Breaking: Stainless Diesel Speaks Out Regarding Friday’s Pro Mod Fire

It’s not the kind of excitement anyone planned for or wanted to see at this weekend’s ODSS race in Bowling Green, but during the last round of Friday qualifying Stainless Diesel’s Pro Mod Corvette suffered a catastrophic failure and ultimately burnt up at the end of Beech Bend Raceway. Hindered by a smoke-filled cockpit, driver John Gilbert managed to stay out of the wall and bring things to a quick stop. But while John was able to free himself from his race harness and exit the car in relative short order, he suffered burns to his cheeks, nose and hands—along with sustaining worrisome levels of smoke inhalation. He was Life Flighted to Vanderbilt University’s renowned Burn Center in Nashville.

Pro Mod Diesel Corvette Fire — In John’s own words (posted post-incident on Facebook): “At the end of the day, it’s always unexpected as to what can happen the moment we leave the line… We were on a record pass after making some minor chassis adjustments when, mid-track, everything went boom!” Despite the wild explosion, the crank, rods, and valvetrain are still in place and the engine even still turns over. As we went to press, the failure is believed to have been the result of immense internal pressure being created somehow, somewhere. We’ll likely know more in the days and weeks ahead.

Given the all-clear from the hospital this morning, John reached out to fill us in on his condition, the experience inside the car, and what may have caused the failure. Surprisingly, he recollects a lot of what occurred. Apparently, when the oil pan blew off, the fire ball went underneath the car, blew out the firewall, and entered the cockpit almost instantly. “Immediately, I couldn’t see anything,” he told us. “I couldn’t see anything from the time it blew up until I was out of the car, 20-feet away from it.” It’s worth noting that the engine’s crankshaft, rods, and valvetrain were all still intact following the incident.

Race Helmet Fire Stainless Diesel Pro Mod — The Aftermath. A charcoaled racing helmet and melted visor are only the beginning of the damage that occurred inside the car. But while the Stainless Diesel Corvette is a total loss, the driver is still here—and that’s what matters most. Johnny’s top-shelf safety equipment did its job.

Although John trains for worst-case scenarios in full safety gear, nothing could prepare him for a fire-suppression system that was unable to extinguish the flames, a melted steering wheel release (which burnt his hands), or smoke and flame infiltrating his visor and destroying his mask (leaving second-degree burns on his nose and cheeks). “I pulled the fire bottles, and it didn’t even phase it,” he told us. When John was finally free and able to get out of the cockpit, he found that the driver side door was no longer there.

Fire Suit Stainless Diesel Pro Mod Corvette Bracelet Beads — A beaded bracelet, homemade by John’s daughter, has been along for every one of the Corvette’s 4-second rides. In the melee that occurred at Beech Bend, it fell from the top roll bar onto the right arm of his fire suit and melted to it. John fittingly now refers to them as his lucky charms.

Before all hell broke loose, the pass itself was impressive, and John tells us the car was rocking what the team hoped was a record-setting, 4.0x tune-up. Following the explosion and with the car engulfed in flame and smoke, it crossed the stripe in 4.13 seconds at 177 mph. It’s a lesson in just how fast things can change when a violent failure takes place at these power levels. Back at Stainless Diesel’s northern Indiana headquarters, a failure analysis is ongoing, with a goal of both determining the cause along with how to possibly prevent a repeat incident from occurring in the future.

Scoreboard Pro Mod Stainless Diesel Fire — Without question, the car was on a mission during its final pass, the 4.133-second eighth-mile being just .032 shy of the current ODSS Pro Mod ET record. The low-4-second pass began just like so many others had, with the car carrying the driver side front wheel on the launch.

On top of his un-panicked, quick-thinking amid the fiery circumstances, John’s safety equipment bought him enough time to escape the car with what amounts to severe yet non-life-threatening injuries. On behalf of the entire diesel industry—which has seen more than its fair share of crashes and tragedy in recent years—we’re grateful he’s OK. John also sends out a big thanks to everyone who’s reached out via phone call, text, email, messenger, or stopped by in person to wish him well.