We're eagerly starting the second leg of the summer with some nightly brawls at the local quarter-mile dragstrip – a C8 versus Y skirmish that took place at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The action never ends at the track complex in Nevada – which has had many names before LVMS: Las Vegas Speedway Park (1993 to 1996), Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, or the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 until 1990. It features a 1.5-mile tri-oval intermediate speedway, a road course complex inside the track's infield, numerous adjacent to the track's infield, as well as a dragstrip that has been part of the mix since the opening in 1972.
Back in 2000, it was completely rebuilt from the ground up and renamed as 'The Strip,' while in 2017, it was expanded to four lanes just like zMax Dragway, for example. However, using all four is not common, especially for the nightly skirmishes of paying customers. Well, it doesn't matter. Usually, the action is high on octane with just two cars. But that's not the case here, as only one of the rivals sips gasoline – the other is eating electrons.
The protagonists are easily some of the most famous around, by the way. The Tesla Model Y was last year's best-selling vehicle in the world if we discard Toyota's attempt to discredit it with its bundling of the Corolla Cross with the rest of the Corolla models. This year, though, it's not faring so well – customers are probably eager to see the same upgrades as the refreshed Model 3, and the official rant that it's not coming this year is deeply affecting it.
The other one is the C8 Chevrolet Corvette, 'America's sports car' reinvented for the mid-engine lifestyle and made umpteen times better for it. The Corvette Team is now on the way to introduce the 2025 ZR1 flagship – but that doesn't mean the Stingray can't hold its own at the local quarter-mile dragstrip anymore. Quite on the contrary, as it turns out – with one tiny catch, though.
The videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube is a big fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and found a soon-classic ICE versus EV brawl in the form of this maroon C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and gray Tesla Model Y (probably the Performance model). All bets are off with these kinds of races because even though the Model Y has the advantage of AWD and instant torque, we have seen times when the Stingray dropped in for the unannounced surprise kill.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the case on this occasion – the Tesla Model Y owner was slightly quicker off the start line, and although the V8 rascal roared loudly while trying to recoup the lost distance, it was the EV that took the laurels with one of those cases of "it's close, but not close enough:" 12.44s versus 12.55s. As it turns out, had it been the other Corvette in the video – a white and black-striped C8 coupe rather than this brown Corvette HTC (hardtop convertible), things would have looked differently because when they fought, the coupe dropped a 12.29s pass on the 12.68s C8 sibling. Oh, well, better luck next time, says the always-optimist ICE-powered mid-engine sports car fan, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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