The inherent dangers of no-prep drag racing are a well known fact, and they are arguably a big part of the genre’s popularity — fast, very powerful cars going all-out on a marginally-tacky and oftentimes slick surface is a recipe for disaster if caution is not observed. Fortunately, far more no-prep contests go off without a hitch than don’t, but when things do go awry, it’s rarely a pretty sight.

Last weekend, Jonathan “JJ Da Boss” Day and his gang from Memphis visited the Wichita Raceway Park in Wichita Falls, Texas for a JJ’s Arm Drop race, featuring some of the southwest’s top street and no-prep racers. Among them were Michael Saenz and his small-block Ford-powered, turbocharged Ford Fairmont, and Jorge Byron, piloting his Nissan 240SX with a turbo 2JZ combination under the hood.

During the event, the two met up in a contest that went heavily in Saenz’s favor, as he got the jump out of the gate and put a gap between he and Byron at the stripe. But as Saenz crossed the finish line, his machine was already getting out of shape, and without any ‘sticky’ to help him regain control, he careened across the track directly into the path of the oncoming Byron — his parachute doing little to stop the inevitable. 

The impact pushed Byron’s 240SX into the k-rail, which it then climbed up and over and began to violently barrel roll. Byron eventually came to a stop back inside the confines of the guardrail, on his roof. Inside, Byron had suffered a broken ankle but was otherwise okay. Saenz was injured. The 240SX, unfortunately, through no fault of Byron’s other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, has been deemed a complete loss; Byron has begun a build on a 1978 280Z and will be back, though. The Fairmont fared much better, staying upright and incurring largely superficial damage that is plenty repairable.

Video courtesy NXGonzo Video