Robbie Matthews.