We’ve seen our fair share of close calls lately – this one possibly comes closest to actual damage while still returning to live another day. At Houston Motorsports Park, this gorgeous shoebox Nova spends an eternity purging the nitrous for what we expected to be a bumper-dragging awesome pass.

HMP has been home to many record passes over the years and hosted many events where the competition is hot and heavy. But in the fall, when the weather changes rapidly and the dew begins to set in earlier than during the summertime, getting down the track cleanly after dark can be a challenge no matter where you’re competing – HMP or any other facility.

It seems as if we see more crashes in the fall than any other time of year, but that could be due to racers hanging it on the line trying to achieve that “perfect pass” before putting their machines away for the winter.

Just off the starting line, the tires break loose in dramatic fashion, sending the car into the opposite lane, in the opposite direction  – and nearly into the wall.

We say “nearly” because we’re not sure whether you could have even fit a single finger between the nose of the car and the wall surface — it was that close. 

After surveying the landscape, the driver simply backs up and putts down the track, most likely while using one hand to un-jam his undergarments. 

While many will say that crashing is part of racing, and you haven’t been truly initiaited until you have, nobody wants to see another racer end up in the wall, regardless of whether the car is show-worthy or someone’s daily driver. 

A lucky save by a lucky driver, who goes on to fight another day – hopefully one with better traction.