Grandpa Fred ‘Rocket Man’ Underwood Blasts Off at Texas Mile

You only wish your grandpa was as cool as 76-year-old, Fred Underwood. Heck, even Underwood’s nickname is cool: “Rocket Man.” No, he’s not doing anything interstellar, or even anything up in the clouds, but what Underwood is doing certainly earns that nickname: with a modified 2009 C6 ZR1 pushing 730-horsepower, ol’ Rocket Man is edging ever closer to having a 200-mph run for a standing mile at the Texas Mile high speed shootout.

As you can see in the gearheadflicks video below, Underwood says this is his third visit to the Mile, and that he may or may not be back. Even if he doesn’t return, he will still keep the car. Underwood’s made it entirely streetable, and might just put it on a lift for safekeeping until the next time he feels nostalgic for the track.

The video is from last October, but it’s timely because the prep for the October 2015 event is surely underway. Next chance to have your run on the Mile is in the third week of October, and even though registration hasn’t even opened yet, I’m sure some of you have a few builds in the works.

Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>

via [gearheadflicks]

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