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Minor injuries in funny car crash

As a former motocross racer, Landon Goudreau is no stranger to danger.
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Landon Goudreau's crew work to secure his damaged '76 Plymouth Arrow funny car.

As a former motocross racer, Landon Goudreau is no stranger to danger.

He's been involved in his share of dirt bike disasters but nothing compares to his wreck behind the wheel of his Dodge Arrow in the final round of Saturday's Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Funny Car eliminations at Northland Dodge Motorsports Park.

"They weren't quite so fast on the bike, but I was left every bit as bumped-up and bruised," said Goudreau, 28, of Edmonton.

Goudreau was two car lengths ahead of Jimmy Ferch travelling at about 150 miles per hour when he lost traction and slammed into the rear right side wheel of Fersch's Barracuda. The impact, about 450 feet from the start line, hip-checked Fersch's car right off its wheels into a partial barrel roll. Fersch's car righted itself and he managed to come to stop without further contact. Goudreau was not so lucky.

His car nailed the left side concrete barrier, crossed the track at a 45-degree angle and smashed into the right side barrier, then skidded for 10 more car lengths before his hairy ride came to end.

Both drivers were shaken up but escaped series injury. Emergency crews from the Pineview volunteer fire department raced to the scene from either end of the quarter-mile strip and a paramedic was there to offer first aid to both drivers. Goudreau was taken to hospital in an ambulance with bruises to his hip, shoulder and elbow and a mild headache.

"It was just good equipment, the safety gear is so good you can end up in a situation like that and not get busted up as bad as you'd expect," said Goudreau.

Goudreau said the drivers noticed in qualifying the concrete track has a slight washboard consistency near the one-eighth mile mark at the point where he lost control. Under full throttle, the 2,500-horsepower engine spins the wheels so fast they tend to hop when they lose their grip on a bump.

"We were all aware of it and anybody who had lane choice took the left lane -- you don't notice it unless you're in a high-powered car," he said.

It was expensive day at the track for two other drivers in the Alberta-based funny car series, who were forced to retire for the weekend with mechanical problems. Series president Cory Kincaid, who qualified first overall Saturday, had a head gasket bore a hole into his motor and Cal Tebb's broke a blower. That left only Joey Steckler's Corvette in running condition and without anyone to race him, all the drivers returned to their homes in Alberta Sunday morning.

Goudreau qualified third with a 6.81-second pass at 198 miles per hour. Kincaid had the top qualifying time but when his car broke, Goudreau took his spot in the final.

He's hoping to salvage a few engine and transmission parts from his $100,000 car but the chassis and body are destroyed. Ferch, of Drayton Valley, Alta., with left with body and suspension damage to his car but mechanically it was sound.

"It's a surface issue we have with the concrete, we have to grind it and resurface the concrete," said NDMP manager Landon LeDuke. "For everything we run out here [locally] there's more than sufficient traction, but at 200 miles an hour it's not quite good enough. They had a rough day but they loved the hospitality and the facility and they said they'd be back next year."

For the spectators who packed the bleachers Saturday and witnessed the dangerous side of drag racing, it was a rare but unforgettable incident caught on video and likely to be posted on YouTube or Facebook.

Veteran pro class racer Cal Barnes of Prince George says the accident serves as reminder to all drivers what can happen when things go wrong, but also proved the safety precautions in place at the track were sufficient to allow both drivers to walk away from the wreckage.

"Every time you push the button you know there could be disaster," said Barnes. "Those guys in 200 mile an hour cars know that. The best thing about it is the track [management] was right on the ball, the safety crew was there and everybody did their jobs.

"There's no insurance on these cars and it's a risk we're willing to take for the thrill that we get. The worst thing that's ever happened to me is I ran out of gas at the line a couple times."