Mike Freeman Crash at No Mercy 9

Radial prep is known for producing some killer elapsed times and some insane wheel stands due to providing ridiculous amounts of traction. However, for all that sticky, I’ve noticed it seems to be almost like a light switch, in that there is either 100% traction or none, unlike slick-tired cars where there seems to be some in-between “slip”, where the tire may be spinning, but is still fighting to hold traction.

You can see a bit of this phenomenon in this footage from No Mercy 9’s pre-race testing, where Hans from Free Life Films caught long-time small tire competitor Mike Freeman crashing hard into the wall. When the tree drops, Freeman’s gorgeous silver Mustang launches hard into what looks to be a picture-perfect power wheelie, but as soon as the front end returns to earth, things take a literal turn for the worse.

While the front wheels were in the air, it appears the car drifted just out of the groove. When the front end came back down, the veteran driver gave the wheel a slight turn to the right to try to coerce the ProCharged Fox Body back into the center of the lane, but the car instead lost traction and the rear end started to come around. Looking at the footage closely, you can see that Freeman jumped on the brakes almost immediately, but it was too little, too late.

The car slammed hard into the opposite wall, smashing the front end and sending the car spinning along the wall. The tail end whipped around and tagged the wall too, leaving the car smashed on both ends and immobilized from the impact. After a few tense moments, Freeman emerges from the car and shows his displeasure with the outcome slinging his jacket onto the decklid before propping up onto the wall to consult with the medics who had rushed to offer aid.

Freeman has already cut the front end off the can and pulled the engine out of his old car, so we should be seeing him back out there soon.