Video: Sprint car vaults over 22-foot fence

Sprint car racing is a form of motorsport for people who like to keep things simple. And sideways. 

The cars are super light spaceframe wedges with big, powerful naturally-aspirated V8 engines (we’re talking upwards of 1,000bhp for the big boys), steamroller tyres at the back and skinnys at the front. The tracks are loose-surface ovals, so with all that power, sideways is the quickest way round. 

It’s a fast and frantic form of racing. And, with a pack of cars all vying for position, one that can also be quite crashy. On Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway in California, Austin Williams boldly went where no racer in the circuit’s 21-year history had gone before: up and over the 22-foot catch facing. 

As he set the car up for another left turn during qualifying, Austin snapped his racer into oversteer like normal, but then, unexpectedly, the back right tyre snagged the dirt initiating a roll. This turned into many, many rolls. Enough rolls for an Olympic gymnastic tumbling routine. It also knocked him for six and out of the park to land the wrong way up. 

Amazingly, he just undid his belts, crawled out and dusted himself down with no injuries. Lucky boy. Check it out for yourself above.