(Editor’s note: Mike English was on the call in Seattle when Mark Taliaferro suffered a horrendous wreck in his alky dragster. As we’re looking back at 2014, this moment of the NHRA season certainly had us holding our breath. Miraculously Mark was able to survive this deal and climb out of the car under his own power.) I have had the pleasure of calling Top Alcohol Dragster competitor Mark Taliaferro’s (Pronounced: Tallifer) runs at NHRA races all over the country this year. He is a hard runner and has gone deep into eliminations at several races in 2014. He and his crew were part of the action at the NHRA race outside of Seattle, Washington and things did not go as planned. That last statement is the understatement of the millennium. As you will see, Taliaferro goes for what is one of the most violent rides we have ever seen in a Top Alcohol Dragster. Due to the safety standards and the quality of the construction of his race car, he walked away from the scene of this disaster. By all rights, this one looks like it could have gone a lot worse for Mark.
As you will see, there’s tire smoke on both sides of the track as both Taliaferro and the racer in the other lane get loose. In an effort to keep out ahead of his foe, Taliaferro keeps his foot on the throttle and makes a desperate attempt to find some traction. Unfortunately at some point in the period where the car is spinning the tires hard, it appears that oil or something gets under one of his rear slicks and it sends the car into an immediate and uncorrectable right hand turn directly across the track and into the wall as hard as we have ever seen anyone hit it. The dragster physically moves the linked-barrier concrete wall and Safety Safari crew members leap over the wall to Mark’s aid. To us the scariest part of the wreck is watching the car roll and then slide for a really long time on top of the barrier wall. That car is up there for longer than we have ever seen on before in a similar situation.
While we do not see him get out of the car in this video, guys who were there have told me that he was moving around under his own power once out of the car, etc. There is literally no better news than that.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE MARK TALIAFERRO SUFFER ONE OF THE WORST DAYS AT THE RACES OF HIS CAREER – BUT HE WALKED AWAY
“Unfortunately at some point in the period where the car is spinning the tires hard, it appears that oil or something gets under one of his rear slicks and it sends the car into an immediate and uncorrectable right hand turn directly across the track”
Oil? No. Lost traction right from the start and while spinning it was steadily moving out of the groove to the left which eventually caused the car to hook right.