There are certainly a number of nightmare scenarios in drag racing, but perhaps none are more daunting or frightening than an errant race car powering back up the race track after an incident, with race officials, crewmembers, other race cars and vehicles, and even spectators all in danger. Such an incident has only occurred once in recent memory and resulted in one of the most tragic outcomes our sport has ever witnessed, and it’s something that we all collectively hope will never happen again.

But just such a horrifying scene played out over the weekend at the Champion Raceway in Southwestern Oregon,as the facility hosted its annual Night of Fire that featured a number of exhibition vehicles, including the historic High Heaven AA/Fuel Altered (a former feature car here on Dragzine) with Shawn Callen behind the wheel. 

During a run on Saturday evening, Callen lost control of the beautiful Altered just off the starting line, causing it to do a complete tumble back onto its wheels at around the 100-foot mark, landing with the nose facing back toward the starting line. At some point during the crash, the throttle on the supercharged Chevrolet powerplant became lodged wide open, instantly creating a scene of panic as the car quickly headed back from the point at which it came toward those on the startling line with few places to go or time to react. 

In a very fortunate turn of events, however, the engine expired in a bright flash of flame, bringing it to an instant halt near the christmas tree. Whether the engine simply gave up the ghost from the incredible RPM’s experienced when the throttle hung open or Callen reacted any way he could to stop the car and forced it to eat itself is uncertain at this point, but the nightmare that could have easily unfolded was averted, and that’s all that matters.

And in case you were wondering why race officials are such sticklers about keeping crowds behind the starting line to a minimum, it’s the thought of things just like this.

Video credit: Jason Brunelle