A Pennsylvania racer was injured last weekend in a harrowing incident at Maryland’s Cecil County Dragway as a result of a freak mechanical failure.

Lou Herfurth III was racing his 10-second Ford Fairlane in the Pro Dial and 10.0 Index divisions at Cecil County’s monthly Street Car Shootout series — the second outing since stepping the car up from 11.50 Index to the quicker 10.00 category. Herfurth had qualified atop the field in his first race a month ago and advanced past the first round of eliminations in both classes last weekend. He had just tripped another win-light when tragedy struck: a front tubular lower control arm separated from the ball joint at 130 mph at the 1/4-mile finish stripe, causing the car to take an abrupt left into the jersey barrier and tumble end over end through the shutdown area.

The Fairlane came to rest upside down atop the wall. Herfurth was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and later moved to a trauma center in Delaware for treatment of two broken ribs and contusion in his lung.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist Herfurth with medical expenses and to aid in his return to racing following his recovery.

Video courtesy George Watters