Firebird Nearly Wrecks Mustang on Drag Strip
GoPro on each car captures both sides of this race-gone-wrong at the International Kansas Dragway.
Drag races are fast, and crashes are part of the game — no one plans for them, but they do inevitably happen. Sometimes, we get lucky enough to get some mind-blowing footage of these crashes, which is exactly what 1320video managed to do during a drag race competition. Check out this crazy footage of a Firebird crashing into a Mustang during drag strip semifinals.
This Firebird was nearly a show car — perfect, clean lines — that doubles as a racer. Just before the race, the Firebird’s owner replaced the engine entirely because the car’s previous engine threw a piston. He replaced the original 565 with a 598. This Firebird had won money in its last seven races and was aiming to secure another win with this race.
Round One
Round one of the small tire class pitted the Firebird against a Turbo Mustang Fox Body. The Firebird won easily, but you could see it starting to fishtail a little under the additional torque from the larger engine. As you’ll see, this factor will become important later.
Round Two
Round two saw the Pontiac racing against a bright red nitrous-equipped Chevy Nova. Again, the Firebird took the win with only minor fishtailing.
Semifinal
Here is where things started to get tricky. The semifinal round put the Firebird on the track with another Turbo Fox Body, and the it was fully prepared to take yet another win — until it made it about halfway down the track.
The fishtailing problem we mentioned in round one came back with a vengeance, causing the Firebird to cut across both lanes and clip the Fox Body before hitting the wall side-first. The footage is mind-blowing — especially the dash-cam perspective footage from both vehicles.
Final
The Firebird was out of the race — though the driver was OK — but after replacing the wheels and tires on the front of the Mustang and taping up the hood with speed tape, the Fox Body made it into the final. This now-busted Mustang went up against the Torch — and pulled it out to take the victory.
It’s possible the driver didn’t plan for the additional torque of the large engine that caused it to fishtail at high speeds. It just goes to show you can pick yourself back up and win even after a crash — provided there are plenty of Fox Bodies on the track you can borrow a couple of wheels from.
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