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Amazing Video: Drag racer crashes, flips, gets lodged in windshield then walks away unharmed

Posted at 5:56 PM, Sep 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-23 11:03:04-04

An incredible drag race crash was caught on camera at the Pikes Peak International Raceway Saturday showing a man's vintage Chevy flipping multiple times, causing his legs to become lodged through the broken windshield. 

On the video, the crowd gasps then cheers as Kelly Harvey opens the door and walks away from the crash with no visible injury.

"Once (the car) started tumbling, it seemed like it took forever," Harvey told 7NEWS. "I just couldn't wait for it to stop. And I think that's why I popped out of the car so fast. I just wanted it to be over."

Harvey, a Fort Collins tow truck driver, said fixing up cars and racing is a passion shared by his wife and four kids. He said he's probably drag raced a thousand times, but never lost control like that.

He said the crash was his fault, after he overcorrected to stabilize the car and hit the other driver. He said he was only wearing a lap belt that he'd added to the '55 Chevy and it wasn't mounted properly and broke.

"It's just a fun cruiser car, not a race car and therefore it was unprepared," Harvey said. "I didn't take it as seriously as I should have as far as safety equipment goes."

On Monday, Harvey said he was still feeling sore, but was back on the job. He said even two days later, what happened hasn't fully sunk in.

"Not completely, still trying to process it all," he said. "Sunday morning when I saw the video, it really started to kind of hit home a lot more. When I saw the severity of it and how lucky I really was to have gotten out of that alive -- let alone pretty much unhurt."

His race club, Colorado Street Outlaws, posted on Facebook that he must've had "an angel riding shotgun."

"I don't get real spiritual, but something was going on," he said. "I'm really lucky. I think somebody was watching out for me."

Harvey said he plans to keep racing.