Photo Sequence Of Gaylen Smith’s Wild Ride In Topeka

On Friday night at the Kansas National Guard Independence Drags VI in Topeka, Gaylen Smith powered his new James Dean-themed Pro Extreme Corvette to a stellar 3.685 at 203.46 mph that ultimately held for the second spot in the qualifying order heading into eliminations. But less than 24 hours later, the emotional roller coaster would go from the peak to the valley for the LenMar Motorsports team during their first round matchup with Duane Rister.

Running in Heartland Park Topeka’s left lane, Smith’s mount lost the No. 1 cylinder and blew apart of the bottom end of the supercharged powerplant before reaching the 60 foot marker, causing the car to catch fire as it continued down the racing surface.

Unfortunately, oil and other fluids and racing slicks don’t mix well, and Smith was unable to reign the Corvette in and struck the left retaining wall. The James Dean machine glanced off the wall and headed back across the track on to wheels before Smith was able to regain control and get the car stopped without further incident.

Lensman Steve Wilson captured this great sequence of the incident showing the wild ride that Smith won’t soon forget. ADRL safety officials were right on the scene and Smith was able to climb from the machine and walk away under his own power. Though uninjured, he was visibly shaken following the excursion. “It knocked the wind out of me and rang my bell a little, but I’m okay,” Smith said in an ADRL.us interview.

Despite the hard contact with the guardrail, damage to the LenMar Motorsports Corvette was considered mostly cosmetic upon first inspection, and barring the need for any major structural repairs, Smith and team hope to be back in action next month in Martin, Michigan. “We need to make sure we didn’t bend any of the main bars in the car. As long as we didn’t do that, I think it will be okay,” Smith said.