In drag racing, a burndown occurs when both competitors pre-stage and neither moves to the fully staged position. There is no rule as to whom has to stage first or second, and when two guys get it in their head that they are going to stage second, interesting things happen. The best example of this in modern drag racing took place the the 2004 NHRA race in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Doug Herbert lined up next to Clay Millican and both men decided, independently, that they were going to stage second. The preceived advantage is that the guy who goes in second has a better idea of when the tree is going to hit because he’s the one who ultimately starts the timers for that to happen.

Both men took the pre-stage bulb and then sat, and sat, and sat. Two Fuel dragsters sat next to one another cackling away for a full two minutes before NHRA starter Rick Stewart ran out and shut the cars down. Had they been allowed to run at that point, one or both would have exploded.

Things got really fun after Stewart told the teams to push the cars back and wait until the end of the round to run. The giant Herbert climbed out of his car and the wee Clay Millican did the same. Herbert shared his feelings with Millican and then Millican’s team owner pushed Hebert and a shoving match ensued. This all happened live on ESPN2. It made for great TV and earned Hebert the nickname of “Dougzilla.”

The video below was made about the incident and includes interviews with Herbert and Millican. They have patched things up and are friendly now, but back then it was hate city.

The video was made for Herbert’s B.R.A.K.E.S foundation that helps to promote safe teen driving. Herbert started the foundation after his sons were killed in a car wreck where high speed was involved.  It is neat to hear about the story but also very cool that Millican is working with Doug to make the foundation a success. Here’s a story from NHRA.com about the incident and the video is available below!