Video: Comp Racer Dale Giroux Unhurt In Upside Down Crash

For NHRA Competition Eliminator racer Dale Giroux, the final day of the Northwest Nationals in Seattle turned from one of great promise to that of despair in an instant, following a scary incident during the semifinal round of eliminations on Sunday afternoon.

Giroux, from Canyon Creek, Alberta, Canada, was racing alongside Ryan Warter for a trip into the final round when he lost control of his 2013 Chevrolet Camaro and crashed beyond half track at the Pacific Raceways. Giroux had qualified third in the field with a 6.940—0.580-seconds under his B/Altered Automatic index—and, at least on paper, had Warter covered based on qualifying numbers.

Warter, in his D/SM entry running on an 8.94 index, took more than a full second handicap, before Giroux gave chase. The Canadian gave up only a slight edge on the tree and was running his opponent down when he began to drift out of the groove near the wall around half track. Once the tires got out in the marbles, the Camaro turned hard right across the centerline onto its roof and struck the opposing wall nose-first. From there, as the video shows, Giroux slid on his roof well into the shutdown area, where the car slowly tumbled to a stop.

Giroux was reportedly out of the car under his own power and uninjured, but was transported to the Valley Medical Center for precautionary evaluation.

Giroux and his B/AA Camaro, which, with its 500 cubic inch powerplant is, many respects, a slightly more restricted version of a Pro Stock car with an automatic transmission, had dispatched of Dave Richardson and Brian Hyerstay in the first two rounds of eliminations.