Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley rider Beau Layne was injured in a wild qualifying incident at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington on Friday afternoon.
Layne, from Redding, California, had just completed a 6.40-second, 215.86 mph lap aboard his nitromethane-fueled Harley-Davidson when his mount took an abrupt right turn into the opposing guardrail, crossing just in front of opponent Tii Tharpe in the shutdown area.
The remnants of Layne's Harley-Davidson.
Layne remained atop the bike as it struck the wall nearly head-on, throwing him from the motorcycle. As he tumbled to a stop, the bike continued on at a high rate of speed, sailing though the sand before striking the catch-nets and water barrels at the strips’ terminus. Layne was awake and alert and moving under his own power, but was transferred to a nearby medical facility. While he miraculously suffered no broken bones nor a concussion in what was one of the worst motorcycle drag racing incidents in recent memory, he confirmed via Facebook on Saturday that he suffered a deep laceration in his arm that necessitated surgery to repair.
In his sophomore season in the NHRA Nitro Harley category, Layne had already secured victories at Phoenix and Gainesville and entered the Northwest Nationals second in the point standings. Just one event — the prestigious U.S. Nationals — remains for the Nitro Harley contingent. No word yet if Layne will return for the class’ finale.