In the second round of eliminations in top fuel dragster, champion Antron Brown would suffer a spectacular high speed accident. Continue on to see step by step what happened as Antron crossed the finish line at 308 mph.
For the second round I debated shooting on the starting line but for some reason I would shoot up in the grandstands right at the 1000ft finish line.
Antron would be racing alongside David Grubnic. Luckily Grubnic would smoke the tires and be far behind.
In the below photo, Antron Brown races at speed approaching the finish line.
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
About 10 feet past the finish line, the 10 thousand horsepower nitro burning engine would let go with a massive explosion.
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
The explosion was so violent that it would blow out both of Antrons Goodyear slicks…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
With both rear tires gone, physics would take over as the heavier end of the car would start to come around…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
At this point the only thing that could have saved Antron from crashing was the parachutes. Unfortunately the explosion would wrap the parachutes around the rear wing…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
Note the scoreboard in the right corner of the below frame showing Antrons finish line speed of 308mph…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
As the back end continued to rotate around, the 300 mph air would get beneath the car causing it to lift off the ground…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
By now the entire car was off the ground as it would roll over on fire…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
Fire surrounds the enclosed cockpit containing Antron…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
The car was now upside down still on fire…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
Now Antron was flying backwards on fire towards the left lane of the track…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
The flaming car would back into the wall right where a thick metal gate blocks the opening of the concrete wall…
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
The impact would be so brutal that it would shatter the concrete wall!
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
For a second it looked like the car might go over the wall but thankfully his car would stay on the track.
Canon 1Dx, 300mm, 500iso, f6.3, 1/2000th, Manual
After the hit, Antrons car would slide backwards for over a quarter mile into the sand trap.
I won’t lie. This crash had me concerned for my friends safety.
Less than a minute after the savage accident, Antron would appear on the jumbo tron walking away from the destroyed car under his own power.
The crowd went crazy cheering at the sight.
From my spot up in the grandstands, I had been using a 70-200mm lens for most of the dragster runs. For Antrons run I used a 300mm lens instead. Not sure how I kept the car in frame with such a tight fit but it worked out.
Here is a view of the unedited thumbnails from the incident.
Here is a screen capture of the unedited photos in the Photo Mechanic viewing/captioning program I use.
27 Responses to “NHRA driver Antron Brown walks away from high speed crash”
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As soon as I saw Antron was alright, my next thought was “wonder if Mark got this series!” great work as always, glad your friend is OK!
Horrific crash!! So Happy Antron was able to walk away!!
Great photos!!! Thanks for posting!!
Wow, great capture….didn’t realize he struck that gate. That could have been very bad. Thank God he was OK.
I was watching live on ESPN3.com and found myself in a near panic at what I’d just witnessed and like the onsite crowd, I went crazy when I saw him emerge from the mangled wreckage, cheering wildly at my laptop screen here in Boiling Springs, SC. Once I had my wits about me, I did two things: 1) tweeted that Antron had just provided the NHRA racing world with the best testimony ever for the canopy and 2) started refreshing my twitter feed incessantly looking for you to post a shot that I was certain you had gotten.
Great sequence, Mark! Thank goodness for the safety features that go into the build of these vehicles.
awesome snaps bro !!!! thats why they fly you all over the world to shoot!
I don’t like gates like that on the track. I know they are there for safety but if he hit a few inches earlier, that would have gone right through the gate and he would have stopped abruptly and no doubt been severely injured and probably dead. his angel was there that day for sure…
In your third picture you can actually see the “Y” being blown off of “Toyota” on the engine! Great work…as usual.
These images are incredible Mark, thanks for sharing. Looks like the canopy did it’s job.
LOVE OUR WORK AWESOME BRO PEACE NITRO MIKE ~
Every time I think you’re a mere mortal you come up with a sequence like this!
Fantastic shooting, once again.
Great shots! You never cease to amaze me with your talent.
At least the canopy or the top of the car impacted at any time. But it did keep fire and debris away from Antron. Tis will make a lot of ownwers and drivers take a long look at these.
I was watching that happen, That was one of the worst I`ve Seen. I like the Canopy ,it did it`s Job.
Brought back Memories of Orange Co. July 21st 1973. But my crash was not Violent. But I slid 1000 feet backwards upside down on fire the whole time.
If only I had a Canopy then.
But THANK GOD Antron & I are still here.
Herm Petersen
Dam good photos, and better safety stuff– these days–Wow
Amazing shots and the Lord was with Antron on that pass!
It would also seem Cannon Lenses work, too!
I was on the starting line, the explosion was so strong you could feel it 1000 ft away. Real glad Antron walked away. Bad a$$ photos as always.
[...] photo's of the crash: NHRA driver Antron Brown walks away from high speed crash on Mark J. Rebilas Blog Really I don't like posting stuff like these because it always ends in the gore and expense of who [...]
Great set of photos and thanks for letting us see them. I too, think a lot of teams will now look into doing the canopy/pod thing. Big Daddy was ahead of his time!
My compliments to you on this magnificent series. I appreciate you posting your camera settings. The 500 iso setting in the bright daylight produced impressive results. Very nice job and thanks for sharing these! I’m officially a fan…;)
Mark, great job as always and thank God for a positive outcome of this crash. I was watching it on TV, and have to say, I was holding my breath there for a minute. Kudos to the safety equipment and the safety safari. I know lots of other teams now see the value in having a canopy because they said it kept the fire and the stuff from the sand pit out of the cockpit.
Hope to see you in Phoenix (I’ll be there for sure!)
~ Anthony
Mark, I was about 8 rows below u in the stands, great work. The explosion was the loudest I have ever herd how about u.
Glen Barrett your comment on the canopy : If you look at jpg 1432 you will notice the fire is in the canopy and to verify If you search for photos from Marty Riger (not sure of the spelling) he has similar shots showing the fire in the canopy! Is this a good thing ordoes it just need to be sealed in some better manner? Just an observation Jim
From an old photo/journalist with Drag News back in the ’60′s, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
My statement #12 should have said the canopy or the top of the vehicle did not impact at anytime so the canopy was not damaged and allowed it to be opened by Antron and the safety crew.
I was at about 800 ft. and it was loud. As big as Doug Herbert’s back in the late 90′s, just a lot scarier. Thanks for sharing, and thank God for all of the safety equipment.
With 10,000 hp and on the verge of closing the distance between earth and heaven…all I can say is…thank all safety engineers and for the guys and gals that put their lives on the line for us !! WOW !!
Reply #22. It looks like the fire was on the outside of the canopy, wrapping around from the fireball at the back of the cockpit. Thought I heard him say that it didn’t get in the cockpit. But then I could be wrong, wouldn’t be the first time. I can see NHRA making this mandatory inn the future.