Steve Collier Goes up and Over at Topeka, KS in his Injected Nitro Dragster

Blowovers have always been one of the most spectacular types of crashes in all of motorsports, but they’ve become increasingly rare, which is a good thing for the sport unless you’re a photographer or a fan with an appetite for destruction. I remember as a kid seeing at least one driver involved in a harrowing backflip-style crash every season it seemed, while they’re usually spread out by several years lately.

However, the long run of seasons without a blowover ended yesterday during the rain-delayed eliminations of the NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka, KS when Steve Collier pirouetted his nitro-injected Top Alcohol Dragster. The crash came during the second round when Collier faced off with Monroe Guest to see who would earn a berth in the semifinals. The guest actually left early, handing Collier the win before the race even started, but Collier didn’t see the red light and kept his foot buried as his car’s nose began to creep skyward. With lane choice on the line, Collier streaked past half track with the nose hovering precariously above the track’s surface, but the car was tracking straight so he stayed in it.

You can see from the head-on angle that there are a couple of brief showers of sparks under the car, possibly indicating something had broken in the car’s chassis or there was a problem in the driveline. Whatever the cause of the sparks, you can see as the car entered the second half of the track that the nose suddenly lifted skyward, sending Collier on a wild ride that left him with a broken back, though he is expected to make a full recovery.

The car’s body panels caught the wind as the nose rose, acting a bit like a parachute and yanking the car skyward before the panels were ripped away from the force. The chassis then continued up and over, slamming back to the track with a sickeningly brutal impact. The mangled dragster then tumbled through the shutdown area, crossing into the left lane, where thankfully Guest had ran into problems early in his run and slowed.

Collier has a bit of a recovery ahead of him, but his injuries do not require surgery, he will just have to spend some time in a back brace to allow them to fuse. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and hope to see him back in the driver’s seat very soon.