When nitrous works, it really, really works. You’ll hear an already awesome engine find that extra thousand or so RPM and hit it quickly as another blistering lap is made down the track. Nitrous has been making cocky racers look like idiots as they find out that they royally underestimated the opposition, has made the underdog look like a winner, and has made one too many who weren’t supposed to be dabbling in dentistry smoke look a bit cheaty. But nitrous oxide has the ability to make things go really, really bad in a hurry. One of the more attention-grabbing things anyone at a track can experience is a nitrous backfire. Make no mistake: unless you are perfectly deaf, you will hear this one, and even if you are deaf, you’ll feel it. If you are lucky, it’s just a single detonation and that’s that. But sometimes that just isn’t “that”. Sometimes, once pressurized nitrous mixes with fuel vapor and a hot engine, shit hits the fan in the most royal way possible and things go from “I hope I can rebuild this” to “RUN” in short order. Such is the case with the driver of this Malibu. “Milkman” was making a grudge pass against a Nova when the launch sequence of the Chevy went bad in a hurry. The exit strategy was implemented and just in the nick of time, because this is one of the fastest conflagrations we’ve seen go down on a strip anywhere! We never like seeing a good race machine turn into a campfire marshmallow wearing slicks, but the most important thing is that the driver’s hind end was out and away before he got roasted and toasted.
What a shame. Yet another track that doesn’t have enough grandstands for people to sit in, so they’re all stuck STANDING ON THE DAMN STARTING LINE!!
Wonder how many people would be seriously hurt if something went wrong and blew parts backwards off the car….