As we’ve all seen as racers blow the tires off at the hit and valiantly pedal their way to the finish line, saw away on the wheel as they fight a race car that’s too far out of the groove for comfort, or a nitro car on ESPN still charging hard despite parts, pieces, and flames in its wake, drag racers are a resilient bunch. The truth is, you have to be, because in this sport, only one racer can cross the finish line first, and while the reaches of one’s checkbook are always in mind, it’s a racers nature to get there first at all costs. 

But there are situations where it’s just a good idea to just shut it down and call it a day. And when your vehicle has broken a tie rod and you’re headed in one direction and both of your front wheels are pointing in another, it’s probably one of those situations.

Last year, we shared a video on Dragzine of a diesel truck competitor who, after beating on his pickup all day long at the track, broke a tie rod just off the starting line but powered all the way to the finish line dragging at least one of the front wheels along, never even thinking about lifting.  

Well, it must be a truck thing, because we’ve found another competitor in a very similar situation showing a never-say-die attitude while making laps at the Bandimere Speedway in Colorado. Like the other racer, the driver of this Duramax-powered Chevrolet pickup breaks the tie rod at the drop of the green, giving the front wheels free reign to chart their own course. Before the sixty foot mark, both wheels are pointing inward at each other at a 45-degree angle. And does the driver lift? Absolutely not.

Fortunately, the driver is wise enough to call it quits a few hundred feet down track when realizing not only is there no steering, but it’s taking an awful lot of power to continue any sort of momentum, but not before putting on a little show for the crowd by shoving the big mud crawlers down the tacky drag strip like champ.