A driver’s worst fear is fire.
And no one knows that better than Dale Earnhardt Jr., who saw what looked at first like a minor crash turn into a terrifying inferno during a practice session for an American Le Mans Series race at Sonoma Raceway in 2004.
As the below video shows, Earnhardt Jr. was sitting in his wrecked Chevrolet Corvette when it burst into flames that enveloped his head and torso as he tried to free himself from the burning car.
Although the fire was extinguished relatively quickly, Earnhardt still had to be airlifted to the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for treatment of his burns.