One, Two, Three
Nitrous-racer Jeff Pursey got to witness three sequential nitrous explosions from the front seat of his 8-second '80 Chevy Malibu when the microswitch that controls the fogger and nitrous plate clicked into the ON position and stayed there. The first explosion blew the hood straight up and showered the track with tiny pieces of smoldering metal. The second explosion stopped the starter from approaching the car with the fire bottle, and as the hood fell back into place, a third explosion barfed flames onto the windshield.
Pursey sat quietly watching the flames until the safety crew got the fire under control then returned to the pits. "As far as car damage, obviously the hood was cracked and ripped." he says. "We lost the six-month-old Pro Systems carb. It was melted and all the boosters and butterflies were destroyed. All the bars in my NOS X plate were disintegrated, too. Amazingly, not one wire was burned, and all the external damage cleaned right up-except the hood."