[VIDEO] Did a Corvette ZR1X Lose this Drag Race on Purpose?

Apr 30, 2026

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[VIDEO] Did a Corvette ZR1X Lose this Drag Race on Purpose?

For those lucky enough to own a new 1250-hp Corvette ZR1X, be warned…they are not undefeatable as this new drag strip video shows. However, it’s not because the car was beaten by a faster opponent. Most likely it’s due to playing by the rules that would get the new supercar kicked out for showing its true potential.

The Lyfe of Chevy YouTube channel recently visited Orlando Speedworld for some great racing action which included a Torch Red ZR1X and a Roswell Green Z06. There’s a little bit of everything on display including more than a few motorcycles going full-send down the prepped quarter mile track.

After nearly 10 minutes of footage from the staging lanes, we finally get to the meat-and-potatoes of this video which is the ZR1X going against an unlikely opponent – a Ford F150 Turbo.

The ZR1X has its removed its rear wing to improve downforce but that’s only half the story. As we learned from Wheeler and his ZR1 racing last year at the same dragstrip, if you want to go faster than 9.9 seconds on this track, you need some additional safety equipment or you’ll be kicked out for exceeding track limits.

As Car and Driver shared during their ZR1X review, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) which governs the rules of drag racing has already said the ZR1X is too fast to compete. NHRA’s street legal rules state that production cars aren’t allowed to go under 9.0 seconds or exceed 150 MPH in a quarter mile run. The AWD Hyper ‘Vette can regularly break both rules.

We don’t know whether either of these drivers are wearing the required racing jackets or have other safety equipment in their cars, but the ZR1X ran nearly a second slower than what Chevrolet engineers to for their official run of 8.675 seconds in the quarter mile. Perhaps the driver may have listened to Doug DeMuro’s advice which is to go like hell for the first 8th mile and then let off to stay within the limits of the track. Without hearing from the driver I guess we’ll never know if he sandbagged his own run.

[VIDEO] Did a Corvette ZR1X Loose this Drag Race on Purpose?

The race against the Ford F150 Turbo resulted in a loss for the new ZR1X with a time of 9.51 seconds at 149.50 mph. Later on it would face the Roswell Green Z06 with a nearly identical time of 9.51 seconds at 148.09 mph. In between, we see a couple of Stingrays also doing some full sends against each other as well as a Dodge Charger.

The racing action with the ZR1X and other Corvettes begins at around 10 minutes into the video.