[VIDEO] ‘Is it Even Charged!?’ Watch the ZR1X Embarrass a Tesla Model S Plaid at TX2K

Mar 23, 2026

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[VIDEO] 'Is it Even Charged!?' Watch the ZR1X Embarrass a Tesla Model S Plaid at TX2K

For the longest time, Corvettes were synonymous with the drag strip. From the showroom floor, there were sometimes nimbler sports cars out there, but there wasn’t much that could match America’s Sports Car’s mix of light weight and Big-Block grunt over the quarter mile. Since sometime around 2010, the relationship between ‘Vettes and straight lines has become… complicated. Around that time, while the ‘Vette stuck to its formula of RWD and manual transmissions, other manufacturers started experimenting with off-the-line hacks like All-Wheel-Drive, dual-clutch automatics, and the explosive power of turbocharging, and eventually electric powertrains that made even plug-in sedans and SUVs unbeatable at the strip.

Finally, though, the Corvette team figured out how to walk the tightrope or working some of that new-age go-fast wizardry into its eighth-generation halo models, without angering its traditional customer base. By moving its conventional V8 to the middle of the car, space was opened to electrify and animate the front wheels. The ultimate version of this new hybrid setup, dubbed the ZR1X, is starting to reach customers. With its potent mix of 1,064 horsepower twin-turbo LT7 V8 and an assisted front axle, it has already flexed its 1,250 total HP against Lucid in a controlled environment.

Now, it’s out in the wild, taking on the Lucid’s older cousin from Tesla, a 4,800-pound electric sedan with a name inspired by the 1987 comedy Space Balls that has been making a mockery of internal combustion in the quarter mile since 2021. We usually don’t like to spoil these matchups, but the ‘Vette is officially back on top of the 1,320-foot bragging right runway! Even if you’re like your author and prefer you’re ‘Vettes in original recipe RWD form, it’s hard not to enjoy this one because the return to form at the strip has been a long time coming!

That wasn’t the only Tesla Plaid to fall before the mighty ZR1X at TX2K. A video on Reddit shot from the spectator stands shows the ZR1X easily outrunning a Silver Tesla Plaid: