This past November, this slick little Nova hit the tarmac at Cecil County Dragway in Maryland for a Black Friday test session. As you can see, it doesn’t go at all as planned, unless the plan was to stress-test the driveline components to the point of destruction, in which case it goes perfectly! Thanks to YouTuber “zlumlord”, we get a close-up view of the carnage.

The healthy-sounding Chevy rolls into the waterbox and does a equally healthy-sounding burnout before rolling into the stage beams. But instead of blasting into the sunny Maryland horizon, the car hardly gets the wheelie bars planted before things take a literal turn for the worse. In almost the same instant as the transbrake releases, the car makes a violent move toward the centerline thanks to a sheared axle on the driver’s side.

The car then rolls up and over the big slick and drops haphazardly back to the track, rolling to a stop near the 60-foot cone. To add a little insult to injury, the newly-emancipated slick rolls up and gives the car a gentle tap on the spoiler. Luckily the driver was able to pull his foot out of the throttle quickly, preventing the car from driving into the center divider and causing more damage.

While we’re certain this isn’t how this racer wanted to end his day, his quick reaction in lifting off the gas likely kept the damage confined to the axle and some light body damage around the wheel opening. Had he stayed in the throttle even a moment longer, the still-intact passenger side drivetrain could have easily sent the car plowing into the guardrail or Cecil County’s christmas tree! Unfortunately, he did leave a bit of a mess for the track staff to clean up, but at least it is confined to the first few feet and not the whole track!