Justin Richards went to Milan Dragway in his 1967 Ford F100 truck for a little test and tune action last weekend. It is obviously fall in Michigan so the air is crisp, there is plenty of horsepower to be made and if you get your setup right, personal bests will be the order of the day. Well, for Justin he got a personal best but it was in the form of this wild in-car video. The camera was mounted on the back window of the truck facing out the window and it captured a pretty scary incident involving the dude in the other lane who was racing against Justin (as much as you race against someone at a test and tune day anyway). That car was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, otherwise known as an Evo. Those are pretty gnarly little cars with a turbocharged two liter four banger and all wheel drive. They can be hot rodded to make stupid power although even with lots of power we’re not sure how one manages to do what this guy did with an all wheel drive car on the drag strip!
Skip to about :45 in the video. You’ll see Justin stage his truck and then launch off. According to him, the truck left badly after he did a junk burnout. That was probably a blessing in disguise because just past the eighth mile cones on the track you’ll hear the wail of the Evo and then see it for a second before it wags the tail and basically spins out of control. If Justin had launched well he would have been neck and neck with this guy and it would have gotten really ugly. The Evo slides through the traps straddling both lanes, wiping out the timing cones and triggering the clocks on both sides of the track. Justin brakes to avoid disaster and it all happens pretty quickly. The most amazing part of the whole thing is that the guy in the Evo hit nothing outside of the orange foam blocks in the center of the track. No damage, except to his shorts which probably still have some staining in them.
There are times when you can look at a bad launch and thank the drag gods. This is one of them.
Thanks to Steve Moore for the tip!
Press play below to see this wild action go down!
Had the same type of thing happen to my son at the 1997 Super Chevy Show in Richmond, VA….only the guy had already been beaten but didn’t “lift”…came by us on the topend and broke something in his rear suspension. He got sideways at about 130 mph and hit our 1964 Chevelle broadside just as he was about to start barrel rolling. The impact scrubbed enough speed off of him to bring him back down, slidddddding a long way. He blew three tires before he got his ride stopped but did’nt roll it.
Thanks to a good rollcage, a pep talk from Don Garlits, and some duct tape, we ended up winning the Super-Pro event three days later.
1967 long wheel base F-100, about five different colors. Following the related links you can see more of this truck. I think it needs a steeper gear.
Just curios, why do you think I need a steeper gear? I have a c6 trans with 4.10 gearing and 30″ tall drag radials. Cross the 1320 at about 5,100 rpms, rev limiter is a 6,000.
the old 3rd to 2nd “upshift”?
I am friends with the owner of that evo. He was doing 120mph at the 1/8th mark when the head lifted causing a freeze plug to blow out off the block. As soon as coolant got on the slicks he lost control. Both lanes registered a 10 second pass. You can see some mist right before he starts to spin out. For anyone curious, the car is caged and makes over 800 at the wheels with a 62mm turbo (pte 6266).