Make no mistake, drag racers make the process of performing long, smoky burnouts look quite a bit easier than they really are. When one set of wheels — and the rear, drive wheels, mind you — are spinning at many times the speed the car itself is moving, there’s a fine line between having control and not having it. And if you cross that line, you can easily pay the price.

Unfortunately, putting on a show got the best of Australian racer Burt Willemsen back in 2010, when a burnout performed for an exhibition at the Heatchote Raceway ended with his awesome Toyota HiAce van in the concrete guardrail.

The van, which was listed for sale just a couple of years ago, is perhaps the baddest drag racing van in the world. With a 383 cubic inch LT1 engine shoehorned up in the console and a Garrett turbocharger providing the boost, this brick on wheels puts down 950 horsepower and 1,100 with the added use of nitrous oxide, which is enough to coax it through the quarter-mile in less than nine seconds at over 150 MPH. At last check Willemsen had a MoTec EFI setup on the truck, along with a ProTrans Powerglide transmission, a nine-inch rear end, and Strange Engineering shocks and brakes.

But, with a wheelbase of a mere 90 inches, the driver and engine weight situated out over the front wheels and a top-heavy weight distribution overall, plus a pair of radial tires narrowing the rear stance, this van has all the makings of a handful. And that point is illustrated when Willemsen attempts a 300-plus foot, tire-melting burnout that ends up with the bumper smashed into the concrete. Probably not the result Willemsen was looking for, but hey, it’s a small price to pay for a great show, right?