Jim Nicole clutch explosion

Jim Nicole racing against Don "The Snake" Prudhomme suffers a massive clutch explosion.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Clutch
• Explosion
• Jim
• Nicole
• Don
• Prudhomme
• Nostalgia
• Crashes
• Drags

[kimosabi6180]

This spelled the end to front engine top fuel rail jobs

[FuelCoupe]

Actualy it was 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits clutch explosion that spelled the end of front engine dragsters. Not long after he recovered from loosing his toes he built a rear engine dragster which worked. Others had tried but Big Daddy's car was the first rear engine car to win an event.

[jake5680]

@dabandcampllc Seriously, how lazy do you have to be to type "Dat" instead of "that" and "da" instead of "the"?

[nationalharvester]

i have this whole video on vhs

[MrRonnieG]

My 2nd home was SoCal drag strips from 1964 thru the end of the decade.  Lions, Irwindale, Orange County Int'l Raceway, Fontana and Pomona for the Big Go West in February. I loved front-engine cars and the simplicity of drag racing back in the day. It's gone now, for many reasons, but no one can take the memories from me. A point though ~ clutch explosions were the Achilles Heel of these cars and were, many many times, catastrophic. More than one great driver lost his life this way.

[JJNITROFAN]

The driver's name is JIM NICOLL, not Jim Nicole. Thanks for sharing the video.

[kjj0506]

@jake5680 This is one of the funniest things I have read on YouTube in a Loooong time! How about all the brain donors that write "prolly" instead of "probably" .... I am embarrassed for them.

[danhoransr1]

got to be really lucky to walk away from this stuff...diggerdanhoran

[danhoransr1]

got to be really lucky to walk away from this stuff

[dabandcampllc]

dat parachute saved his life...he was flying thru da air until he hit the grass

[fraja02]

Jim vive en Guaymas Sonora, aun tiene mucha adrenalina en la sangre y tiene un perro que cuidar

[fvilledutchman]

I was there that Labor Day 1970. I was sitting on west side just before the finish line. It happened so fast and continued on far down the track, hard to tell what had happened. But we knew it was bad.

[ma55aracin9]

....that being due to an article published in "HOT ROD" magazine from August 1970,which taked about the future of drag racing as we know it

[ScoutNR]

His name is actually spelled Jim Nicoll. He lives in Mexico now living the life.

[24kGoldenRocket]

The clip first aired in October, 1970, on ABC Wide World of Sports. Unfortunately all of this race was not covered in this clip. There were some other filming angles of this...I wish I could see them or a replay of the entire episode of Wild World of Sports. Yet I am happy with this also.

[24kGoldenRocket]

Not really...Don Prudhomme, along with Tom McEwen, had made a deal with Mattel previous to this race to run the Hot Wheels Funny Cars. Don Prudhomme continued to race AA/FD thorughout 1973 with Hot Wheels sponsored dragsters as well as the Funny Cars. (BTW...If my memory serves me right this was the very first non automotive sponsorship in the history of all of motorsports...)

[24kGoldenRocket]

Thank you for posting this. I was eleven years old when I saw this on ABC Wide World of Sports. However I seem to remember a huge fireball seen from a mid track camera looking toward the pits.

I was somewhat bummed because the Snake said that he would leave the sport. My interest in Drag Racing was born just a little before this race with the release of the Mattel Hot Wheels Snake Mongoose Racing set.. Wish I could see it all again.

[record1207]

I was there at about half track and from there it was hard to see what was going on down there! I have some old super 8 lol from that race but poor quality. But this is a tape from Diamond P called "AND THEY WALKED AWAY" or "DECADE OF THRILLS". Think they have 2 or 3 volumes now!

[bongnbud]

WOW i cant believe someone posted this...i watched this when it happened live on abc wide world of sports in the 70s. does anyone know if a full copy of the race exists anywhere?

[ThomasDeLello]

Yes... that's all true.

Is this video a small part of a longer one...? Is it by Diamond-P...? I'd like to get a copy of it.

[kimosabi6180]

I didnt know that

[fvilledutchman]

I was there ! This was Indpls. Raceway Park, NHRA Nationals 1970(pre-U.S. Nationals). This was my 2nd Indy Nationals. I was sitting approx. at 1000 ft. on westside grandstand (left lane). It happened so fast, very few people understood what had taken place. Eventually, we noticed the activity (ambulance, etc) far down the track on the farside of the wall. Those were days before "instant TV coverage". Had to wait a month to see it on ABC Wide World of Sports !!! Loved them front-motored TF cars.

[gorblimey61]

I was probably nine years old when this happened, but I remember watching it on TV. "Dramatic Moment" to say the least!

[JeffW77]

Goodness...I saw that race on TV when I was 14 years old. I remember seeing Jim Nicole's car in two pieces and Don "The Snake" saying "I think I'm gonna quit." Dramatic moment.  Very glad Mr. Nicole was OK. Jeff Wilson, Portland, Oregon

[68SSCAM]

Isn't it Decade of Thrills 1