Tom Bailey’s Record Setting Drag Week Hot Rod Goes up in Flames Following Exhibition Run

Tom Bailey walked away without injury following a pretty scary moment after an exhibition run at NHRA Gainesville.

Instances like this can just go to show us how impressive it is that these guys can manage to pull off such insane passes. Literally, every single component has to be working just right in order for cars like Bailey’s to set records. With one minor slip-up, things can quite literally go up in flames.

For Bailey, that one small thing that went wrong was the likes of a failed o-ring on an injector. We’re sure that cars like this one, which holds the record for the one and only five-second pass in the history of Drag Week, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours in order to be able to keep competitive.

However, in what was probably a freak accident, it was a part that cost only a couple of cents that ended up engulfing Bailey’s hot rod in flames.

Following the incident, Bailey would take to his Facebook page to tell us exactly how things went down and what he thought went wrong. He also informed us that thankfully, he wasn’t injured in the incident. Bailey says that a big part of the reason how he was able to walk away was due to the safety equipment on board.

When running methanol set up, fire can get incredibly hot and sprayed incredibly quickly. However, with the proper precautions in place, Bailey was able to keep all of his skin in mint condition and won’t have to take a trip to the hospital in the process.

Really, this is just another piece of evidence in the endless mass that shows us why it’s a good idea to be properly prepared with the right safety equipment for the job.