34-year old Texas drag racer David Minx passed away on Sunday after his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, known as Mighty Mouse, struck a barrier at the end of the eighth-mile strip at the Houston Motorsports Park at a high rate of speed.

Minx was reportedly making a solo pass down the Harris County strip on Sunday evening at the tracks’ Grudge Drags event when, for unknown reasons, his familiar Camaro continued through the shutdown area, striking a line of water-filled barrels situated at the terminus of the race track, coming to abrupt and tragic halt. Police officials have stated the preliminary cause of the crash mechanical in nature, and eyewitness accounts of the crash suggest that the throttle may have hung open on the Minx’s Camaro, leaving him little time to take measures to stop or slow the car before striking the barrels.

According to interviews with local racers by Houston-area news media outlets, the track was shortened some 30 yards in recent months to make way for an expansion of the Lake Houston Parkway located at the end of the drag strip, which eliminated the sand trap and safety netting system that was previously in place.

Minx was said to be a lifelong lover of fast cars and was the co-constructor of the Mighty Mouse Camaro.

See more on this story at KHOU.com and KPRC Houston 2.