Fifteen-time national champion Gary Phillips recorded the quickest and fastest pass in Australian Top Alcohol history on Friday night while competing at the 40th annal Goldenstate event at the Perth Motorplex, but the jubilation for he and his Lucas Oil crew was short-lived after a parachute malfunction sent his Mustang-bodied flopper hard into the top end sand trap and catch nets.

Phillips carded a landmark 5.469 at 263.92 MPH – a run that would make him a serious contender here in the states – before his chutes failed to deploy at the stripe.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Gary said. “I had a choice when I realized that the chutes hadn’t released, to get on the carbon fiber brakes and hope they’d heat up quick enough to slow the car down, or take my hand off the brake and grab the manual override for the chutes. The thought of taking your hand off the brake when you’re going that fast isn’t a natural human instinct, so I just pulled on it as hard as I could without bouncing the car and rode it out, knowing that wall was coming up fast. Either way, I was going into the sand regardless. I’m thankful that this happened at Perth Motorplex because their sand trap system would be one of the safest around with the use of the fine beach sand and dual nets.”

The high speed entry into the sand trap catapulted Phillips into the darkness and through both safety nets, stopping just short of the concrete barrier fence that separates the track from the nearby roadway. Despite the devastating crash, both Phillips and his race car came away largely unscathed, but his concern quickly turned to his wife, Deb, who was being treated my medical personnel after she encountered heart problems running through the sand to reach her husband.

“Most people thought it was shock that put Deb in the ambulance but she’s seen me crash worse than that before. She just can’t run like she was through the sand trying to get to the scene. But the ambulance girls and track St Johns staff and track safety crew were just unreal and we’re so thankful for their efforts, as well as the dozens of people who’ve called or sent their well wishes through in different ways. It’s nice to be cared for, and we’re just happy to both rest a bit to recover from the incident.”

Adding insult to injury, Phillips’ pass was in fact too quick and fast on both ends to set a national record, as the 263.92 MPH speed was .44 MPH too fast to fall within the required 1% backup, while the 5.469 was a scant 0.016 seconds too quick.