Ken Block confronted everyone in his 1965 “Hoonicorn” Ford Mustang for a YouTube series called “Hoonicorn vs the World”. This time, however, Block was not behind the wheel.
For the first season of the series’ second season, Block gave his 14-year-old daughter Lia driving duties. She lined up against NHRA Top Fuel racer Alex Laughlin and his Speed Association Corvette’s Radial vs the World (RVW) car for the best three-person drag racing challenge.
If you didn’t already know, the Hoonicorn is a Ford V-8 powered four-wheel drive monster native to NASCAR. When it first appeared in Block’s “Gymkhana 7” video, it made 845 horsepower. Subsequent upgrades brought it up to 1,400 horsepower, which Block actually said was terrifying. That sounds like a lot of cars to anyone, let alone a teenager.
The Corvette features a 526 cubic inch turbocharged Hemi V-8 engine that can churn out up to 4,000 horsepower in its most powerful tune. Both the turbocharger and the transmission are covered with a ballistic blanket in case they fly apart at high speeds.
Although Corvette seemed to have a big advantage in power, the race was played on an unprepared surface. So Laughlin slowed the car down to 1,800 horsepower, according to the Speed Society. Even then, because the track surface was covered in dust, debris and imperfections, he struggled to stay on track.
After an unclear result for the first 500-foot race, Laughlin requested the traction compound and another 500-foot run. That strategy paid off, as he won despite a rubber burn on the track. However, the race eventually ran to 1,000 feet, and Hoonicorn beat the Corvette by three car lengths. Watch the full video to see the action unfold.
