Dragster Explodes at Start of Run, Slightly Injuring 14

A starting line explosion that rocked the Pomona Fairplex sent 10 drag racing spectators to four area hospitals with “minor injuries” during Friday’s qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals. Four others were treated at the track medical center and released.

Don Brickey, NHRA medical director, said none of the injuries were serious.

When Doug Herbert, a veteran top-fuel driver from Cherryville, N.C., hit the button to launch his 6,000-horsepower machine down the quarter-mile strip, it exploded in a ball of fire. The 2,000-pound dragster lifted off the track as pieces flew like shrapnel.

Several large pieces flew over the grandstand and landed more than 300 yards away in an area where team transporters were parked.

Herbert, who turned 32 last week, was shaken up but otherwise uninjured. He said he did not know what caused the explosion, but indicated it might have been a faulty fuel system.