C2 Drag Racer Catches Air & Explodes
Shannon Poole and his ’64 Corvette are well known thanks to Discovery’s Street Outlaws. He’s lucky to be racing another day.
It’s bad enough when a race car flies into the air on a run down the drag strip. Add in a massive fire and it pretty much becomes every drag racer’s worst nightmare. But such was the case recently for experienced racer Shannon Poole and his ’64 Corvette drag racer. The Drive has the lowdown on the insane crash. Though he was lucky enough to walk away from the incident with no major injuries, the accident is something to see.
Poole drives a nitrous-boosted C2 Corvette that he calls “Red Bull.” He’s also a reality TV star thanks to his role on Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws: New Orleans. Unfortunately, the nicely built Corvette was recently destroyed when its nose lifted shortly after rocketing off the start line at Gulfport Dragway’s Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Blowout. Once the Corvette’s nose lifted it flew into the air, spun sideways and then came back down on its nose. A video shot by a spectator shows a huge fireball erupt as the Corvette slams into the ground.
Luckily Poole was responsive and alert when the rescue crew reached the scene of the scary crash seconds after it occurred. Though he didn’t appear to have any major injuries, he was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The painstakingly-built Corvette drag racer, on the other hand, is in pretty bad shape. One thing is certain though. Poole may have built the car himself but he obviously did a very good job making sure that the Corvette was safe and strong enough to handle a heavy crash like the one he was just in.
According to a profile on Dragzine, Poole and his father built the Corvette over a nine-month period. The stock 327 cubic-inch V8 was swapped out for a monstrous 632 cubic-inch engine that uses a Winberg billet crank, Icon pistons and GRP aluminum connecting rods. The bottom end is topped off by RFD cylinder heads and a custom camshaft from Howard Cams. The engine also uses T&D offset steel rocker arms, an Edelbrock intake and a ProSystems carburetor. The icing on the cake is definitely the nitrous oxide setup that gives the Corvette a huge amount of power. Exactly how much is unknown. Poole doesn’t reveal how much power the setup makes. You can see Poole’s car in action in the video below.
Poole told Dragzine that the Corvette was “built for the street, so it is an absolute handful to drive on the track.” Ya think? Hopefully, the Corvette will be rebuilt at some point so it can hit the drag strip again. On the other hand, considering the severity of the accident it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Poole was reconsidering his choice of hobbies.
Screengrabs: OzzG-TV/YouTube, National No Prep Racing Association/YouTube