It doesn’t take much of a racing expert or even one that knows anything about cars to know this isn’t how a pass down the quarter mile is supposed to work. Now, in drag racing where most purpose built racing vehicles sport quick release steering wheels, the wheel coming off in the drivers hands isn’t all that uncommon of an occurrence, but rarely do you get to actually see the reaction of the driver as he realizes he’s a passenger along for the ride.

However, Russ Parker, surely much to his displeasure, was able to provide that vantage point as he had a had a camera aboard his alcohol-burning Highbucks IV Mustang Nostalgia flopper during a recent outing at the Woodburn Dragstrip in Woodburn, Oregon when the butterfly steering wheel exited stage left.

The wheel comes in Parker’s hands around two seconds into the run and he instinctively clamors to get a grip on the wheel and place it back on the steering shaft, as any driver would. Unfortunately, his mount tags the wall lightly near the eighth mile, scraping up the body and flattening the headers in the process. And with the wheel still in his hands, Parker can only roll to a stop in obvious disgust.