Watch Mike Bucher’s Absolutely Catastrophic Nitro Explosion

What began as an exciting day at the drags for a large contingent of Michigan drag racing fans — many of whom had likely never seen a Top Fuel dragster before — turned frightening this weekend.

Mike Bucher, driving veteran Luigi Novelli’s dragster, was booked into the Northern Michigan Dragway for its 25th annual Mopars Against The World event; in addition to putting on a show for the fans, Bucher was also aiming for the track elapsed time record. But on his final run of the weekend, the engine, according to Bucher, went lean at the close of a 3.64-second, 157 mph pass down the 1/8-mile. The result was one of the most catastrophic explosions by a fuel car in modern times, perhaps rivaling the unforgettable blow-up by Doug Herbert in 1999.

Bucher told Dragzine he and the Novelli camp are still unsure of the root cause for the explosion — one he called a “for real bomb” — but suggested it could have perhaps been a fuel pump failure. As Bucher approached the finish stripe, the dragster’s engine erupted into a fireball, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. So concussive was the force of the explosion that it destroyed the supercharger blanket and restraints and sent the injector, supercharger, and intake manifold sailing into the night. The cylinder heads were also catastrophically destroyed, and even the valley of the block appears to have been bowed from the forces.

According to eyewitnesses, a number of fans were struck by debris, but none were seriously injured. There were also reports of property damage incidents to vehicles trackside, as well. In top-end video (shared here), debris can not only be heard raining down from above, but visibly seen in the darkness tumbling though the grass and striking the guardrails.

“I reached for the parachutes and then was surrounded by orange. I grabbed the brakes and the tires locked up…I slid, but I was fine. [I had] total peace, no fear…in God’s hands,” said Bucher.

The longer you look, the worse it gets.

Bucher added in a public statement to the fans on hand: “I want to thank everyone at this track for a wonderful weekend. This is an awesome place…super people. I hope you all liked seeing a Top Fuel dragster. So sorry about how it ended. This ‘grand finale’ was not in the plans. I was touched by the concern. I was bummed…