Video: Steve Collier’s Wild A/Fuel Blowover At Topeka!

Standout sportsman racer Steve Collier escaped serious injury as he rode out a rare but nevertheless frightening blowover accident in his A/Fuel Dragster during eliminations Monday at the Menard’s NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka, Kansas. Collier, from Benton, Louisiana, had qualified fourth with a 5.37 and following Sunday’s rain postponement, was set to face Monroe Guest in Monday’s second round of Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations.

In their match, both Collier and Guest launched into tire shake early; Collier was able to pedal his car and drive through the shake, unaware that his dragster had broken the wheelie bar at the rear of the chassis designed to keep it on terra firma. Near mid-track, the dragster began its skyward climb, ultimately standing on its tail — the body peeling away as designed — as the chassis pirouetted and slammed back down on all four wheels, facing back toward the starting line. Collier’s dragster slid to a stop in the shutdown area —alert and conscious, the Safety Safari tended to Collier and removed him from the car for transport to the Topeka Trauma Center for evaluation.

Blowover

WOW! Top Alcohol dragster driver Steve Collier with a huge blow over at the #HeartlandNats. Collier, who was responsive and speaking with safety safari, was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Posted by NHRA on Monday, May 21, 2018

“The damn wheelie bar broke at the hit. I went into tire shake and I pedaled. The front came up and then blew over when I lifted,” Collier shared of his terrifying experience.

Collier confirmed on Monday his back injuries that, at this time, are not expected to require surgery but will unfortunately put his summer racing plans on hold.

“I will not need surgery at this time. If I do this right I can be moving around in 9-12 weeks and maybe salvage the season in the .90 cars. Right now, any movement lights me up pretty good…I have no clue how I’m gonna’ get out of here. I can’t sit up, roll over, or anything. But I thank everyone for their prayers as they worked.”

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Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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