Imagine you're in a car, one with over 2,500 horsepower, and you suddenly find yourself floating about 20-feet in the air above the racing surface.

There's no telling what might go through a driver's head as they realize what goes up, eventually must come down.

Radial vs. The World racer Marcus Birt remembered exactly what was on his mind, as his Corvette pulled a wheelstand, eventually floating in the air during Radial vs. The World qualifying at the Lights Out 11 drag radial event outside of Valdosta, Ga.

"I knew this is going to be expensive," Birt admitted, smiling. "I kind of feathered the throttle one time and when I got back in, and I knew once it got straight up, I was hoping it wasn't going over the walls. I was trying to look up, trying to stay inside the track."

Birt admits when you're in the cockpit of a car which isn't intended to fly, the experience is one of helplessness.

"I was just looking out the side," Birt explained. "When I was in there, and it got sideways with me, it was like I just didn't want it to start barrel rolling. That's the main thing I was worried about, and just thinking, 'This is going to be mighty expensive, and I'm going to need more sponsorship."

When Birt's Corvette landed, it did so on all four tires, cushioning the impact and possibly saving him from sustaining a broken back.

Birt considers himself fortunate to walk away, and at the end of the day, he feels honored just to participate in this grand stage for radial tire racing.

"We do this stuff, man, for these fans and these things are dangerous," Birt said. "We love it, and it is what it is, but I just glad. It could have been a lot worse, for sure, but still hurts. You got the big race in a month and, I guess, expensive to fix this thing. So I got to figure out to fix it. That's the main concern now, just got to try to get it fixed."