Yep, when the Wildcat was upgraded to the Hellcat, it could out climb and outrun the Zero. It also had the same long range as the Zero - from 760 miles to 1150 or thereabouts. The US pilots cleared the Pacific skies of the Zero with the Hellcat. I think the Hellcat shot down somewhere around 6,000 Zeros.
This also makes the actions of Lt.DeBlanc even more heroic since he was fighting a superior plane in the Zero.