06/09/2026
Everybody saw the fireball. Here's what actually happened.
The explosion in Epping wasn't caused by the tune-up, a parts failure, or a plumbing mistake. Our dragster leaves the shop in Connecticut fully set up and race ready. After tracing the issue back through multiple race weekends, we determined that a critical CO₂ pressure setting had been unintentionally changed during the Charlotte race weekend. That lower pressure allowed the ignition system to momentarily shut off at the launch before coming back online—creating the fireworks everyone saw.
As pit boss, Michelle is probably kicking herself the hardest. The issue wasn't the setting itself—it was allowing a departure from our normal procedures in Charlotte on a system that should have been left alone. That's a leadership lesson as much as a racing lesson.
The good news is we found the root cause. The block, blower, and intake survived, and we've implemented procedures to make sure the CO₂ pressure cannot be accidentally set incorrectly again.
Failures are expensive teachers. The value comes from finding the root cause, correcting it, and putting safeguards in place so the lesson only has to be learned once.
We'll have a fresh cylinder head on the car and be ready to get back after it in Norwalk.
Nelson Trucking | Red Line Synthetic Oil | primetimevideoandphoto.com
Dave Nelson
