There was a time when a race crew couldn’t strap, mount, stick or suction cup a tiny, incredibly powerful video camera literally ANYWHERE in, on and under their car. Thankfully, today we have that technology to record almost any component or function with excellent resolution and a plethora of mounting options, so that we are able to share videos like this!

There’s not a great amount of information available about this clip as far as car, class or driver info, but that doesn’t matter, because what IS available is a fairly uncommon camera mounting location that provides us a perfect view of a catastrophic third member failure and the ensuing carnage caused as the now-flailing driveshaft causes as it whips spectacularly around the bottom of the wounded ride.

Speculating, because why not, it seems safe to assume the car may be a fairly fast bracket doorslammer based on the car not backing up after a relatively long, high-revving burnout — many tracks mandate door cars not cross the starting line during the burnout — and the healthy tone of the powerplant.

The rear end doesn’t explode immediately upon transfer of power from the engine rearward, it actually makes it a split-second into the pass before letting go in a shower of fluid, sparks and metal chunks. Immediately upon being released from its bonds, the driveshaft begins a violent attack on everything within its reach under the car, bending bars and battering the bottom side of the floor pan until the engine and transmission finally grind to a halt a few painful seconds later.

Today’s uber-versatile digital cameras provide race teams with a wealth of knowledge and information used to tune components that would have never before been observable as the car sped down the track. They also provide fans hours of up-close-and-personal footage of both clean passes down the track and, in cases like this, insane parts failure!