VIDEO - BUCKY HESS CRASHES HIS HEMI BARRACUDA

Bucky Hess walked away from an accident during Friday's Mopar Hemi Challenge. 

Hess, who drives the Kandy Kuda 1968 Plymouth Barracuda driven was blazing through eliminations after driving to the No. 1 qualifying earlier in the day. In the opening round, Hess knocked out Jim Keyes and his Barracuda then edged Eldon Baum Jr.'s '68 Dodge Dart to earn a bye run into the semifinals, but that was where his day came to an abrupt end.
 
Hess was a cool .005 at the starting line to Hebert's .047, but things went wrong quickly as smoke began to pour from the bright Kandy Kuda, a car painted by hand by Hess's son, Travis.
 
"It started out great because I knew I drilled him," said Hess. "I looked over to the right and could see that he was way behind. As I came out of the wheelie, still pulling, I looked over again and all of a sudden it started fluttering. When it did, I felt the 'death rattles' and the back end washed out on me. Once it did that, I knew I was done."
 
Hess crossed the center line and made contact with the wall, ricocheted, and then made contact with the opposite wall before coming to a stop on the racetrack. He was uninjured, but the same could not be said for his previously pristine Barracuda – a car coveted by Mopar fans and classic car lovers.
 
"I'm fine; I didn't get hurt at all," said Hess. "I'll be building the car over again, or I'll have a new car for the next year. I think I'm more upset over the paint than wrecking it, but I'm good. I'm more determined. Indy just kills me every year, and I don't know why, but it was nice knowing I had a shot of being in the final. He wasn't going to make up four-hundredths. We had her on kill. We were going for it."

 
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