This is Russ, as I sat in the hospital for a couple days, I replayed everything in my head hundreds of times, things that I should have noticed as a warning, and what I could have done differently. I’ve seen lots of comments so I’ll address a few of them, not being defensive at all. In a normal car throttle sticking at 2200 RPM’s is not the end of the world, in my car that’s 900 ft/lbs of torque. I should have realized the load that was putting on the brakes. Didn’t cross my mind at the time. FYI: It had double springs on the throttle. In a normal car, I could have pulled emergency brake, I even got a quote at Good Guy’s Del Mar for an electronic e-brake & bigger brakes. Hindsight’s 20-20, I was just gonna trailer it to a few shows & not drive it much till I could do that. Why didn’t I downshift? Car had a B&M ratchet shifter, once I shifted up thru the gears you can’t downshift till you put it in park. So much going on in those last few seconds, forgot to downshift it after putting it in park, but it was probably too late to have had a big reduction in speed. As far as I know, driver of van was not seriously injured. Beauty of a modern car with crumple zones, self tightening seat belts & air bags. Car had liability coverage but no collision, I was still in the process of getting stated value insurance A

Kinda weird to not even mention whether the person you crashed in to is okay. Afterall he/she is the ACTUAL victim.

Out of all of this, the biggest shock to me is that this dude only had liability insurance on a car he’d poured over 200k into.

23 years, sticking throttle and no brakes, new hobby time Russ

23 years, $200,000, two marriages, and you can't even drive the damn thing around the block.

Someone who has worked as both a Tech and an Advisor, it blows my mind how little people think about brakes and tires. No matter if your vehicle makes 10 horsepower or 10,000hp, you need to be able to turn and stop. The fact that this gets overlooked on performance builds is just scary.

Imagine sitting at a light with your family of 4 and two divorced men rear end you at 55 mph, Then they make a KZfaq video to let you know the car is ok.

This wasn't brake failure this was driver failure. Sticking throttle! Just ride the brakes till the brake fluid heats up till the brakes don't work.

As some one who treats spines and injuries... This driver jacked somebody's life up like nothing else and never a mention in the video. Thats pretty cold honestly.

"Is that brakes I smell?" "Yeah, I gotta ride them. The accelerator's sticking at about 2200 rpms." "Oh, ok. Hey, can you pull over? We're going to end this now." How things should have gone down.

That owner is 100% responsible. Those brakes are definitely not designed for 1300 hp. You mentioned smelling the brakes. That's a huge warning sign. I feel bad for the poor people he smashed into.

Wreck is shown in the first 20 seconds. Warning about the wreck being shown is after the wreck. Real geniuses behind this operation.

"I'm giving you a warning right up front; this video could be considered graphic in nature" seconds AFTER they show the impact LOL

"Install harnesses." -Don't upgrade or even maintain your brakes after serious performance upgrades. -Ignore that sticking throttle--got enough coin in this thing already. -And hey make sure to take it out into rush hour traffic for that youtube vid. -Brakes smell real hot but let's do some quick pulls in the middle lane. -Make a video of both of you acknowledging then placating glaring safety problems before even leaving the shop and never even mention the innocent people you smoked in a completely avoidable/negligently caused accident.

No emergency brake, sticky throttle, old and heated up brakes, only lapbelts then uploading everything to the internet for the Minivan's attorney to use in court. Priceless!

As a car enthusiast from Germany I often hate on the strict regulations we have in most European countries but videos like these show why the regulations get constantly stricter. Too many irresposible idiots endangering the life of others. In Germany you would have to get you car checked and hope you can get it road legal but with a 100% certainty you would have to upgrade the whole break system to a race setup. Idk if you could even get 1300 HP road legal on such an old car.

Building cars is not your forte, Russ. Let the professionals do it and buy one. Better than spending two decades building this deathtrap.

'Hey your brakes are kind of old.' 'Nah, they're OK.' 'Shouldn't we wear our harnesses?' 'Nah, fuck it, we'll be fine.' 'Hey I smell the brakes burning up.' 'Yeah, I'm riding the break cuz the accelerator is stuck, it's fine.' 'Do you have insurance on this car?' 'Yeah I don't go for that insurance crap.' 'We're close to an intersection and a red light, don't you think we should slow down?' 'What's that? You want me to speed it up? Ok.'

