Tommy Johnson Jr. suffered a pretty nasty explosion while driving the Make A Wish funny car at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals yesterday. The car was on what seemed to be a nice, clean run when it exploded going through the lights, filling the cockpit full of fire and causing TJ to go into emergency procedure mode. I was the first guy to talk to TJ after the explosion at the top end of the track and the first thing he said was, “It felt like it was going good….” It WAS going good until a mechanical failure caused the massive backfire and blew the windshield out of the body. You will notice that it also broke in the area behind where the mounting “tree” is, rendering it unusable. This is the second big one in three races for TJ, who had a more destructive looking, but no less violent situation at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia just a couple of weeks ago.
The car wore a backup body for the next round and it will be on the car for the rest of the weekend. With their recent string of bad luck and a rumored new body (potentially a Dart) coming for next season, the Schumacher funny car teams are not exactly teaming with excess inventory in the body department. Not being a carbon fiber expert, I can only offer the opinion that this piece appears as though it could be fixed as it was primarily the nose area that suffered the most damage, outside of the windshield. It will be interesting to see if the team goes to a new piece in the long run or if they repair this one. Either way, we’re just glad that TJ got the car stopped and he was OK.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE TOMMY JOHNSON JR SUFFER A SIGNIFICANT TOP END EXPLOSION IN THE MAKE A WISH FUNNY CAR –
“Two Toyotas in the final . . . ” Too bad they didn’t both blow up.
Why is it that so many OEMs who don’t really offer anything for the sportman drag racer (Oldsmobile (RIP), Toyota) blow so much money sponsoring the “NUH-RUH” millionaire classes?
There is ZERO chance I’d buy a ticket to see that show.