06/20/2026
Tough one to post about but had a lot of people asking what happened at the end of GTA @ Thunderhill.
In my last session of the weekend I was getting more aggressive with some sections of the track and pushing for a PB despite the afternoon heat. In the last corner I clipped the tall apex curbing with my inside tires - something I knew from others was not advisable. The right side of the car caught some air and as I came down I also got back on throttle at the wrong moment and something in the driveline broke. It was loud and obvious and as I got the car pulled off the track surface beside the front straight I knew the noise I was hearing; broken axle. I’ve been towed in and even limped the car to the pits on a broken axle before, so I didn’t think much of it. Tow truck rolled up and they jumped out and hooked up. I wish I had thought to shout to them to have a look under the car first.
Our best guess is that what actually happened is the diff mounts broke, and when that happened yes, the axle broke. So I did hear a broken axle, but it was worse than I realized.
As the tow truck started to pull, the car started crab walking and things didn’t feel right. But at that point I’m just along for the ride, still strapped into the car as the tow truck pulls.
As soon as the car got back on the track surface the driveshaft - which unbeknownst to us was no longer in the tail of the transmission - dug into the concrete and punted the differential out of the back of the subframe. The force launched the car into the air. People trackside said they could see my wheels above the hot pit wall. The car rotated a bit mid-air and as the tow truck was still driving forwards it yanked my tow hook laterally at an angle it wasn’t intended to be pulled in, folded that through my hood, and yanked the car back down to the ground pretty hard.
The truck driver hit the brakes when he saw me launch into the air behind him, but by the time he was slowing I was back on the ground and the damage was all done.
Definitely didn’t have this on my bingo card.
This one is as much my fault as anyone's. Just a lesson to learn, and a lot to repair and replace.
