We’ve been wondering when we would see the insane crash photos shot by British drag photographer Andy Wilsheer at the 2009 NHRA World Finals held at Pomona. Thanks to a tip from our pal Darr Hawthorne we now know. This guy came very close to capturing his own death in still photos.
To refresh your memory, Steve Gasparrelli’s Alcohol Funny Car got something slippery on one of its giant slicks, nearly wiped out the tree, made a full-throttle charge across the track directly at Wilsheer’s position, and then centerpunched the wall right in front of where Andy was standing. He didn’t do much more than step back. In the process he captured photos of a crashing drag car that probably will not ever be replicated, at least not by anyone who will live through the experience.
The Daily Mail newspaper in England (Andy’s homeland) ran the entire sequence on their website and also included video of the crash from ESPN cameras. It should be mentioned that Wilsheer is no rookie when it comes to being injured while snapping photos. Ashley Force’s car once embedded parts of itself in his leg when he was snapping away on the top end.
Watch the video below the photo to get the real idea of how incredible this is.
