James Neal raced in NASCAR, somewhat unsuccessfully, in the 1980′s. Not used to leading races, he’s decided he’d rather lead chases, which is what he did on Monday in his 2003 Corvette. Neal led authorities on a 50 mile chase from San Clemente, CA to La Jolla, at speeds up to 140 mph, before blowing up his engine and surrendering.
Cops didn’t know they were chasing a pro driver, but probably could have guessed Neal raced in NASCAR, when he started making repeated left hand turns. Neal plead guilty to Misdemeanor Felony Evasion and will be spending a month behind bars.
[Source: LAist]
How did this idiot blow his engine after only 50 miles? Aren't corvette engines supposed to be bullet proof? Did he run out of oil? What's with the repeated left-hand turns? All of this over a simple license plate violation? C'mon! I smell a rat here. What's the rest of the story? Only 140MPH? If Gumball and Bull runners can hit 160MPH why can't James?
I was thinking the same thing, my corvette’s engine is rock solid, but who knows what happened in that car….
its probably cuz the motor was done already. it is a 2003 and if raced in NASCAR im sure he had a lead foot of some sort. LOL only left turns was cold guys. come on they race road courses on occasion too..
Who knows how poorly the car could have been treated it or how many miles were on it. News reports said it "blew its engine". Coming from media morons trying to dumb down the info for the public, that could mean anything from overheating to a broken driveshaft. And for what it's worth, the vehicle in question was an LS6 equipped Z06, pushing the 5.7 V8 closer to the limit than your run-of-the-mill LS1.