Two weeks after tragedy nearly struck at the Champion Raceway in Oregon, the racing community is still buzzing about the freak incident involving Fuel Altered competitor Shawn Callen, in which his ‘High Heaven’ machine rolled over early in the run and began back toward the starting line under full power. And for good reason, as it’s forced many, from the NHRA on down to the local tracks, to revisit their safety measures to prevent the worst from ever occurring. 

In the days since the accident (which Callen walked away from unharmed, we should add), additional video and still photos have surfaced of the event, not the least of which is some spectacular video footage captured from a QuadCopter drone that just happened to be flying high above the Champion Raceway starting line when it all unfolded.

The birds-eye view provides a much better vantage point to see what went down that evening at the Night of Fire over the fourth of July holiday weekend, as Callen’s gorgeous machine — which is a real, restored AA/FA from the 1960’s — makes an abrupt turn to the right just past the christmas tree, turning onto its lid and right back onto all four with the throttle hung wide open. Fortunately, and as has already been documented, it was at this point where Callen grabbed a handful of brake and cut off the fuel supply to the nitro-burning powerplant, starving it of its lifeblood and bringing the car to a flaming halt before it could reach the starting line.

Video Credit: Mark Unger and Philip Cox