Hot Rod’s annual Drag Week event is literally a marathon for drag racers — it’s a five-day torture test (six if you count the test day) of man and machine in which each racer packs up shop and drives their cars to the next track. They don’t load them up in a trailer and tow them from track to track, nor do they take the direct route to and from each location.

Fire is never fun, but, the safety team at Lucas Oil Raceway was right on top of the flaming Supra after yet another 7-second pass, even with engine failure.

Jay Meagher from Real Street Performance was one of around 400 racers who entered this year’s Drag Week, doing so in his unique Toyota Supra on the ultimate gearhead traveling show, which began and ended at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio. On Day 4, the rolling horsepower show arrived at the hallowed grounds of the Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. The Real Street team put their turbocharged Supra, pushing some 1,500 horsepower, into the water box in hopes of another strong 7-second pass. But at around the 1,000 foot mark foot mark, under full power, the Supra blew a head gasket and got loose on the top end of the racetrack.

Jay already had his hand on the parachute lever and wisely pulled the chute as the car got out of shape, thus helping straighten it out as he had two hands full of the steering wheel.

As you can see, the hood was on fire after the head gasket let go…melting pieces falling all over the engine compartment.

But, the wild ride was not over. As Meagher brought the car to a safe stop, smoke began to fill the interior of the car as he calmly unbuckled, cut the power off and raised the hood to find a fire had erupted in the engine compartment and had lit the underlining of the hood on fire. The Lucas Oil Raceway safety team was right on top of Jay and got the small fire out quickly to minimize any more damage to the street-fighting Supra.

The outstanding driving job and racing awareness by Jay was an incredible moment to catch on camera, along with how calm he stayed behind the wheel even despite getting sideways while approaching 170 mph. Meagher posted a 7.92 at Indy to go along with his runs of 8.62, 7.98, and 7.71 earlier in the week and, with the help of a local shop, was able to weld the damaged cylinder up and get back on the road, posting an off-pace 9.13 on day five but successfully completing the long, arduous adventure. With an 8.27 average, he finished third in the Small Block Power Adder category when all was said and done.

Video credit: 1320Video