Norwegian drag racer Fred Hanssen, a perennial frontrunner and former champion of the FIA Top Methanol eliminator in his native land, made the long trip across the North Atlantic to take part in two of the final events on the NHRA’s Lucas Oil calendar, as he’s done for the last four years. But this years’ 5,000-mile overseas trek to the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, some 5,000 miles as the crow flies from his Åfjord, Norway home, wasn’t kind of the blown alcohol racing veteran.

During Friday’s second round of qualifying at the NHRA Auto Club Finals, Hanssen’s dragster, running in the left lane, struck the tires right off the starting line and pitched sideways, sending it careening across the centerline on its side. With Hanssen relegated to passenger status, the dragster smacked the guardrail nose-first before rotating around and striking the guardrail again with the rear of the car. After rolling over twice, the battered and twisted Brad Hadman-built chassis slid to a stop on its side in the middle of the race track.

Hanssen, thankfully, climbed from the car and was released from the care of medical personnel after being checked over. The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for his dragster, and that’s sure to make the trip back to Norway a long one.

Hanssen was inside the qualified field at the time of the accident with a 5.77-second best. He had clocked a 5.54 at 261 mph a week ago at the NHRA Pacific division season finale in Las Vegas but missed the 5.49-second but spot. Hanssen won the 2011 FIA championship and, after tending to his flourishing fishing business, raced stateside with the NHRA for the first time in 2013.