If you want to know why good chassis builders and fabricators aren’t cheap, then we hope this story and photos answers that.

What you see here are the end remains of what was known Murder 88, a grudge racing S-10 pickup from Maryland built and campaigned by Eddie Grimes. Grimes debuted the badass twin-turbocharged, LS-powered truck last spring and has been running it at No-Time events around Pennsylvania the last couple of seasons, but over the weekend, it all went wrong for Grimes.

While making passes at the South Mountain Dragway (also known at one time or another as Quarter Aces Drag-O-Way) testing out a new torque converter, Grimes lost the brakes—the pedal actually going to the floor—sending him off the end of the race track into a guardrail at an estimated 110 mph. The truck rolled six times and landed in the woods beyond the guardrail.

As you can see, the entire passenger side of the track was crushed in on itself in the incredible impacts that it took, but Grimes was incredibly fortunate to have walked away without any major injuries. He reportedly crawled out of the windshield and suffered only a few minor cuts and scrapes to his hands.

In looking at what’s left of the S-10, you’ll notice that the welds that Grimes completed held like a champ. However, the force that the chassis endured actually severed many of the bars in the chassis right near the welds. Others, including the roll cage itself, were stressed to the point of bending, but did in fact not break. A chassis builder will tell you that a good weld is stronger than the metal itself, and in this case, the chassis responded appropriately in how it broke. It’s a testament to the work of Grimes, who literally saved his own life by building a strong truck and wearing the appropriate safety equipment.

A Facebook post after the incident from Grimes’ girlfriend confirmed that the truck was a complete loss in the accident—a huge blow to the team that had spent so many hours and countless dollars building it. But in the end, Grimes is alive, and that’s most important.

SEE THE REST OF THE AFTERMATH PHOTOS ON THE MURDER 88 FACEBOOK PAGE