Is a drag racing car the fastest thing on earth?

Drag car:

The world record for a 1/4 mile standing start pass is 4.428 seconds with a speed of 336.15 miles per hour (540.98 km/h).

Space Transportation System (STS) otherwise known as NASA's space shuttles such as the Challenger and Columbia:

Speed: 7,743 m/s (27,870 km/h; 17,320 mph)

It is often related that Top Fuel dragsters are the fastest accelerating vehicles on Earth even faster than the acceleration of a STS. The top speed however of these two vehicles are polar opposites.

Dragster world record top speed of 336.15mph

STS can reach speeds of 17,320 (yes 17,320) mph

So I guess if you raced a dragster against a space shuttle in a quarter mile, the dragster would win that race. As to which is "faster?" I'd say 17,000mph takes the cake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_racing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle#Re-entry_and_landing