Watch An 82-Year-Old Grandma Race Her Corvette Flat Out

Shirley Veine, 82, isn’t your average granny. She doesn’t drive a 1992 Oldsmobile Silhouette, nor does she believe old people should be cooped up in a nursing home watching repeats of the “The Price Is Right.” Instead, she enjoys the fast life — and she proved it last weekend by racing her 2000 C5 Chevrolet Corvette to 171 mph along a two-lane highway.

The feat was accomplished during the Sun Valley Road Rally near Ketchum, Idaho — an event that closes down Highway 75 and allows competitors to open up their machines. Last year was Veine’s first attempt, and she took her 'Vette to an impressive 166 mph. But this year, she wanted even more:

“We put headers and a larger air intake valve on it,” she said during a local radio interview the week prior to the race. “They put it on the dyno last Thursday and she got up to 181.”

Veine knew, however, that cresting 180 mph would likely be impossible; at 5,000 feet of altitude, the car would lose horsepower, and the wind and weather can affect things dramatically. Her goal instead was to land somewhere between 170 and 175 mph.