Matt Stutzman Goes 200mph Without Arms

Caecey Killian August 11, 2025 2 min read 0

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Matt Stutzman isn’t your average NHRA racer. Behind the wheel of his Pro Mod Camaro, he’s been chasing one big number this season: 200 mph. Last week at Brainerd Motorsports Park’s NHRA Top Sportsman event, he not only reached that goal, he obliterated it with a run of 214.69 mph. Plenty of drivers have broken the 200-mph barrier on a drag strip before, but Stutzman may be the first to do it without arms.

Paralympic Past

Known as the “Armless Archer,” Matt Stutzman has earned worldwide recognition for his precision with a bow, competing at the highest levels of archery despite being born without arms. Shooting a bow without arms seems almost impossible—driving a 3,000-plus horsepower race car at over 200 mph, even more so. Yet Stutzman has made both look not just possible, but impressive.

His path to this milestone has been chronicled in a YouTube series called Quest For 200, produced with sponsor PennGrade 1 Motor Oil. The series follows his process of fine-tuning his Camaro and steadily increasing its performance to break into the 200-mph range. With that goal checked off the list, Stutzman might already have his eyes set on 300 mph.

300mph Is Next

In a previous interview with DragCoverage, he shared that ultimate dream: “To know what 300 mph feels like.” It’s an ambition fueled by more than just a need for speed. “I pride myself on not just racing, but building,” he says. “Pretty much every nut and bolt on this car, I’ve touched—put my foot on,” he adds with a grin, referring to his own unique method of applying “foot-pound torque specs.”

For Matt Stutzman, racing is his first love. On his personal website, he recalls how his father encouraged him to drive from an early age, tossing him the keys to their farm truck with the faith that he’d figure it out. Today, his ’68 Camaro, complete with a supercharger big enough to rival a duffle bag in size, is a far cry from that old farm truck, but one thing hasn’t changed: Stutzman still figures it out, and he does it at full throttle.

AboutCaecey Killian

Caecey Killian covers builds, installs, and product features for Car Junkie Magazine. He has spent years on the floor of the garage chasing horsepower across SBC, LS, and modern muscle platforms, and that shop time runs through every article he writes. His current CJM project is Project Street Reaper, a 1976 Camaro built around a fresh SBC 350. He is also known for Project Mighty Mouse, a 1977 Chevy Nova running a 1962 small-journal 327 SBC, with build coverage published across multiple online automotive magazines. His media background spans long-form build documentation, install coverage, and product features across the magazine and the Car Junkie Magazine YouTube channel. He writes the way he wrenches: specific, honest about the mistakes, and grounded in real garage work.

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