This is a starting line inferno of the highest order right here. Top Sportsman competitor Jerry Holt had completed his burnout and had staged his car at the Lucas Oil event on the strip at Tulsa Raceway Park when everything went wrong. His competitor launched off down the track and made a clean hit while Holt’s car apparently lost fire. We can only guess that while the engine was sitting there, a nitrous solenoid was wide open, filling the intake with happy gas and when some fuel entered the picture and a spark was introduced, it blew the entire thing sky high and started a raging fire right on the starting line. Nitrous is not explosive in and of itself but when it is added to the fuel mix, which is already pretty volatile, things get nasty in a hurry.
As scary as it is to have this happen on the starting line, it was a good thing as safety people descended on the car instantly with extinguishers and equipment. You’ll see Holt pop out of the car as the safety personnel battle the fire. Perhaps the scariest part of the deal is the puddle of fuel that was being sprayed and fed right next to where the starter was standing in shorts. That would have been some leg warming of the painful variety! Hopefully Holt is repairing the car and will be back at it next year. This is a pretty wild deal all in all.
Video credit: Sean Melton – Urban Hillbilly Action Videos
