The sight of cars flying down the runway at Marion Municipal Airport in Marion, Indiana in the month of August is nothing new. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway may play host to the Indy 500, but in August a different type of race pushes to go even faster – Indy Airstrip Attack. A half-mile airstrip race with one goal. To shatter records.
This year Jessica and Tyler Hassing looked to push their Grabber Blue Mustang (aka Attention Grabber) into the 230mph range. The car already holds the world record for the fastest stock-block Gen 1 Coyote. During the off-season, Jessica and Tyler Hassing made changes to the car with the goal of 2,300 horsepower using Wiseco pistons and a Garrett 109mm turbo.
Rolling into Marion with an untested car they had three days to work the kinks out and chase the Mustang half-mile record. Unfortunately for Jessica Hassing and her crew, a world record wouldn’t come easy.
Day 1 would see the Hassing crew make a run early in the day, struggling for the first quarter-mile, she would only reach 186.72mph – a far cry of the ultimate goal 230mph. But with a parachute that failed to deploy its best that she didn’t go any faster.
On run 2 there was a boost issue causing a backfire at 50psi of boost and it resulted in a trap speed of 147.11mph. At the end of the run they would discover that the parachute cable was bound up and they would again have no chute. After correcting the issue with boost and the parachute it was time to try again.
Run 3 was a mixture of things both good and bad. Unbeknownst to the team, the 50psi had cracked the dry side of the intercooler which caused a leak (they had no boost), while the parachute did finally deploy it was bittersweet as the speed was only 123.39mph.
As the afternoon came to an end, they made a late run to Fathouse Performance and Fabrication, a Mustang focused performance shop located an hour and a half south, to weld up the intercooler to keep them in the fight for the next two days of racing.
They would charge into day 2 and start to find their stride with a 207.95mph, but in the next 2 runs would again run into gremlins throughout the day – traction and oil pressure issues both reared their ugly heads. On the last run on Saturday, a different set of rear tires helped Jessica run a new PB of 210.08mph in Attention Grabber.
Day 3 was make or break day for Jessica Hassing. Off the trailer she would make a safe pass from A to B to qualify during the run. A faulty VCT plug caused an oil pressure limiter to kick in and the electronic safety cut power, but it was still a good one, a 211.27mph run snatching the crown as North America’s fastest Mustang in the half-mile. Unfortunately they fell short of the world record by two miles an hour.
The day wasn’t over yet. They had not come this far to just squeak out a record and go home. Come Sunday with 2 of the top 4 out, the opportunity to snatch victory was still possible. They turned the car down to make an A-to-B pass and ran 208.24mph, solidifying a first place in class finish for their first time at Shift Sector Indy Airstrip Attack.
Speaking with Jessica a few days later she said, “It was a little surreal. After everything we’d fought to overcome all weekend, it seemed like the goals were unattainable. Hearing Jimmy confirm it on the live stream really brought it all together. Still can’t believe we did it and can’t wait to keep working towards the fastest female in 2wd and that 230 jacket.”
Attention Grabber is looking to earn its nickname!
