The “200 MPH Club” at the famous Texas Mile is not an easy group to gain membership into. Every year, many high speed junkies try to clip that magic mark down in Beeville, Texas, but only a few actually manage to achieve it. We’re proud to say that our good friends from SAM Racing can now count themselves as members of this prestigious club after their run of 200.4 MPH at the Fall 2012 Texas Mile.

SAM Racing proved at the Texas Mile that they aren't just a force to be reckoned with in the quarter-mile; turns out their hand built LSX mills are just as formidable in top-speed challenges.

The School of Automotive Machinists (SAM) prides itself on not only teaching knowledge of advanced engine building skills, but also on giving their students ample opportunities to put that knowledge to use on the racetrack. If you follow LSX drag racing at all, then you already know how successful they’ve been on the drag strip with their All-Motor 4^th Gen Camaro. Now, the team at SAM Racing can add The Texas Mile to the list of motorsports venues where they have proved their considerable automotive aptitude.

On October 28th, SAM Racing brought out their latest LSX based project – the E85 4^th Gen Camaro for a few blasts down the standing mile. The first time we reported on this car was when SAM dipped deep into the 9’s at this year’s Holley LS Fest. However, for the Texas Mile the SAM crew actually made very few changes to the car to get it ready for its top-speed blast. The Camaro is still powered by the same 775 horsepower 427ci LSX mill running on E85 (hand built by SAM’s students and instructors). The rest of the drive line consists of a TH400 trans, a torque converter from Ultimate Converter Concepts, and a 3.25 geared rear end built by Pyle Brothers out of Houston, Texas. For the suspension, the black 4^th Gen is equipped with a tubular K-member, A-arms, front and rear sway bar, and torque arm all from BMR Suspension. Also a set of Racecraft 2” drop spindles help drop some weight, lower the Camaro’s center of gravity, and keep the shock travel where it needs to be.

One of the few changes the SAM team did make to the Camaro was the addition of 18×9 and 18×11 Fikse wheels, wrapped in 245/35ZR18 and 295/40/ZR18 Hoosier R6 rubber. To help plant that rubber to the tarmac with  as much down-force as possible, a Racecraft wing and hatch filler panel were added along with a front spoiler from RK. Aerospace drag brakes work with a Stroud parachute on a Wolfe Racecraft chute mount to haul the car back down.

Linda Massingill once again served as the pilot for this corn-fueled LSX rocket ship during its blast down the 5280. “I cannot believe the car nor myself went that fast,” Massingill tells us. “It was a blast, everything goes by incredibly quick.”

 Congratulations to SAM Racing on making the 200 MPH Club from all of us here at Power Automedia!

SAM Racing would like to thank the good folks at the following companies for all their help in making this accomplishment possible: Edelbrock, Chevrolet Performance, Jesel, COMP Cams, MSD Ignition, Holley, Crower, Late Model Engineering, KRAMM-Lox, Diamond Pistons, Clevite, Fel-Pro, and Racepak.