WSOPM – PRO MOD RACER DEREK MENHOLT’S WILD RIDE IN DENVER

Last weekend, Drag Illustrated’s second annual World Series of Pro Mod took place at Bandimere Speedway just outside Denver, Colorado. With $100,000 on the line, the race brought out some of the biggest names in the world of Pro Modified to take their shot at winning the huge payday.

When teams that are already on the edge of out-of-control have the added incentive of a massive check to motivate them, they tend to push the envelope to the point of no return, sometimes with disastrous results, as you see in this video below.

I want to point out now, it looks very much like something broke in the rear end of Derek Menholt’s Camaro on this pass. It does appear that Meholt was just beginning to lose traction or possible experiencing tireshake just before his car made a hard left turn into the wall, but judging by how quickly the car snapped to the left, it doesn’t look like a case of the driver over-driving his skill level at all.

Whether it be parts breakage or some kind of freak loss of control, it looks like Menholt was just along for the ride. The car slammed hard into the wall before careening across the track and smacking the other wall behind his opponent. The battered Camaro would bounce off the right side wall a few more times before finally grinding to a halt past the quarter mile cones. Thankfully Derek is able to climb from the wreckage under his own power and although he will certainly feel it for a while, he looks to be free of major injuries, and that’s the important part for sure.

Cars can be replaced, drivers cannot. We’re thankful Derek had the latest safety equipment on board and it did its job and kept him safe in this intense impact. Hopefully he’ll be back on the track soon.