Speed Lover Clocks in at 170 MPH at Daytona Speedway

Some people climb mountains, sail around the world or run marathons to get their thrills. Wayne Strausbaugh, a resident of Fairfield Harbour will tell you his passion is high speed driving and he has a bucket list solely dedicated to improving his driving and his speed.

He owns a Corvette Z06 and drives it around the USA on NASCAR circuits like Daytona International Speedway and on some of the most famous road courses in the country. He logged over 1500 track miles on his last car - a 2014 C7 Z51 Corvette Stingray. Wayne has driven on 12 of the 24 NASCAR tracks, been to 7 High Performance Driving Schools, and has qualified for a full competition racing license.

Published on Nov 10, 2016

CDR Wayne drives his Z06 on the Rolex course at Daytona International Speedway with Performance Driving Group. The first part of the track time was marred by the car/transmission being in Tour Mode vice Track Mode in an attempt to monitor engine temps. Chevy took away the temp gauge on the dash in favor of a boost gauge. You don't need a boost gauge - you can FEEL IT! Daytona means high RPM's for extended periods and can cause overheating quickly. But what a great track to drive...!

When not driving his own car, he has driven Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, Maserati’s, McLaren’s, Lamborghini’s, Audi’s, Mercedes’ and even a go cart. So why and when does a high speed performance driver climb into a go cart? A breast cancer charity event held by Pippa Mann, the only female to enter the Indy 500 for the 100th running, enticed Wayne to try and beat Pippa on the go cart track. (You should ask him who won.)

If you’re wondering what it feels like to hit 170 MPH driving your own Z06 on the Daytona track, go to Wayne’s website at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-7attRTgxiQqAdPf0jW57g. Wayne has even been known to drive his Vette to the local grocery store, but his around-town car is a Pontiac G8 with a large V8 engine – a muscle car.

At the Indy 500 this year, he rode in an Indy car with Mario Andretti who hit 210 mph. Wayne, as a former fighter pilot (Navy Commander), calculated that to be an exhilarating pull of 3 Gs in the turns. But nothing can surpass the time he spun out at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 160 MPH in an Indy car – that was pure adrenaline! Its life in the fast lane…

CDR Wayne drives a Ferrari 458 on Las Vegas' newest track at SpeedVegas. Wayne had driven with Jeff before at another track and Jeff likes to go fast! This video shows up the speed on the backstretch better than just about any he had done before. It felt fast - and even Jeff was sweating...