This one could’ve gone a lot worse than it did. At the Southwest Superchargers event at Little River Dragway in Holland, Texas, the CarQuest Top Dragster was in the middle of a burnout when things went really wrong, really fast. The transmission exploded, turning the dragster into a fireball and sending pieces flying everywhere. The torque converter, which was still in one piece, rocketed into a catch fence, missing spectators by inches. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, including the driver. The explosion occurred at 11 p.m. during the first round of qualifying. After the cleanup, the second round got underway at 2 a.m.
Little River Dragway, formerly known as Temple Academy, is not a large facility and had anything gone less than perfect with this scenario, there would’ve been injuries or worse. They have been working on upgrading the track and was named IHRA’s Division 4 Track Of The Year.
(Thanks to Scott Brown for the tip and mayhem1029 for the footage!)
The starters job is very risky!
Things went bad as soon as I started the burnout. To answer a few questions posted on other sites: yes all shields were in place and current certs. Yes we use locktite and torque wrenches! After getting the car back to the shop in NM It looks like some kind of front pump failure. Something was glowing red hot and a shower of sparks went down towards the track. Shortly there after the leaking fluid ignited. So thankful none of my crew, Britney’s crew was not injured, the starter was not hurt. And no spectators were injured. Glory to God! This is why we pray before we run!
Thanks to all the SWSC folks! Thank you Little River Dragway, again sorry for the major cleanup.
Brian Beasley