[crz]

Its the time from end to end. It happens because one might get off faster at the start...Jump the gun. If they both start at the exact time, which nearly never happens, the faster car has the lower time.

[CowboyJay]

"“In 1906 the Land Speed Record was broken by a Stanley ... record for a steam vehicle set by a Stanley Steamer in 1906, setting a new speed record of 139.843 ..”

Fred Marriott got one up over 180 mph in Daytona a year later, but the car went airborne and flew apart in the attempt so it never went into the record books.