The fact that these guys had to be called out hundreds of times to even get them to write a clarification on the health of the mini van driver. Really shows their character, they didn’t even think to address it in the first 12 min long video

$200k and you can't make brakes that work? Those wives were right to leave.

I love that they give you a warning about the crash AFTER showing the crash lol

Dude was riding the brakes on a 1300 HP car then acts surprised when his brakes overheat and go out.

As an engineer who worked for Wilwood brakes for many years and spent countless hours working with high performance stopping systems I can say one thing with no hesitation. Just because you can afford to do something doesn't mean you should if you don't know what you're doing. There is more to braking than just changing out brake pads and fluid. Braking is arguably THE most important system in any motor vehicle. This kind of reminds me of the guy with the homemade submarine that imploded recently.

"Car will be back on the road one day" ... how about not

Seriously? How did these guys even make it to the age they are now without dying?

I don't think we should overlook what absolute clowns these guys are. It's one thing to risk your own life/health, it's another to risk everyone's on the road. A hung throttle with riding the brakes is the most obvious case of "shut er down" I can think of.

“Too much grief has been put into this car for it to crash into a brick wall” foreshadowing at its finest 😂

I'm still amazed at 3 things: he didn't turn the engine off (to at least stop the pulling), he didn't head for the wide-open RH turn lane (or the grass next to it), and why he chose to hit hte minivan near-dead-center, instead of trying to wedge thru between it and the white car to its left. He still would've hit the minivan, but at least some energy would've gone into the side of the white car, and less into the minivan. (#4 is why he continued to drive a car with a sticking throttle that caused overheated brakes, of course)

Guy works on a car for 23 years and forgets to do the brakes. Unreal.

A 1,300 hp car with just a lap belt for a safety belt is sheer madness!

This guy is an embarrassment to car enthusiasts everywhere. Grossly negligent and driving basically an unfinished car on the road.

I can’t believe that this guy has barely said a word about the innocent minivan driver and possible family that they slammed into. How did that person and or family do on their recovery?

Damn four ads i see this is a truly heart felt video

0:53 "we were involved in an accident" My brother in Christ, YOU caused the accident

I was feeling bad until he updated himself, his friend and a damn car and never mentioned the people they hurt

1 year ago I was sitting at a red light and got rear ended by a F350 truck going 40 mph. The driver was on 2 different opiate pills and a muscle relaxer. He basically fell asleep driving. It's a nightmare to get rear-ended like that. I wasn't injured, insurance fixed my car and paid for my rental, other than that I didn't get a dime. To this day I'm always watching my rear view mirror when at a red light.

5 Point harnesses and neither was wearing them. Hahaha! Too funny.

This isn't an "accident". An accident is something that happens due to unforeseen events outside anyone's control. Key word - "anyone". This applies ONLY to the occupant/s of the Honda SUV in this case. Ensuring your 1300hp street machine has properly functioning brakes and a throttle that doesn't stick then going out for a drive knowing full well that is not the case in your fucking 1300hp street machine anyway IS NOT outside anyone's control. It was a deliberate decision made in full knowledge of the car being in sub-par condition for the road. And that is 100% negligence, pure and simple.

The sad part about this video is that not one mention of the people that were in the vehicle they hit and that really sucks , think about it

Saw this from Sam Hyde's "Silly Billy Boomer Car", Holy fuck guys that shit was off the fucking chain yo. I'm glad you guys are good, that shit was some "shots fired" nuts right there.

Grabbing the wheel when you know you are gonna crash front-first is a huge mistake

When I was a kid, the man that taught me so much about building cars, always told me to build my brakes to twice as much as I would ever need. He said if I didn't build my engine enough, I would just drive slower, thats it. But no one ever got hurt by stopping better. Plus, I have never built a street car without an E-brake, that is just foolish.

this entire incident can be summed up in one word: Negligence

5:29 You can literally see the drivers elbow break right there. Must have hurt so bad

Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on this car but no upgraded braking system. Its not all about horse power. Safety should be the first priority. Lessons to be learnt. Good thing everybody has recovered.

