Drag Pack Challenger Rides A Wheelstand, And Crashes HARD!

The NHRA’s Factory Stock Shootout cars have had another place to play thanks to the addition of the Holley EFI Factory Super Car class in the NMCA race series. By adopting the same rule set as the NHRA’s wildly popular FSS class, the NMCA opened the door for those cars to compete in another sanction during weekends that they aren’t competing with the NHRA.

Mopar racer Joe Welch earned the #1 qualifying spot and a first round bye run that should have meant an easy berth in the second round. However, things didn’t go as planned for Welch, who went out there to put on a show for the fans and had his efforts rewarded in the worst way possible.

Lining up in the left lane, Welch carefully staged his Drag Pack Challenger to take his single run. The green light flashed and the car pulled the front tires, driving into a beautiful wheelstand. However, as you can see, the car eased left toward the wall, prompting Joe to correct by steering to the right. However, as mentioned, the nose of the car was in the air, meaning the front wheels were of little use no matter how much Welch cranked on the steering wheel.

When nose returned to earth, though, the wheels being cranked pretty far to the right meant they would grab and pull the car hard in that direction. As one might expect, a car capable of running 170 MPH in the quarter, you don’t want the car jerking in either direction while it’s under wide open throttle.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened and Welch was little more than an attentive passenger as the car crossed the centerline sideways and backed into the wall in the opposite lane, smacking the concrete retainer hard before finally sliding to a halt just past the 1/8th mile markers.

Welch was unhurt in the crash and will be thrashing to have the car repaired for the big FSS shootout at the US Nationals in Indy at the end of August.