GM puts on high-powered drag races for Trump at Milford stop

Posted by Talbot Payne on July 31, 2026

After exiting The Beast, President Trump stands in front of Building 106 at the Milford Proving Grounds draped in U.S. and GM flags.

After exiting The Beast, President Trump stands in front of Building 106 at the Milford Proving Grounds draped in U.S. and GM flags.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

FOOM! An all-wheel-drive, 1,250-horsepower, hybrid V-8/electric Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, the most powerful American sportscar ever produced, exploded past the presidential viewing stand, defeating its mere supercar sibling, the rear-wheel-drive, 1,064-horsepower ZR1, by two car lengths in a drag race.

“I hit about 115 (mph) at the viewing stand,” said GM engineer and ZR1X driver Stefan Frick afterwards. “Then backed out of it at about 120.”

If he had kept going past the 1/8-mile makeshift dragway set up on Black Lake, the 67-acre asphalt skid pad at the north end of the Proving Ground’s 4,400 acres, the ZR1X would have hit 233 mph.

“That’s the largest piece of asphalt I’ve ever seen,” said Trump, a car buff with his own large collection, at a rally afterwards. Black Lake has been an engineering test ground for countless performance vehicles.

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