Hot Wheels made history at the 2011 Indianapolis 500! Yellow Team Driver Tanner Foust set a new world record for the longest jump made by a gas-powered four-wheel vehicle by launching his full-scale Trophy Truck 332 feet, crushing the previous record of 298 feet. This $1 million stunt is a full-scale representation of the Hot Wheels V-Drop Super Velocity Track setup, with the car starting off at the top of a 100 foot (10-story high) door. The car raced down the 800 foot long run-in towards the 15-degree takeoff ramp, soared over the infield onto the 21 foot high landing ramp, and put on the brakes to stop just short of the fourth-turn safety barrier.

There were many structural considerations for a project of this magnitude, not the least of which was integrating several different types of aluminum truss, tower, steel and scaffold framing systems together into a spectacular 1,500 foot long jump track system designed with over 125 tons of ballast to resist design wind speeds of 67 mph. In their press release, Mattel’s vice president of marketing, Simon Waldron, said, “It is a feat of engineering, and it’s a jaw-dropping sight when you see it.” For videos of the stunt, click here.