Pro Extreme racer Tommy D’Aprile didn’t exactly get off on the right foot during Friday’s qualifying at the ADRL Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C. ThePort Charlotte, Fla.-based driver for Mel Bush Motorsports suffered a violent engine explosion which eventually put the two-race old Camaro slightly into the wall.

According to D’Aprile, his engine broke a piston and shot oil out of the top of the engine. The oil leak covered the windshield and put oil underneath the car. If not for a masterful driving job by D’Aprile, the car could have suffered serious damage.

Instead he emerged with a “stripe” courtesy of Rockingham Dragway’s right lane retaining wall.

Pro Extreme racer Tommy D’Aprile didn’t exactly get off on the right foot during Friday’s qualifying at the ADRL Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C. The Port Charlotte, Fla.-based driver for Mel Bush Motorsports suffered a violent engine explosion which eventually put the two-race old Camaro slightly into the wall.

According to D’Aprile, his engine broke a piston and shot oil out of the top of the engine. The oil leak covered the windshield and put oil underneath the car. If not for a masterful driving job by D’Aprile, the car could have suffered serious damage.

Instead he emerged with a “stripe” courtesy of Rockingham Dragway’s right lane retaining wall.

“It broke a piston and shot oil out the top of the engine. It covered the windshield and caught the intake on fire. It put oil everywhere and the car was just skating so hard that I couldn’t stop steering it.

“I was just so glad that I didn’t destroy it,” D’Aprile said. “I did tag the wall a little bit. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I was fortunate.”

Despite the mechanical fracas, D’Aprile managed the second quickest lap of the first session with a 3.765 elapsed time at 200.08 miles per hour.

“The engine let go well before the 660 and it still ran as quick as it did,” D’Aprile said. “I think we still have a lot to play with.”

How scary was the fiery explosion for D’Aprile?

“Actually the last time somebody asked me that, it was the scariest thing I had experienced,” said D’Aprile. “This time I thought it was going [into the wall]. There was so much smoke that I thought it was going to crash badly because smoke was filling up the cockpit quickly. I felt fortunate that grazing the wall was all the happened.”

 

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