As a drag racing fan, it doesn’t get a whole lot more exciting than a drive making an epic save that probably couldn’t happen again if the driver were placed in the same situation a thousand times. On Sunday, Las Vegas native Frank Yee was that guy.
Competing in the 275 Radial category in front of his home crowd at the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas. Yee went for the ride of his life during eliminations when he lost control of his Ford Mustang and sound the car around multiple times at a high rate of speed without hitting a thing.
On the fateful run, Yee powered into a wheelstand and quickly pedaled the car to get the nose back on the ground. His effort to regroup couldn’t keep the car from driving toward the centerline, however, and that’s where it all went wrong (and then completely right) for Yee.
As he fought to keep the momentum rolling while straddling the centerline, Yee’s machine finally snapped and took a hard right turn right at the concrete guardrail. Instinctively, he pulled the car sharply back to the left and then right once again, setting off a spectacular two-and-a-half loop spin in the middle of the race track in what can only be described as the drag racing version of an Olympic figure skating performance. To the crowd’s applause and complete dismay, Yee got the Mustang shut down just before it could nose into the wall in the lane it began in.
Believe it or not, because Yee didn’t actually cross the centerline until after the 1/8-mile finish stripe (and because he somehow didn’t hit anything), he advanced on to the next round for a shot to impress the judges and card a better score for his extracurricular driving skills.
Video credit: FreeLifeFilms