Having witnessed and reported on a number of tragedies and horrifying moments directly linked to their use in recent years, we’ve been outspoken opponents to the continued use of Armco or guardrails constructed of steel here on Dragzine, and this is exactly the reason why.

The Northstar Dragway in Denton, Texas held its rescheduled Grudge Blast-Off over the weekend, featuring a host of the Southwest’s top grudge racers. But in the midst of the action, racer CJ Peddy stopped everyone’s hearts for several tense moments after riding out on of the scariest crashes we’ve seen in a long while.

Peddy, driving the immaculate turbocharged Fox body Mustang owned by Chuck Fairchild, took an immediate turn across the centerline just beyond the 330-foot mark during a late evening matchup, shooting across the race track in front of his opponent, striking the guardrail at an incredible rate of speed. Upon impact, the steel railing folded up like aluminum foil, catapulting Peddy into the grass, where the car went in a series of flips before coming to a halt.

Fortunately, and certainly most importantly, the roll cage and the rest of the cars’ structure did its job, and Peddy was able to climb from the battered machine and walk away, sore and bruised but otherwise uninjured in what was a truly catastrophic incident.

The Mustang, on the other hand, a show-quality ride prior to this pass, would appear to be a total loss given the amount of damage inflicted on the body and chassis in the crash.

Video credit: LightEmUpLS1