Drag racer rolls '55 Chevy, goes through windshield, walks it off

Crazy close call.

By Zach Bowman September 22, 2014 / Photos by YouTube

One driver had a wild ride at the recent Colorado Street Outlaws event at the Pikes Peak International Speedway. We talked to Brian Lohnes of the excellent BangShift.com for some background and context on what you're about to see. The event aims to give drivers a chance to run their street cars in a controlled environment. There’s no timing system, no real tree, and tech is fairly loose. There’s nothing on the line but bragging rights, and it’s meant to keep racers off the street and close to medical help.

That last part’s a good thing, as the video below demonstrates. The driver of this ’55 Chevrolet squares off against an equally sinister Camaro, but halfway down the track, the ’55 gets loose. It nearly takes out the Camaro, rolls a few times, and winds up right side up—with the driver's legs hanging out the windshield:

That's about as scary as it gets, kids. Lohnes says the seat-belt mounts in the car pulled straight through the sheetmetal, which is what caused the driver to flop around so wildly. As you saw, he calmly walked away from the crash, lucky to be alive, let alone in one piece. Amazing.

Lohnes says this particular driver is an experienced guy who regularly runs a legal 200-mph Willys at sanctioned strips. The Chevy was his wife’s cruiser before he put it shiny side down. Imagine having to have that conversation...

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-vide...d-walks-it-off