11/16/2025
It’s been over a week now and I haven’t really said anything publicly until now about my race with at the Short Circuit Drag and Drive. I had a very similar incident happen to me Friday Nov 7th that happened to Kaitlyn Ward at Street-N-Yeet thats been posted all over social media last week. Fortunately, I faired a 100% better but still, it was a very close call that could have easily resulted in the same type of wreck .
My story… it was the 3rd pass of the night on Friday Nov 7th at the Short Circuit drag and drive. I was racing , I was in the left lane at Tulsa Raceway park. The TBSS was running fairly consistent low 11s which was perfect for what was I going for which was the You vs You class. In the right lane was a high 7 / low 8 second car with a Parachute etc. (I’m not sharing names respectfully).
Anyway we make our pass, I’m doing my thing, he’s doing his thing and it goes without saying, he was way ahead of me. I noticed him pull the chute and slow down like any other racer would. I crossed the finish and of course let off the gas and begin to lightly brake. (I usually run my cars to the last turn off to save the brakes and to idle down the motor, always have for nearly 25 years) All of a sudden the guy in the right lane turns in front of me on the second turn off with his chute dragging behind him. I locked up the brakes (at around 110 mph) and slowly turned to the right as I was sliding, missed hitting his car by maybe a foot, I drove over his parachute draging on the ground. Somehow by some miracle the chute didn’t get caught up under my car making a bad situation even worse. I eventully got the TBSS fully stopped safely on the track.
Needless to say all four of my tires were flat spotted and ruined which knocked me out of the race since I couldn’t get 4 new tires in time for the next day and drive. Luckily I brought my truck and car trailer with me to the track and was able to haul back home easily to repair. Also, thankfully all my cars are true street cars and can be driven anywhere. drove back home on its own Saturday night.
On the bright side I saved my car and only a set of tires were damaged in the incident. (which the other driver offered and paid for which makes that person a stand up guy) I also took my time checking over all the suspension and brakes which is all ok. I’m happy to say, is back on the road and will race again another day, thankfully.
Moral of the story, pay attention on the track. I don’t care if you have a 7 second car or a 20 second car. Pay attention to the guy in the lane beside you at all times. His/her safety maybe in your hands too. I understand some cars have halos and viability issues, I get it, however that’s no excuse for not making sure someone isn’t coming up beside you in the other lane. You have to know your surroundings at all times.
Pictures of my destroyed tires, pictures of my tire marks in the shut down area courtesy of a friends’ dragy the following day, and picture of back on the road again this weekend.
Shout out to the unnamed driver who made things right with me. There are not very many stand up people out there nowadays and I’m glad I lined up with someone that certainly was. Though my story has a happy ending, not everyone’s will. Be safe out there and watch out for each other.
