Watch Jay Leno’s Terrifying Crash In A 2500HP Drag Car While Filming TV Show

Jay Leno said that one of his bucket list to-do’s was ride in the race car called the “Hemi Under Glass” with its legendary driver Bob Riggle. That dream recently came true while filming an episode for the second season of his CNBC TV show Jay Leno’s Garage, but things didn’t go quite as planned. Frankly, it was almost the last item to ever make it on Leno’s bucket list. Click above to see why. (The action starts at the 2:43 mark.)

In the video, Leno and Riggle are at the Irwindale Speedway in California to do some wheelie’s for the camera. Riggle and his 1966 Plymouth Barracuda are famous for wowing crowds with the car’s ability to easily go up on its rear wheels because of the massive 468 cubic inch 2500-horsepower hemi-engine placed in the back of the car, rather than under the hood.

Riggle, who’s now 80, takes off with Leno, executing a perfect wheelie on the first pass. But as they begin to make a left turn back to the straight away, speed, gravity, and the inclined racetrack get the better of them, sending the car tumbling end over end.

Thankfully, because of safety harnesses, helmets, and a heavy-duty roll-cage, the two walked away with nothing bruised but their egos.

Riggle says that in the 50 years he’s been hot-rodding the “Hemi Under Glass,” this is only the second accident he’s ever had in the car. Plans are already under way to rebuild the classic racer.

The Hurst Corporation built several of these drag racing cars to use at exhibitions between 1965 and 1975. According to the Hemmings Motor News, the original 1967 Barracuda “Hemi Under Glass” sold in 2014 at the Mecum Auctions for $300,000 dollars.

Below is the trailer for Season 2 of Leno’s Garage…