OK Folks,
I just have to chime in here. I do not have a clue if Dick Smith's car went 198 or not.
But, I can tell you that in the IMSA Paul Revere 250 in 1975, I drove a ex-Gene Felton 68 bodied Camaro with a 454 Hilborn injected engine which ran like Mr. Fix-it says all mechanical injection motors run.
(It did not look like a Camaro at all, matter of fact Charlie * forgot his last name, but he was the head tech guy for IMSA, told us that the car was the worst prepared car he had ever seen relative to the rules and had to be illegal. We were told to fix it or never come back.)
Trap speed entering turn three of the oval was 236.
The windshield broke from the aero load on my third practice lap.
Then my co-driver, Kevin Clower, went out in the warm-up session and broke the gearbox. The old M22's were pretty good, but not invincible. We could not fit a new unit in time for the race, therefore we got to watch, not race.
John Greenwood (I think I have this name correct, He is of Corvette fame, clocked in at over 245 in the same race.)
Hell. Group 44 TR-4's were clocked at 144.
I know, I know, everyone is going to think this is just pure bull****. But remember, there is a reason that the chicane was put in the back straight. If the track configuration was the same today as it was then, you would see some really scary speeds. As we used almost the whole of the oval without the chicane, there was plenty of time to get to speed.
Therefore, maybe a old cobra could have gone 198.