Chevrolet estimate the top speed on their Camaro SS to be about 160 mph. That’s low, as proven by a lead-footed Minnesota man and one surprisingly chill cop. Hermantown Deputy Chief Shawn Padden was manning a DWI checkpoint on Highway 61 over the weekend when a blur streaked by, causing his radar to go berserk and flash 171 mph. That blur? A jet black Camaro SS, all 455 ponies in a full gallop. “I’ve never seen anything [that fast],” Padden told the Duluth News Tribune. “It’s like a rocket on wheels at that point.” Perhaps Chevy can use that quote in future marketing campaigns?
Padden swung his Dodge Charger around and gunned it, but his cruiser wasn’t much of a match for a snorting muscle car. “I had to get up to 135 just to get close enough for him to see my lights,” he recounted. Upon seeing the flashers, the Camaro disengaged from warp speed and the driver managed to locate the brake pedal. “Which is good because we’d probably be in Canada right now,” Padden said. The unnamed man claimed to not be aware of his speed, to which the cop presumably replied, “Oh yah?”
Padden cracked more than a few jokes about the whole affair, even calling the issued misdemeanor careless driving summons a “coupon,” but didn’t mince words when highlighting just how moronic this man was. “If he hits anything at that speed, a deer or whatever, it’s going to end badly for the people in that car and maybe for someone else. There is no reaction time at that speed.” If found guilty, the man faces $1,000 in fines and 90 days in jail, plus the state can revoke his license. Remember, triple-digit speeds are for the track, kids.