My cousin Vern Amaral was a top fuel boat racer in the 70's and had a number of crashes, living on the edge of death that's for sure!
Panic Mouse Restoration - Page 31
I remember going to see him run and when we got there we heard that he had already left in the ambulance. He was hit in the head by a hemi valve cover that had flown off a motor!
He was in an episode of a TV show showing one of his crashes back 20-30 years ago I forget the show but was blown away when I saw it.
Those top fuelers were NUTS back then. Now they are in a capsule that was designed (and many of them came from) fighter jets.
Brian