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California grandpa, 86, breaks speed records at over 300 mph
Gary Matranga, 86, drove a twin-turbocharged Hemi Barracuda past 300 mph at Bonneville and now wants 400; he joined the track in 1971 at 224 mph.
On air: Vera Bullock and Gloria Vance on Finally, Some Good NewsPublished
Photo: Asibasm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0Watch it as it aired: Vera Bullock and Gloria Vance on this story, from Finally, Some Good News at 11:39 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are New York Post's, the jokes are ours.
At a glance
- First reported by New York Post: “California grandpa goes on record-breaking run as he hits 300+ mph”, with reporting from Hoodline and Yahoo Sports.
- Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 11:39 PM ET on Finally, Some Good News, by Vera Bullock and Gloria Vance.
- Topics: California.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- New York PostCalifornia grandpa goes on record-breaking run as he hits 300+ mph
- HoodlineSacramento's 86-Year-Old Driver Sets Bonneville Speed Records facts used on air
- Yahoo SportsCalifornia grandpa goes on record-breaking run as he hits 300+ mph - Yahoo Sports facts used on air
What BBN said about it
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorGary Matranga, eighty-six, drove his highly modified nineteen sixty-six Barracuda to three hundred and ten miles per hour and won the fuel division at Bonneville.
Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd he raised his gas-division record by seventeen miles per hour, to three hundred and eight. I'm tearing up, Gloria.
Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTwenty-four hundred horsepower and a grandpa.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe fuel mark he beat had stood eight years, at three hundred and five.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorHe joined Bonneville in nineteen seventy-one at two hundred twenty-four point eight oh six.
Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA lifelong journey of steady progress.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorFifty-five years, roughly eighty miles an hour. He says the car still moves around quite a bit at three hundred.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNext he wants four hundred, in a rocket-shaped car with its wheels on its side.
Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorPut it on the vision board!
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorAt that pace, four hundred arrives in the year twenty-one hundred, and he has already booked the salt.
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Photo: Natural History Museum, London · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Mohamed Osama AlNagdy, 2010-12-13 · Copyrighted free use · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: ESO/L. Calçada/M.Kornmesser · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Flickr user: Emilio Labrador Santiago de Chile… · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Thursday, October 22, 2026 · the Weird News archive · all months
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