Have a plan for every last possible event that can happen. Plan each movement that you need to make. I was taught these lessons when I first started riding bikes for more than fun, how to properly bail from the bike and to recognize when to leave and when to go. I was taught time and time again in the military when it came to events like rollover drills and off-roading situations. Every day, those instinctive muscle memory motions were crammed into my head during my brief stint as a pilot-in-training because you had to know what you were doing at all times. You practice so that when everything goes wrong, muscle memory takes over and you have a prayer of walking away.

The red Mustang you’ll see here is driven by Anthony Sellers and he’s not going to have a very good day. His no-time car is a stout bit of kit, but it has one flaw that will present itself at the green: a hung throttle. As soon as Sellers realized the situation, he put the Mustang into the concrete wall to try to physically slow down and threw out the parachute, but with the engine still rolling along the Mustang found the angle to the concrete wall, went into the tire barrier, flipped over and landed on all four wheels. The car had a bit of a fire but Sellers was able to get out with no real injuries to report.

It doesn’t take much to go from a good day at the strip to one really messed-up day, so always keep your safety plan in the back of your mind.