Tom Bailey Inadvertently Sets Fire System Off In His Face

Have you ever wondered what a cockpit fire suppression system actually looks like in practice when set off? The truth is, fires that envelope the cockpit are, thankfully, not a very common occurrence. When they do happen, there isn’t always a camera onboard to catch it, and even when there is, oftentimes the smoke filling the cockpit is so dense that every event going on in the cabin is obscured from view.

As race cars have become quicker, faster, and ever-more volatile, racers are taking safety uber-seriously and installing highly-capable fire suppression systems in their cars with multiple discharge nozzles, operating in either thermally-activated (automatic) or manual fashion. Drag-and-drive star and promoter Tom Bailey is among those who has lived through the worst, enduring a serious fire on an exhibition pass at the 2021 NHRA Gatornationals in Florida in his famed Sick Seconds 2.0 world-record-holding Camaro. As such, Bailey runs a system with both engine bay and cockpit discharge nozzles to protect both the vehicle and himself.

In the runup to the sophomore edition of Bailey’s own Sick Week drag-and-drive tour of Florida and South Georgia, Bailey was testing Sick Seconds 2.0 when, at the close of a run, he accidentally discharged the cockpit system instead of the intended engine bay nozzles, blasting himself in the face with the halon-type suppressant. So overcome by the blast was Bailey that he simply bolted from the seat, at which point he no doubt had to face the music from his crew and onlookers of his mistake, calling it “maybe the most embarrassing moment in my drag racing life.”

Hey, sh*t happens, and on the bright side, at least he can be confident the system is in working order should be need it. Call it a test-run of another kind.