This was published 10 years ago
Driver survives 500km/h drag race crash
AAP
A 69-year-old drag racer was lucky to walk away unscathed after the parachute on his car failed to open at almost 500km/h.
Reaching a speed of 494km/h to win a nitro racing event in California on Saturday, Gary Densham's car skidded across a sand trap and into a net, almost splitting it in two.
Footage of the incident has been viewed more than 20,000 times in less than two days on YouTube, with Densham reportedly considering retirement given the written-off wreck was his only drag car.
