[kellyhound]

PHILIP Lamattina's spectacular effort at Willowbank near Ipswich on Saturday night has already assumed legend status among Australia's drag racing fraternity.

He miraculously escaped unscathed from the 500km/h smash that destroyed his $250,000 Top Fuel dragster.

Lamattina was yesterday nursing just a small cut on his left hand and armed with one hell of a story.

The Victorian was competing in the final qualifying session of the Australian drag racing national championships when the front of his dragster broke off.

The chassis, containing Lamattina in the driver's canopy, flew 10m above the track and cartwheeled through the air, landing 150m away where it struck the track's safety barrier in a ball of flame.

After that impact, the wrecked chassis skidded across the track, smashing into the opposite barrier, then slid to a halt 500m from where it first broke apart.

The dragster was in the air as it passed the track's finish line but debris from the accident tripped the finish line beams of the 400m race track at 4.68sec.

Lamattina, a father of two, has been racing in the professional Top Fuel category for eight months.

He said yesterday that stress and fatigue occurs in all drag racing vehicles, in particular the 7000hp Top Fuelers.


Damn lucky

[Hunted]

One lucky guy!!

[Worrymon]

But..... does that time qualify?

[journey2xl]

Dang you see a crash like this and someone survives and Dale Ernhart's accident that didn't look like much and he dies.....crazy