Reigning ADRL Pro Extreme World Champion Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor lived up to his nickname with another wild ride in fourth-round qualifying Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

Running in the left lane alongside Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani, Taylor got the jump off the start, but nearing half-track his 2005 Corvette suddenly veered right, raising up on its two left wheels and crossed the center line, appearing on an almost certain collision course with Al-Thani’s ’68 Camaro.

Taylor already had his chutes out, though, and when blossomed with air, they slowed him down enough to settle his car back on four wheels as he slipped in behind Al-Thani in the right lane and motored on through the shutdown lane, unscathed.

 Reigning ADRL Pro Extreme World Champion Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor lived up to his nickname with another wild ride in fourth-round qualifying Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

Running in the left lane alongside Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani, Taylor got the jump off the start, but nearing half-track his 2005 Corvette suddenly veered right, raising up on its two left wheels and crossed the center line, appearing on an almost certain collision course with Al-Thani’s ’68 Camaro.

Taylor already had his chutes out, though, and when blossomed with air, they slowed him down enough to settle his car back on four wheels as he slipped in behind Al-Thani in the right lane and motored on through the shutdown lane, unscathed.

Adding insult to injury, Al-Thani took over the top spot with a 3.66 pass at 209.85 mph, relegating Taylor’s 3.67 to second-place status.   

Taylor later explained a header bolt that actually extends into an active oil area in the right head fell out, allowing oil to spurt out and under his right rear slick.

“There’s 10 bolts on each side and of course that’s the one that falls out. We’d been checking them between rounds and that one felt kind of funny, so it must’ve pulled a few threads. We’ll fix it, clean my pants out and everthing’ll be good,” he said.

Taylor said his immediate fear when the car made its move was that he would hit Al-Thani’s car.

“When he went by me I was so happy because if he’d have made a bad run I’d have hit him,” he said. “So I’ve got to thank (Al-Thani’s crew chief Frank) Manzo for getting him down, even though he stole my number-one spot. At least he was far enough along that when my car made a move he went on by.  I’d rather have that, though, than crash into him.”

And even at speed, Taylor also had visions of NASCAR dancing through his head.

“They’re known for running big speed so I tried to draft him so I could slingshot past at the finish line,” he joked.

Special thanks to Shannon Davis and Davis Technologies for the video.

 

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