On April 16, Houston Raceway Park held its last NHRA national event – it was a race for the ages.

And one nitro Funny Car driver Bobby Bode will never forget.

Bode advanced to his first final round before losing a nailbiter to Matt Hagan when he had a fiery explosion right before the finish line when the body of his Funny Car blew off.

Hagan clocked a 3.982-second at 326.63 mph to defeat Bode’s 4.046-second run at 282.95 mph.

“I left the starting line. It was running really well,” Bode said. “I didn't see anything in front of me at all. The car was running really well. And all of a sudden at the end, I felt it, starts to labor a little bit. The next thing I know the body flies over my head. And then I see all this light, that was so fast, and then it shot me left into Matt's lane. And I was trying my best not to hit him. Luckily, I got it back. It just happened. It happened so fast. It was crazy.”

Bode took a moment to describe what happened to him in more detail.

“Honestly, I don't even know... what was going in my head at the time,” Bode said. “It happened so quick. The only thing I pretty much remember is, I started to shoot left after the body came off. There's a... fire in my face, in front of me. I could barely see where I was going. The car was hard to steer because it had no downforce anymore. I was just trying my best not to make it any worse than it already was.”

After the explosion and Bode stopped safely he got out of the cockpit and threw his helmet and gloves – but that wasn’t because he lost.

“Yeah. I want to make very clear that... I did not throw helmet. I did not throw my gloves, my HANS device, or anything, because I lost the race. It was because we worked so hard to get the car ready for that round. We didn't even have time to warm it up. And I hate breaking parts because I work on the tune up as well.”

Bode also was quick to credit his team led by his father Bob and Tim Wilkerson and Paul Lee’s nitro Funny Car teams for jumping in and helping before the final round.

“Everything just hit me all at once,” Bobby said. “Once I got out of the car and I looked back, and I saw it was all gone, and then I thought, how hard everyone worked just to even make that round. And the body was gone. That was actually my favorite body too. That's why I was so mad.”

In defeat, Bobby drew the attention of Tony Stewart the team owner for Hagan.

“He came over to our pit and I was just starstruck, the fact that he was there,” Bobby said. “Then, he said, I want to buy you a new helmet. We talked for about 10 to 15 minutes, which was really cool for me. Never thought that would happen. Then he came back... He came back with a big boombox from one of his sponsors. He said, ‘Hey, I want you to have this.’”

Stewart’s actions were surreal to Bobby.

“So, not only did I end up getting a helmet, but I also got this really cool boombox, that I'm for sure going to use out here at college, for sure,” said Bobby, who is finishing up his sophomore year at Arizona State University in Tempe. “Yeah. It (the boombox) is in my apartment, which is very cool because whenever I use that now I think of how I got that boombox.”

When Stewart the left the track Sunday, he told Bobby to give him a call, but because Bobby was so busy, he didn’t back to Stewart right away.

“He's a really busy guy,” Bobby said. “When I did text him, I said ‘Oh, sorry I didn't get back to you quicker. We were working at the track all day (Monday). He had the funniest response... he goes, ‘Damn, kid. You're making me sweat. Been waiting on you.’

“When I called him and we talked it out, and he's actually ordering me a helmet, which is insane. I would've never thought that. I would have never thought that would have happened in my entire life. I had never talked to him before Sunday. I've only watched him on TV. I had never talked to him, and that's why I was so in shock.”

Bode’s team stayed at the track through Monday to sort everything out.

“Our pit on Sunday night looked like a bomb went off in it,” Bob said. “We had the body all in pieces, we had used every head in the trailer, every wrap in the trailer, we had used all the parts we brought with us, and so we just had stuff scattered everywhere. All of our flights got delayed last night and we spent all day taking that stuff apart and putting it in the trailer (Monday).”

Bob acknowledged watching his son make it to the finals was even better than when he won his lone nitro Funny Car national event in Brainerd, Minn., in 2010.

“Best weekend,” Bob said. “Best weekend we probably ever had, even better than my weekend. Everything went our way, the last hundred feet of the racetrack wasn't what we wanted, but it was the best weekend.

“When we won in Brainerd, it was a blur. We just kept moving and moving and I didn't really get to enjoy much because we were so busy. This one with him in the car, he was tuning this thing, yes, on Sunday. So, he was in and out of the computer, in and out of the car, so was living what I lived back in Brainerd.

“For him, he's always dreamed about it, but when he was born, we always laughed. I said, ‘I'm going to get him the best race car I can find.’ Sunday, that was the best race car we could ever put together for him.”

Bobby’s trek to the final round was no fluke. He beat Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon, and Chad Green before getting upended by Hagan. He also turned 20 on Saturday.

“I had all these drivers sign my birthday card,” Bobby said. “Then, I raced Alexis, Cruz, and Chad Green. They all signed my birthday card which is pretty cool. And it was even cooler, the fact that I got to race them. This weekend was better than a fantasy. I would've never thought that I would beat all the drivers that I did. I was just in total disbelief about the whole day. I could have never scripted it that way.”

Bob said the explosion in the final round changed Bobby’s immediate race schedule.

“Well, we bought airline tickets and we're supposed to go to Richmond (Va.) (May 13-15),” Bob said. “I think, but we just hurt way too much stuff. We have a spare body. Our next one will... And we'll have to cancel Richmond and the next one will be Norwalk, (Ohio) (June 23-26), and then by then, we'll get our heads back together, the wraps back together and everything.

“We had to run the oiler on our blower that keeps it clean after the run, it quit working and you don't have time to fix that stuff in between rounds. So, we burned three blowers off of it. We laughed. So, we used every part we had in the trailer. My guys were wonderful. We've never run four rounds in one day since Brainerd (in 2010). So, here we are putting that car together four times in four hours.”

Bobby can’t wait to get back in the cockpit again.

“We have a really good running car right now, so... I'm really anxious, like you said, to get back out there again,” Bobby said. “I'm going to keep hitting the practice tree. I was pretty proud of my reaction times. I had some of my best lights of the year on Sunday.”

For now, Bobby is back to being a normal college student.

“I have to get ready for finals that are next week,” he said.