NHRA style rules not looking so bad after all, Top Sportsman Pontiac Firebird wipes out the staging tree

Drag racing is a dangerous sport. Things happen. People wreck. It doesn’t always go as planned. This is expected, but what isn’t expected is for a Top Sportsman to go hard right and cross lanes before the 60 ft mark.

Things got a little wild when Michael Freischel lost control of his ’01 Pontiac Firebird at the starting line and took an immediate left into the tree at Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd. You often see mishaps in more amateur racing, but not in professional racing like Top Sportsman. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the competition still threw down a 7.711 @ 180mph like it didn’t even happen!

Something went way wrong with this ride’s suspension, but we’re not sure what it was. Freischel probably wasn’t very popular when he got to the pits and everybody knew he ruined the day’s festivities, but at least everybody is safe! Check out this video from the NHRA.

https://www.facebook.com/NHRA/videos/10154468619656410/