“The Home of the World Figure 8” ® was rocked by a blazing timed lap by the legendary CJ Rayburn. The 2006 Speedrome Hall of Fame inductee made the atmosphere electric for fans and everyone in the pits after his incredible lap of 11.378 seconds. The World record setting circuit was the fastest ever timed lap at the Speedrome or at any other paved 1/5-mile speedway.

“ I love this place,” Rayburn exclaimed after exiting his record setting ride Saturday. “We made some adjustments after the attempt earlier this evening and made the car better. I think I could get underneath the 11-second mark with a few more changes and the right conditions”, said the Whiteland, Indiana car builder. This wrapped-up a successful week that saw a Rayburn built machine driven by Curtis McMurtrey win the World Figure 8 Championship the previous Saturday.

Rayburn, who was the overall Speedrome record holder with a lap of 11.675 seconds from September 26, 1981 until July 1, 1982, eclipsed the two fastest records on the books on Saturday. First, he shot down the stockcar mark of 11.621 seconds set on that July day by fellow car builder Steve Ellis. He also bested the time of 11.397 seconds set by Gary Fedewa in a Sprint Car on August 11, 2000. CJ’s clocking now stands alone atop the list of timed events at the 65-year-old track.

CJ had been in hot pursuit of the mark throughout the summer at the Speedrome, where he began building racecars for back in the late 1970’s. He made two evening long assaults during the months of July and August with a best lap of 11.860 seconds. These attempts had the Dirt car dynamo even more enthralled in the challenge of the tricky almost flat surface here. He took home the notes taken from those sessions to apply to the specialized machine. Afterwards, many of his crew and friends greeted Rayburn at the start/finish line to help him celebrated the triumph.

above is from press release read more at speedrome.com