Corvette goes airborne in dramatic drag race crash video
Corvette goes airborne in dramatic drag race crash video
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Corvette goes airborne in dramatic crash
A Corvette went airborne during a drag racing event at Worldwide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The driver walked away with minor injuries.
A drag racer walked away from a harrowing crash after the Corvette he was racing at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois went airborne.
The video, taken during a high-speed test run on May 31 for the VP Racing Fuels Heads-Up Shootout Series, shows driver Jason Hoard's car lift off the ground and crash into the track and tumble onto the embankment on the side of the raceway.
"Everything was fine absolutely until the second that it wasn't," Hoard said in a June 4 YouTube interview on "The Wes Buck Show." "I was fine, then it literally felt like the car was going backwards. And I (made) myself small in the seat and I immediately thought this is not good.'
Drag racing outlet Extreme 660 Drag Racing, which captured the video and posted it to Facebook, called it "the worst wreck we've filmed."
Driver credits car's build for surviving crash
Hoard credited the car's safety gear for walking away with minor injuries following the crash. He noted in the interview that the impact left him unconscious.
"I'm super sore, and if you saw me moving around, I'd look like a 95-year-old dude," Hoard said.
He added that he had searched the internet for concussion symptoms. "I've been in a bit of a brain fog this week ... I have some floaters in my right eye. I went to the eye doctor, and she said there's some bruising," Hoard said.
NewsNation reported that track staff and the National Hot Rod Association have launched an investigation into the crash. Drag Illustrated reported that the crash took place during a test pass at non-NHRA sanctioned event, though it took place at an NHRA-sanctioned facility.
"Each WWT Raceway drag racing event features an ALS (Advance Life Support) Ambulance Unit staffed by paramedics specially trained in responding to racing crashes," a statement provided to the network reads. "The WWT Raceway Safety teams were rolling to the crash site while Jason was still rolling and were at the scene of the crash less than 30 seconds after it occurred."
USA TODAY reached out to the Raceway for the statement but did not receive an immediate response.
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