"Brake failure" is a hell of a way to describe going out with a knowingly sticking throttle.

For anyone coming herefor the same answer: Eventually, Russ also commented on the video, pointing out that the other drivers were not harmed and that everyone was okay. He also seems to understand that he was wrong for not checking the issue and continuing to drive, for which he has been forgiven by most of the commenters who replied due to his acceptance of blame and subsequent apology.

1000 horse power. And I build my own brakes. And only fitted lap straps. 😂 good thinking Batman

What an absolute cluster. If you ever have a car with a sticking throttle pull over and fix it. DO NOT keep driving to the point of boiling the brake fluid and plowing into stopped traffic.

As much as I feel for you, you did not even mention once what happened to the passenger(s) of the car you slammed into. It would be a courteous thing to do.

2 silly billies.

A car with 1300 HP needs all the braking power it can ever have!

I was in a armored truck at a red light when someone ran into from behind at 50mph it fractured my spine just think about being in a minivan my heart go's out to who ever was in that minivan

I feel WAYYY more sorry for the minivan driver than you guys , not even mentionning there state of health or concern......nice

Glad you're both okay, hope you don't make the mistake of trusting someone that doesn't inspect the brakes of their 1200hp car before driving it on public roadways, let alone one reckless enough to refuse to stop when the passenger informs them of their actively cooking brakes. Drivers incredibly lucky his negligence only snapped his elbow and your teeth.

This is at least worth a honorable mention on the Darwin Awards.

All of this concern for the mini van driver was really touching..

That impact gives you a true appreciation of how much force there is when you come to a stop that quick.

let's face it. if Russ gets that thing back on the road he'll get 100 million views.

Never ceases to amaze me that people will put tons of money into making a car more powerful and faster and not think to put money towards stopping that power if need be. Can't believe how tiny those brakes are.

"I've had an accelerator stick before" "I smell brakes" how many signs do you need?

Russ is probably living in a tent after the lawsuit.

The more powerful the car has, the greater the risk to the passenger. That's why we recommend installing a strong seatbelt. And it's always recommended that you fasten your seatbelt when you're in a car. If you don't wear a seatbelt or just wear your waist, you can die at the speed of 30 miles. That's why I love the "6 & 4 Point Racing Seat belt set."

So glad you guys made sure,it was road worthy before involving innocent people, thanks :

I'm sorry but there is no way Russ is going to have this car back on the road. Thank god. It's a blessing in disguise.

im only 14, and I can't tell you the story my mom had told me not too long ago. Watching this video made me realize how scary a car accident can really be.. Sometime within 2003-2004 and during this time we lived in Kansas City and we didn't have much money and so sometimes our power would go out and so my mom and dad had really big problems between each other and it really upsetted my mom a lot. Then one day, my mom, my older sister, and my auntie went fishing by a lake and then afterwards when it got dark they would get in my moms 2001 Toyota Sienna and after they left the lake they were driving down a 2 way road until there was a stop sign. When my mom was going to turn the car she was still upset and I guess the tears in her eyes blinded her eyesight and she couldn't see until it was too late. When she turned a Semi truck hit her head on and the van was hit on the front end it was such a hard impact that it turned the car and eventually into a ditch. I was horrified by what she told me and she also told me that they didn't notice the car until 5AM in the morning. My mom was unconscious until the morning when she finally woke and realized they crashed and were still inside the car. Thankfully she is okay now and everyone is from the car accident. I have to thank god for protecting my mom and for still having her here for me🙏🙏❤

Imagine sitting with your family at a stoplight and two divorced dads come flying through your trunk. Then they make a video letting everyone know the car is ok.

I couldn't care less about the car and I'm glad the driver and passenger are ok, but the fact that the people on the car you crashed into didn't even get a mention on this video tells me everything I need to know. Also, a car build with so much time, money and work spent like this one, and you couldn't even think of adding a killswitch...and a proper seatbelts too for that matter. Well, i hope you learned something now.

I feel bad for you bud. I would never get into a car with someone so irresponsible that they think 1300 hp and a sticky throttle isn’t enough to make him pull over and fix the problem. That’s an aweful situation for someone to put any other people into. