There is no more helpless feeling in motorsports than watching a competition vehicle burn uncontrollably and that’s exactly the scene that erupted on the final day of Lone Star Drift Week 2020. Competitor Rudy Hansen of Idaho was at the event in his C4 Corvette and up until the moments that you’ll see in this video, the dude was living the dream.
Lone Star Drift Week follows the model of One Lap of American and Drag Week in the sense that competitors went to tracks all over the country and went drifting day after Day. Hansen and his co-driver had their C4 Corvette which they took on the trip sans-roof and braved the elements and whatever else was thrown at them over all the miles of the journey. The group was at Apple Valley Speedway in Apple Valley, California and relishing the last day they’d have together after traveling more than 3,000 miles on the trip. Unfortunately the event would come to a flaming end.
As you’ll watch, a massive fire started at the rear of the Corvette and quickly engulfed the car. Fellow racers responded with small fire extinguishers but they were no match for the burning composite body of the car. It does not appear that the track had larger extinguishers available and there was not an immediate fire response vehicle to stop the inferno, either. By the time the local fire dept was on the scene, the car was literals gone. The images of the machine post fire are stunning. The body was literally vaporized leaving nothing but the chassis and roll cage.
This is not a “blame the victim” moment here but more a lesson to anyone who is taking their beloved car to any sort of track event. Look for fire extinguishers, ask about safety response capability, and understand exactly what you are getting into when you start. Most courses we have seen position large extinguishers on the inside of corners but this place had none. It was a confluence of events that left one guy without so much of a scrap of his car that he can save.
Be informed, be ready, and most of all, be careful out there.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse Mexican rap……………
Fire by Arthur Brown, Smokin by Boston, Light my Fire from the Doors. The Roof by the Blood Hound Gang…I could go on & on.
Ah, drifting, kinda a race, but not really. Hmm.
Well, now we found something my beloved plastic car shouldn’t be used for .
This would be one of the dumber forms of “motor sport”.
Kind of like a motorized synchronized swimming.
Money wasn’t the issue here. The car was originally his father’s autocross car and Rudy bought it from him when he was 18. The history was more important then the money at that point.
Aww Man! Where the heck is he possibly going to find another $2,000 C4 Vette?
Oh yeah…Craigslist any day of the week.