The ink on the window sticker is barely dry, and the first customer-owned 2026 Corvette ZR1X has already been taken to a drag strip. Because of course it has. This is America.
The car belongs to Peter, the man behind the TX2K event in Dallas — which, if you’re a car person, basically makes him the king of organized chaos on four wheels. TX2K recently hosted a test-and-tune session, and Brooks from Drag Times was on hand to see what Peter’s brand-new, arctic white, all-wheel-drive monster could do in the quarter mile.
Strip It Down, Strap In
Peter’s ZR1X came loaded with the ZTK Performance Package — carbon aero, the towering high wing, and carbon fiber wheels that save precious pounds. But in true enthusiast fashion, the first order of business was removing stuff. The big rear wing? Gone. The floor mats? Also gone. Brooks, to his credit, made a point of flagging that Chevrolet does not recommend pulling the wing, as it messes with the car’s aerodynamic balance. But when there’s a record to chase, apparently floor mats are the enemy.
The goal was clear: match or beat the official Corvette engineer-set quarter-mile time of 8.675 seconds at 159 mph, recorded at a Michigan track last October.
Run One: Hold On to Something
Conditions were nearly ideal: sunny, temperatures in the 50s, and a Density Altitude reading of -166, which is about as friendly as the atmosphere gets for going fast. After a burnout to warm the tires, Brooks climbed in and described the prepped track as “super-sticky.” When he launched the ZR1X in all-wheel drive, an expletive escaped — the kind that means things are going very, very well.
The result: 8.74 seconds at 159 mph. The Dragy gadget strapped inside showed a 1.77-second 0-60 mph time and a 3.86-second 60-to-130 mph window. For context, that’s the kind of acceleration that makes your organs briefly file for independent status.
Run Two: Consistency is King
Peter took the wheel for the second pass, lining up against a built Camaro (which, honestly, feels like a family reunion at this point). The ZR1X clocked 8.784 seconds at 157.49 mph — nearly identical to the first run. “Repeat, repeat… let’s go,” Brooks called from the sidelines. Turns out strapping a twin-turbo, electric-assisted supercar to the track tends to produce repeatable results. Who knew.
Run Three: Warmer Air, Extra Tweaks, Slightly Sideways
As the day heated up, so did the experimenting. Peter pulled off the front gurney lip — the little aerodynamic flap that pokes up from the hood — for another small shot at drag reduction. The DA had crept up to 300 by this point, meaning the air was thicker and less favorable.
Brooks went back behind the wheel. The ZR1X hooked, launched, and those familiar with the E-Ray will recognize the sound of that front electric motor spinning up. Except this time, Brooks admitted the car went “sideways a little bit.” The clock read 8.8 seconds at 159.28 mph — slightly off the pace, though the speed held up just fine.
The Electric Motor: Overachieving on Purpose
One of the more fascinating data points from the day came from the car’s Performance Gauge. The front electric motor — rated at 186 hp — actually peaked at 198 hp during the run before dropping off by roughly 100 hp once the car surpassed 130 mph. That same overachieving behavior has been spotted in the E-Ray’s 160-hp motor, suggesting Chevy is quietly underselling the electric side of this powertrain. Modest of them.
The Bottom Line
No, they didn’t beat 8.675 on this particular day. But they came close — on a public test-and-tune, with a wing removed, a gurney lip pried off, and floor mats sacrificed to the speed gods. The ZR1X is clearly consistent, clearly potent, and clearly owned by people who are not going to park it in a garage and stare at it.
Peter probably already has another track day on the calendar. The floor mats are still in the trailer.