ECTA Ohio Mile 2016 Results

Earlier this month, the East Coast Timing Association kicked off its 2016 event schedule as the ECTA hosted The Ohio Mile in Wilmington, Ohio. High-speed racing enthusiasts headed to Airborne Park for a weekend of horsepower-packed fun. This year featured a number of speed records set.

Despite some crappy weather putting a damper on Saturday’s fun, spectators were treated to more than 500 runs on a track that seems built to push the boundaries of fast and loud. Unfortunately, Area Diesel Service friend and resident speed demon Jeff Gerner was unable to run the fastest Audi in the world, as the rain marked yet another bad break for the record-setting driver. On the upside, Jeff is the real deal when it comes to being a supercharged speed freak, so he took solace in watching his fellow drivers and motorcycle riders lay down the heat. As for Jeff getting his own land speed fix, we’re hoping for sunny skies at the Arkansas Mile—the weekend of June 3 - 5.

Motorcycle Racing Tragedy Narrowly Avoided

Far more important than the heavy rain causing any driver to miss the chance to run (even after many traveled hundreds if not thousands of miles to compete), The Ohio Mile saw a near-tragic motorcycle crash, which had us all holding our breath and praying for racer Guy Caputo. After taking his custom-built Tiger Racing motorcycle to incredible speeds, something caused Guy to momentarily lose control. As we all know, in the world of land speed turbo motorcycle competition, a split second is all it takes to put a racer at life-threatening risk.

Out of respect for Guy’s wife Dianna and their family, we will skip any detailed description of the crash itself. Suffice it to say, though, that Guy suffered serious injuries, including numerous broken bones and soft tissue damage. The medical crew at The Ohio Mile quickly airlifted the injured racer from Airborne Park and transported to nearby Miami Valley Hospital.

We are thrilled to relay the news that, when it comes to the things that can impact long-term quality of life, Guy is said to have a clean bill of health. He is obviously in tremendous pain and requires an extended recovery period that will keep him at the hospital. That’s rough. Most importantly, though, the hospital staff ran a CT scan, which showed no evidence of brain damage. That’s really all we can ask for after a crash at such high speeds.

From our Area Diesel team to Guy and his family, we just want to quickly wish you a speedy and full recovery.

Ohio Mile 2016 Winners

Like all fans of The Ohio Mile, we were especially excited about the Hot Rod Magazine Top Speed Challenge. The two big winners for that showdown were Jay Bell and C. Douglas Johnson. With an incredible run of 229.2410 MPH, Jay took the Real Street bragging rights. Douglas earned the weekend's Super Street title, hitting a top speed of 222.1125 MPH.

It didn't quite make the leaderboard, but the 1950s Ford Jim Cochran ran at Ohio Mile 2016 sounds like a winner to us. (Video originally posted on the ECTA Facebook page).

Of course, when you get upward of 500 runs at an event, plenty of drivers have the chance to earn the ol' atta boy for notching impressive speeds. Check out the Top Speeds table below to see who made the cut.

Table 1 Ohio Mile Run 2016 Top Speeds

Ohio Mile 200 MPH Club

With its reputation for one jaw-dropping run after another, all eyes at The Ohio Mile 2016 were focused on top speeds. Wouldn't you know that had drivers motivated to join the Ohio Mile 200 MPH Club, and quite a few did. See the updated list (all-time) of drivers who have broken 200 MPH at Airborne Park:

Table 2 Ohio Mile Drivers Who Have Topped 200 MPH

East Coast Timing Association Future Events

The ECTA dropped a bit of bombshell on Facebook this month when announcing that its event agreement with the Wilmington Air Park has been modified to an "event to event agreement." Leadership at the ECTA was quick to show appreciation for its partnership with the Air Park, saying "They have been a great partner for us and we have been very glad to have the air park as our place to race." The Facebook post also stated that while the ECTA may very well have full use of the Air Park for all currently planned events, the fact is, they no longer guarantee that availability for more than one event at a time.

This news means that drivers can comfortably sign up for the ECTA's June 18th and 19th competition, but the event scheduled for September 30 - October 2nd could potentially get cancelled. As the ECTA put it for drivers, "you are rolling the dice" on events scheduled beyond June.

Congrats to all the drivers, fans, and organizers for another kickass Ohio Mile. Finally, here's wishing the ECTA, not to mention all the land speed racing fans in the area, the best of luck on finding an excellent new track right away.