Modifying cars is a tricky business. While it can be fun to boost a vehicle’s performance, it often hampers its reliability – and when things go wrong, they can go very wrong.
During the Indianapolis Ultimate Callout Challenge over the weekend, the crew behind a Chevrolet Silverado drag car discovered just how quickly things can turn to disaster during a dyno pull at the event.
A run on the dyno to see how much power the car churned out quickly became very dangerous after the engine’s throttle got stuck and the turbocharger blew up. Video of the incident shows a huge fireball engulf the front of the car as those at the event swarm on the pickup with fire extinguishers to try and put out the blaze.
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As flames shoot out from the pickup’s front end, the drag racer’s throttle became pinned and the flames couldn’t be contained until the engine burned through all of its oil. The rear brakes also ignited as they overheated while the engine was still running. Fortunately, the man behind the wheel during the dyno run wasn’t injured in the blaze and was able to quickly get out.
Even so, the truck managed to pump out 2053 hp and 2527 lb-ft (3426 Nm) of torque before the engine went boom. Remarkably, the crew behind the pickup were able to fix the truck’s powertrain after 17 hours of work.