He was driving a special, very fast car called a dragster about 460 kilometers per hour.
The dragsters that race within this category are capable of covering a quarter mile from a standing start in as little as 4.5 seconds.
This design is notably safer as it puts most of the fuel processing and rotating or reciprocating parts of the dragster behind the driver.
As a youth, he raced his own dragster in the late 1950s.
The car turned out to be a fifties-style dragster at a time when dragster design was rapidly evolving.
Vehicles range from the everyday car to the purpose-built dragster.
Electric dragsters have come of age with new developments in battery and motor technology.
His dragster broke up after he crossed the finish line.
