It’s been quite a tumultuous month of September in the Pro Modified racing world, both here in the United States and abroad, with a pair of devastating crashes that the respective drivers have very fortunately lived to talk about. As much as we and the rest of the drag racing community wished not to see another accident of those proportions again anytime soon, the unpredictable nature of these machines showed it’s ugly face once again on Friday evening during qualifying for the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis.
[1]Swedish racer Adam Flamholc, a regular face in the NHRA Pro Modified ranks over the last couple of seasons, was trying to improve upon his tenth-quick 6.01 at 240.59 mph effort in Friday evening’s second qualifying session when the run went terribly wrong for the talented pilot who hails from the city of Malmo.
Flamholc’s supercharged 1968 Camaro made a a move to the right early in the run, tracking just right of the center of the racing groove until just shy of the half track marker, when the car made an abrupt move to the centerline, lost traction, and turned back across the race track into the guardrail almost head-on. The resulting impact turned the car around onto its roof, where it violently barrel-rolled as many as eleven times before coming to rest upside down.
The NHRA’s Safety Safari was already rolling before Flamholc’s destroyed race car even came to a halt as they quickly tended to the popular Swede. Flamholc was alert and responding to medical personnel and was transported via ambulance to the St. Louis University Trauma Center, where he was treated for injuries to his arm suffered in the heart-stopping accident. Miraculously, the broken arm and hand were Flamholc’s only major injuries…injuries that will require surgery upon his arrival in Sweden after his planned release from St. Louis University Hospital on Monday, according to a report by Flamholc himself on Facebook.
Displaying the heart and determination of a true racer, Flamholc was already vowing his return less than 24 hours after the accident, commenting on social media from his hospital bed that he was already in search of a new race car to replace his trusty G-Force Race Cars-built Camaro, and we don’t doubt that he’ll be back at the controls of a car as soon as his doctors give their blessing, if not sooner.
Along with campaigning in Pro Modified here in the states with both the NHRA and ADRL, Flamholc also pilots a Top Methanol (Top Alcohol) Funny Car over in Europe.