At over 200 mph, Tucson duo rockets to highway speed record in Nevada

Two Tucsonans in a 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo broke a world record Sunday for the fastest race on a public highway.

Driver Robert Allyn and navigator David Bauer kept an average speed of 219.64 miles per hour on a remote 90-mile stretch of Nevada Highway 318 during the Nevada Open Road Challenge. They beat the previous Guinness World Record of 217.56 mph set at the 2012 race, according to a news release from the race organizers.

The fact that he now holds a world record “hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Allyn said Monday as he drove back to Tucson.

The duo hit 243 mph during the race, Allyn said, but the average speed is what matters in the race.

“It’s pretty hard to describe,” Allyn said. “Once you get over 200 mph things are happening pretty quickly.”

To get a sense of how fast that is, a car traveling 204 mph goes the length of a football field every second, he said.

He straddles the crown of the road to give himself enough space to correct course, he said. Tiny ruts in the road might not be noticeable at normal speeds, but they have a “pronounced” effect during the race.

“Even moving a fraction of an inch, that’s magnified,” he said.

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The Nevada Open Road Challenge began in 1991 and is held annually in May. A similar race, the Silver State Classic Challenge began in 1988 and is held in the fall, said event organizer John Bigley.

Drivers take off at one-minute intervals to avoid collisions, Bigley said. Police clear the road for participants, but elk and other animals that wander onto the road are always a concern. Five people have died in the races.

When asked about the danger, Allyn said he gets “butterflies” before the race, but once it starts “you don’t have time to think about anything but the task at hand.”

Based on their skill level, more than 100 drivers enter categories that start at 95 miles per hour and increase in five-mile-per-hour increments up to 180 mph.

The challenge is to stay as close to the category’s designated speed as possible, Allyn said. He and Bauer set their record while driving in the “unlimited” category for speeds above 180 mph.

Allyn has competed in both races every year since 2010. He used to drive a Corvette, but needed something faster so he switched to the Monte Carlo, which was an “old Nascar stock car.”

He plans to keep participating, but he said he has “no desire” to try to beat his new record.