Right place…right time. Mark Rebilas, the most well known drag racing photographer currently known to man captured more stunning action last weekend at Royal Purple Raceway during the NHRA Mello Yello series Spring Nationals event. Rebilas captured, in frame by incredible frame action, the massive explosion that top fuel racer Terry McMillan suffered in his Amalie Oil sponsored dragster. This was an immense blast and one that many of the more seasoned veterans are saying was the biggest in a decade…if not more.

We’re going to see Terry next weekend at the Atlanta race and we plan on asking him if they figured out why this thing went thermonuclear on the track. There’s always one or two explosions per weekend but this one went to an entirely different level. The fact that the supercharger was blown completely free of the engine was the most shocking part as we had never seen blower restraints fail before. They have always held onto their assigned blower in our experience but not this time.

In real time the explosion and blower mess lasts mere seconds but with Mark’s photos you can take a few minutes studying the Terry McMillan dragster and everything that is going on around it as the sky turns into a ball of fire. While it was horrible that the blower landed on the tire and blew it out, causing a crash, imagine if the blower had gone forward and landed in Terry’s lap or worse.

This is truly incredible stuff.

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