Top Fuel dragsters are the pinnacle of drag racing in terms of raw power and performance. The problem is these fire-breathing monsters live on the edge and can quickly take a driver on an unexpected wild ride. Peter Xiberras has been racing Top Fuel dragsters without incident all over Australia for years, but at the Summer Thunder event held at Sydney Dragway a few weeks back, his car decided to take the championship leader for an unscheduled thrill ride.

During his second round race, everything seemed to be standard protocol with Xiberras’ dragster when the tree dropped, and he was locked in what should have been a very tight race against Aaron Hambridge. Right before the 60-foot cone the powerplant behind Xiberras experienced an enormous catastrophic failure and erupted into a fireball as the car rocketed down the track.

The fluid being dumped under the tires caused the car to shoot violently across the track. Thankfully, Hambridge didn’t have any problems and was already clear as the car careened across the track. Xiberras ended up tagging both walls in this scary incident and the car came to rest back in his original lane. The safety gear did its job and Xiberras jumped out of his demolished racecar with no major injuries.

Check out the footage from Fast Performance Videos and the slow motion action from LaunchTV that shows just how quickly things can go south in one of these 10,000 horsepower beasts.