On Saturday, McLellan ran the quarter mile in a record 4.593 seconds. On Sunday, during the first top fuel hydro run of the day, McLellan posted an even faster time of 4.582.

McLellan didn't know he was as fast as he was until he got out of the boat.

His reaction?

"Wow!"

The time became the official quarter-mile record. Under International Hot Boat Association (IHBA) rules, a record time can be verified if the boat that recorded it can post a second time within one per cent of the first during the same event.

It broke the record of 4.743 seconds set in 2006 in Augusta by John Haas.

The boat was travelling in the 260 to 270 mile-per-hour range. The fastest a top fuel boat has gone before was about 255. McLellan wasn't credited with that record because there was an equipment malfunction that prevented the speed from being recorded. It happened to his boat both days.

There was some speculation that because his boat was so quick, the equipment wasn't able to record it. Others believed that a bird, bug or object passed through the timing beam.

"They never came up with an absolute as to why it happened to my boat twice. It was probably just a fluke," McLellan said from his business in Ingersoll. "We knew the boat would go fast. The water in Augusta was cold and dense. We knew it would run better there than it had been. We never expected to go that quick. We thought we might go into the 4.6s, but didn't think we'd get into the 4.5s."

McLellan has a race in August in Forth Worth, Texas, then he heads to the world championship in Phoenix, Ariz., in November. He made it to the world semifinals last year.

McLellan has been into racing boats since 1981. He's continually moved up in class until getting to the top fuel hydro class.

McLellan is succinct when asked whether Liquid Quiker, the fastest boat in the world, can go faster.

"Absolutely," he said.

"There's more horse power we can develop and we can put bigger props on it."

McLellan, 48, began his love affair with boats when he was in Grade Six. It's when he built his first one.

"I went to the very first boat race they had at Fanshawe Lake in 1980 as a spectator," he said. "I thought it looked like a lot of fun and I should try it. I started racing in 1981. I bought a boat. It went 75 miles-an-hour."

In 1986, he met Bob Montgomery who also raced. Five years later, they became partners in top fuel racing.

Montgomery lives in Tennessee. It's where the boat is docked. Montgomery stopped racing this year.

McLellan, who operates a livestock vitamin and mineral supplement company, and Montgomery don't have many sponsors and finance their boat out of their own pocket.

"Very," McLellan said when asked how expensive it was to operate a boat at this level. "The prize money could cover expenses. But we do it because we love it."

It's difficult to imagine what it's like traveling that fast on water, but McLellan says it's a tremendous experience.

"When you do the quarter-mile from zero, yeah it's (a rush)," McLellan said. "When you smack the throttle it's like something picks you up, grabs you and takes off with you. When you throw the parachute at the other end, it's like something hits you at the other way."