There are few things more terrifying in the world of racing than a throttle that’s hung open at the end of the race. Unfortunately NMCA racer Georgina Buckley experienced this situation at the NMCA World Street Finals with very serious results.
After making a pass in her 588ci, nitrous fed, big block Mustang the car kept accelerating at full throttle and when she attempted to slow the car down, it made a hard right turn and accelerated headlong into the wall. When the car hit the wall it exploded into a ball of flames and went shooting across the track, sliding to a stop in the middle of Summit Racing Equipment’s shutdown area. NMCA and track officials were immediately on the scene and provided the assistance that Buckely needed.
Thanks to a well built car, a wreck that could have resulted in very serious bodily harm to Buckley she fared far better than you would expect after watching the video. While she took a ride to the hospital and spent the evening being observed, her injuries were limited to a couple broken ribs, concussion, and some stitches in her tongue.
As a racing announcer nothing makes your heart jump into your throat quicker than realizing that someone is in big trouble and ultimately expecting something bad to happen. The armchair racers will scream that she should have kicked the car in neutral and shut it off. While we cannot disagree that the course of action would have resulted in less drama by a bunch, the reality is that until you are strapped into that car and experiencing what she did, it is all just talk.
This was a scary one because it was immediately evident past the finish line that she was in big trouble and when the car went shooting across the track we all knew that it was going to end badly. Here’s the Georgina Buckley recovering quickly and getting back on the track, sooner rather than later.
I’m hoping to get full resolution pictures of mine and my step father’s cars you shot at Tour Nebraska. You shot my flat black 63 Falcon at registration on Friday. Then you shot Richard’s red 61 F100 at the Sunday drivers meeting and again in St. Paul. You also shot his black 63 1/2 Falcon sitting next to the Nordboe’s Falcon convertible in St. Paul. I would like to frame those pics of Richard’s cars for him.