Sigurd Olson “Sig” Haugdahl broke the land speed record at Daytona Beach on this date in 1922. Sig reached a speed of 180 miles per hour in a car he built named the “Wisconsin Special.” The car had an 836-cubic inch, 6-cylinder, airplane engine capable of producing 250 horsepower. Although Sig’s world- record-breaking run was widely publicized and recorded, the American Automobile Association did not recognize the new record because there were no officials from their organization present at the time of the run. Haugdahl went on to help build one of the first road courses at Daytona Beach in the 1930s.
Sig Haugdahl died at 79 years of age in Jacksonville, Florida. Haugdahl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994
~ Florida Historical Society
