NHRA - Worst Top Fuel Engine Explosion Ever

[ubtoby]

I smell shit...

[AltRage]

The Motorsport angels were looking out for crew and spectators that day.

[emercito]

it looks like a grenade without pin

[crazyfus78]

BOOM! bet those people felt the heat off that one!!!

[ripwtc91101]

the crew chief later was asked if they knew what went wrong and he responded "we couldn't find any pieces big enough to figure that out." and with that the days of 98% nitro were gone

[MatsNorway]

@ripwtc91101 what are they running now? lower percentage? how much if so.

[ripwtc91101]

@MatsNorway they keep messing with it between 85 and 90 depending on how babyish theyre feeling right now its 90 percent and they only race 1000 feet instead of the usual 1320

[Bobobidodo]

Dave never saw his eyebrows again.

[505197]

At the nationals I used to sit between the bridge and the stands, a bit behind the line. I liked watchin the launches and I also liked being behind the line of fire so to speak. At the time there were no stands there and you could pull up a piece of ground and sit down. things changed some in the last 40 years. Back then they didn't have the straps on the blowers and when they huff one it made a mess sometimes. clutches and flywheels got loose too, they were fuckin bombs haulin ass.

[bvwatcher2]

I was there that day sitting about half way up in the stands right in line with the 330 clocks. A piece of the manifold landed 20 feet away from me. And yes, there were spectators who got hit with shrapnel.

[68SSCAM]

@bvwatcher2 That is why on the back of all the tickets it tells you that motorsport is dangerous and that you are a spectator at your own risk (Well, it does here in Australia).

[scott93257]

@68SSCAM

Yeah same here in the US...

[JackScanlon04]

@bvwatcher2 I was there also in the 2nd row of the Top Eliminator seats. I saw that Herberts opponent was taking too long too stage(he was a relatively unknown driver) and thought, this isn't good... when all of a sudden, Kaboom!. I had to duck as the shrapnel flew over my head. Someone near us had a pretty good gash and I think he ended up getting stiches. It was quite an experience.

[DNORT127]

And that is what nitro can do to a 8000 hp motor.. i

[74girlygurl]

epic fail

[neomuttley]

Another nicely oiled lane is born :-)...

[ripwtc91101]

@neomuttley nah just the first 100 feet

[wweraw5678]

haha i love how he moves over so he doesnt put oil down

[gibsonlespaul2]

VTEC just kicked in YO

[BiohazardDingleberry]

@gibsonlespaul2 VTEC's suck big black cock and so do you!

[Gimmieabreakffs]

I´d guess the blower is still in orbit around the world :)

[polarablues64]

it's a wonder nobody near the starting line got hurt!

[GahDub]

"PROBERLY"... Really?

[glazerguy58]

@GahDub Ram right rody ... lol.

[ACDCsuperfan91]

fail

[griffdawgriffo]

wow its like it blew the whole block out of the frame

[ZachC1993]

lucky it wasn't a funny car

[nitromethane222]

he was the reason why nhra put a limitation on how much nitro you can use

[sackcheck]

sucks for the people around the track that get hot metal in their face.

[glazerguy58]

@sackcheck >>> Doubtful that anyone got hot metal in there face hero.

[jaded16340]

@sackcheck oh, that's pretty much a thing of the past, they have balistic blankets that encase the blowers for just such an incident. Now the old days....I'll be a lot of people have scars from that LOL, I really liked the comment about the blower still in orbit LOL

[WickedTornado]

@jaded16340 Scars in the old days...hell yes. And lots of flat-out deaths, too. You know, those guys back in the day really had to have big big ones or a screw loose...expecially fuel cars. The AA/Fuelers....the front-engined guys sat right over the differential, and the clutches continually exploded. Lots and lots of guys got maimed badly. Oh, just the horrific fires alone ruined more drivers. So much has changed for the better. All these safety items of today have been paid for in blood..

[Polybun]

@sackcheck Fuck that, we were lucky to get some shrapnel! No blood no fowl! I took home a piece of piston about the size of a dime.

[blueandrewblue]

That was quite a bang. Like how he had the composure to get it off the racing line straight after...

[OutlawAnglia123]

i just paused it at the biggest part of the fireball! (just at random!)

[jeffcougar1968]

wow i rember this i was there that was really bad some of the people at the starting line got hurt perty bad and some of the motor part ended up in the stands

[kbtheshorty]

wow i remember this explosion..

i was in the tow car cuz my dad was racing herbert.

that was a scary race.....

[cnknguyen]

that was a huge fireball..nice