Earlier this month the holy grail of auto enthusiast events took place– that event being Hyperfest at Virginia International Raceway. Hyperfest is known for its high-energy, low thought atmosphere, making for some pretty solid entertainment, as you can imagine.
There’s something for everyone; from downhill PowerWheel races and rally car ride alongs to the usual car shows and drifting. Our personal favorite, though, is the burnout box.
You may be wondering, what exactly is a burnout box? Well, its exactly what it sounds like– a square made out of concrete barriers that people simply destroy their tires in. Sometimes they even drive their cars up against one of the barriers so they don’t have to stay on the brakes.
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Supposedly, this specific LS-swapped Miata is a regular to VIR’s burnout box competition. This time, though, the owner pressed the car up against the wall and went all out. Not even 30 seconds into the burnout, the car goes up in flames. It would seem the clutch let go in spectacular fashion and severed some of the car’s vital arteries along the way–leading to a pretty nasty fire.
The owner is probably lucky to have walked away without shrapnel in his foot but seems thrilled at the prospect of his car burning to the ground. Of course, the crowd goes wild and spectators are surprisingly calm. Someone comes into the picture with a fire extinguisher, but just drops it on the ground when he learns its practically empty.
In fact, the “fire crew” seems to be in no big rush to put the Miata out at all. You know they take safety seriously when the fire extinguishers they have on standby are empty–you know, from putting out other fires possibly started in other cars.
Eventually, they get the fire stamped down but while there’s still flames, the owner runs back over, grabs a beer out of a cooler from behind the seat, and chugs it. Because ‘Merica.
Check it out in the full video above.