People love fuel altereds because they are highly unpredictable. They never go the same way twice, the drivers typically have to be really up on the wheel to stay ahead of their wild ways, and their short wheelbase, huge blower motor look is iconic in the sport. Now, most of the time when we show you wild fuel altered videos they are of a car headed down course with the flames up, the engine rocking, and the driver swatting bees in the cockpit. Today? Yeah none of that happens in this one, but it is pretty crazy.
Back in 2007 Mitch King, who will be racing his top fuel dragster at Baytown, Texas this weekend, had his Bone Bucket AA/FA at the strip and racer Dave Gallegos was behind the wheel. As you will see here, Gallegos gets the burnout handled in fine fashion but when it comes to backing up, things go wrong in a hurry.
We’re not sure if his foot slipped, if my may have accidentally leaned out the engine, or what but as you will see, the car starts the backup process fine and then all of a sudden picks up speed and manages to flip over, nearly taking the spindly looking Christmas tree down with it. The quick acting crew is immediately on the scene and the car is righted post haste.
Front end caster in drag race cars is not ideal for backing up at anything other than low speeds. Add the short nature of the car, the amount of static weight on the front end of the engine and everything else, the tiny contact patch of the rear tires, and you have with even just a touch of speed, a recipe for a nightmare here. One small steering correction and over she goes. As you can tell, Gallegos was fine aside from a bruise to his pride.
Tough rear wing