Image source: Ford Performance

Imagine the upset when the American NHRA racecar driver, Bo Butner, steps into Europe with no more than his weather station, his laptop, and his helmet – and he walks away with the fastest European Super Stock E.T. in all of Europe. Finishing off with an 8.53-second pass, Butner broke the record using a 2012 Cobra Jet belonging to Swedish owner, Hakan Prytz. The Cobra had been in storage since it was new, and it had never seen the sweet asphalt of a drag strip.

Using his extensive knowledge of Ford Performance products, Butner and his team tuned the Cobra and had it ready to tear up the track. The Cobra Jet that he raced is powered by a 5.4-liter V8 engine with a 4.0-liter Whipple supercharger.

The race took place at the Tierp Arena in Tierp, Sweden. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive from Stockholm, and the Tierp Arena is known for being one of the finest drag strips in the world; so there would have been no better place for Butner and his team to break the record. It only took three runs to get down the time that set the new record. Keep in mind, this record was set while driving a car that had been in storage since 2012.

“I wish we could have finished the race, because I had every intention of putting this Cobra Jet in the Winner’s Circle. But I’m happy that we left Sweden with the record,” Butner explained in the Ford Performance article. Butner is referring to how he was not able to complete the races because of the rain. “I am happy that we were able to bring the record back to the U.S. I’m already thinking that we need to go back next year and try to go even quicker.”