Jay Payne walks away from a scary crash at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Before each and every race, the threat of a crash most certainly lies ahead and it’s always perched somewhere within a driver’s mind no matter how hard he tries to push it away.

This time, we check out a situation that nears worst-case scenario as Jay Payne rockets down the track and ends up getting a little bit loose before slamming into the wall.

We watch, practically in slow motion as the car moves itself from the groove before eventually getting sideways and plowing straight into the wall in a crushing blow.

If you had assume the worst, we might have been right alongside you as we got a bad feeling in our gut when the car hit the wall.

However, thankfully, with proper safety equipment, the driver was able to make his way away from the wreckage without getting banged up too badly.