The first month of the year left us with a blood-curdling crash. The NASCAR season is yet to start, and the Late Model racing series is already left shaken. Brian Shirley, a dirt racing veteran, was racing at Needmore Speedway and was four laps away from a heat victory on Tuesday. But suddenly his No. 3S LongHorn Chassis erupted in flames. Track responders came but took a long time to douse the fire.

The racing community and even the dirt race winner were left in gaping shock. Fortunately, Brian Shirley emerged unscathed from his burning vehicle due to the rescue officials’ efforts. It has barely been two days since the incident – and the man himself is here to share some thoughts about the disaster.

Brian Shirley confesses to barely escaping

Whenever a driver faces a harrowing wreck, fans are reminded of past incidents. Ranging from Larry Smith’s horrific Talladega accident to Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s Daytona crash, such incidents can easily spiral into something bad. So when Brian Shirley’s car caught fire, the onlookers were terrified. What made things worse was the interminably long time Shirley took to untether himself from the HANS safety device. Hall of Fame racer Don O’Neal’s son Hudson won the $10,000 feature that night, and both were shocked. O’Neal admitted he had never seen anything like the raging fire that afflicted Shirley.

Fans even bashed the Late Model car build and questioned its safety level. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. was horrified as he reshared the video of the mishap on X. As we now no doubt know what the audience reception was, let us dive into Brian Shirley’s perception of the incident. In a recent interview with FloRacing, Brian Shirley admitted he could not calculate the level of the disaster at first. The racer said that he counted his blessings after escaping the near-fatal accident. “The biggest thing is, I didn’t really know the extreme… how dangerous it was. At the end of the day, that fire was really out of control as far as the fuel and stuff ignited. When you sit back and really think about it… it tells you a little bit how precious life is – it definitely could have took my life.”

When asked about any memories he had of the event, Shirley confessed it was not something he would like to remember. Shirley said, “I’ve looked at it enough to watch the whole thing, pay attention to it. At the end of the day, it’s not something that you truly want to remember… Lucky enough that everything went good.” He also acknowledged the widespread support he received: “To be honest, the support from truthfully everybody – the support is like crazy, of how many people who have reached out.”

Yet this is hardly the first time that Brian Shirley has encountered something spine-chilling. The dirt racer has bumped into accidents multiple times before.

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Staring danger in the face

Well, you can tell from Brian Shirley’s relaxed attitude during the interview that this isn’t his first rodeo. His dirt racing resume is no doubt impressive. Shirley clinched an 8th-place finish at the World of Outlaws finale in Charlotte last year. In July 2024, he overcame several wrecks to fetch a victory at a River Cities Speedway 40-lap event. But interspersed among his wins are tales of nerve-racking crashes as well. For instance, a wild pile-up at Macon Speedway left him standing on his lid in May last year. He was fortunately safe and finished in 24th place. But a more memorable crash happened back in 2019, at Golden Isles Speedway.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race saw Brian Shirley running in 8th place. He was battling Scott Bloomquist and Kyle Bronson when Shirley suddenly headed towards the wall. His car slammed the wall nose-first, climbed it, and barrel-rolled, with the tire flying about a hundred feet away from the car. Quite akin to this year, Shirley understood the gravity only after the accident happened. “I’m not really sure exactly what started it. I just know somebody got into me on the left side. It all happened so fast, it just shot me straight to the right. Then, there it was. You just hit the wall, up and over you go. I really don’t know. I’d have to see a video of it to understand it fully. It all happened so fast. It’s honestly all a blur.”

Evidently, Brian Shirley has had his fair share of spine-chilling incidents. Hopefully, his dirt racing career will feature no more raging fires or barrel-rolling mishaps.