This Formula Drift Crash Somehow Flipped a Car Into a Wall

No matter how easy pros in cars designed specifically for the task may make it look, tandem drifting is not what cars were meant to do. Keeping two cars out of control in a pair is a challenge, and when things go wrong, they can go very wrong fast. James Deane learned the worst of that during a run at Formula Drift's Irwindale event yesterday.

Deane, a three-time Formula Drift champion, was running ahead of Corvette driver Matt Field in a practice run when Deane came into a corner with just a little more angle and a little less speed than Field. Their front wheels collided first, then a rear wheel of Deane's Mustang went over the hood of Field's Corvette. That threw the Mustang both airborne and toward Irwindale's oval-style outer wall, which Deane's car would slide along for a few feet before eventually grinding to a halt and settling back on the ground in the correct orientation.

Footage from Field's dashboard camera shows how quickly it all happened from the driver's perspective. One moment of side-by-side contact at an awkward angle sends one car flying, leaving another driver to watch as it slides sideways across the wall of the track.

Deane's Mustang was repairable, so he completed a single-car qualifying run anyway. His 83.33 points were enough to place sixth in the knockout bracket. Field's Corvette was also repaired. He qualified 18th, setting the stage for a potential quarterfinal bout with seventh-seeded championship rival Chelsea DeNofa with a title still in play.

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