They say you never quite know how much something or someone means to you until it’s not there anymore. And somewhere in there, we can tie that in an analogy to wheelie bars in drag racing. Sure, for a lot of racers, they’re simply there to help plant the suspension and drive the front of the car, but for others, they exist solely to prevent low-altitude orbit.

And Australian racer John Cannuli found out last weekend just how much the wheelie bar on the back of his Crossroads Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car meant to him, when it folded up just off the starting line during a run at the Willowbank Raceway. After fully flexing the wheelie bar right into the “bumper” of the carbon fiber body, it was game-on for Cannuli, as the car quickly climbed onto one side, pulling the right rear tire off the ground and nearly crashing down on its side — the headers serving as perhaps the only thing keeping it from turning over.

While Cannuli no doubt had quite the headache after taking a ride more extreme than any bull rider would endure, the car came out of it much better than the alternative could have been — a new wheelie bar, new left bank headers, perhaps some A-arms, and a little body work.