During Saturday night’s second qualifying round of the day, Funny Car driver Robert Hight suffered a spectacular explosion that destroyed the body of his AAA-sponsored Chevrolet Camaro.
The President of John Force Racing, Hight had a slight edge over Dave Richards in the other lane when the engine blew up at about three-quarters of the way down the 1,000 foot drag strip.
“This thing was marching along pretty good,” said Hight, who was uninjured. “It didn’t give me any indication anything was wrong.”
But there was something wrong prior to the run, as Hight initially struggled to get his car started.
Just before Hight would have been forced to abandon the run per NHRA rules because it wasn’t ready to race Richards, he was able to get it going and made the run.
Through the first three qualifying rounds (one on Friday and two on Saturday), Hight is sitting eighth. Richards, meanwhile, is 14th. There will be two more qualifying rounds on Sunday.
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