Explain this one to insurance...
Burnouts have a practical side to them, as they allow you to heat up the rear tires for optimal grip, but they can also be a way to really flex the muscle of your car. This is how burnout competitions have become a popular thing both at illegal street takeover events as well as at legitimate gatherings. And as we see in the included video of a brand-new Dodge Charger Hellcat roasting rubber, sometimes those burnouts go horribly, horribly wrong.
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According to the YouTuber who uploaded it, this video was taken at the Irwindale Speedway in Southern California. So at least this was a legal event. Different drivers take their car into the burnout box, where cement barriers are supposed to keep spectators safe as they enjoy the roasted rubber goodness.
At the beginning of the video we see the brand new Dodge Charger Hellcat ripping some pretty good burnouts in the box. The owner is really going for it, narrowly missing the cement barriers a few times as he navigates through the burnt rubber clouds. Then, he stops the car with the rear right next to a barrier and lets the rear tires spin while keeping the Mopar muscle car stationary.
That decision proves to be explosive, literally. Something in the rear ignites and a fireball shoots out toward the crowd. Fortunately, it looks like nobody was hurt and they were able to put out the fire in the Hellcat’s rear end. The car even drove off after a fire crew doused it to be safe. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been damaged, although it’s hard to tell from the nighttime video.
We’re guessing the friction on the rear rotors, which were glowing red right before the explosion, ignited the rubber debris which had collected all over the rear of the Dodge. Thankfully, the gas tank was protected from the heat and we didn’t see something far worse. Still, this should act as a warning to people who think they can do endless burnouts in a car. Even if you’re in a place where it’s legal, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good idea.
Afterward you get to see a Corvette with an LSX plate on it do some nice burnouts while throwing crackling flames. At least there was no explosion of the rear tires, even though the mini explosions coming from the tailpipes are pretty cool. Plus, the driver doesn't even get close to kissing the wall in the burnout box, a tragedy we’ve seen so often but makes us cringe in horror every time.
Some other cars also jump in the burnout box, including another Dodge Charger Hellcat, but none are as eventful or as aggressive as the first Hellcat. Probably everyone was spooked by that incident and so they were more conservative than they would’ve been otherwise.
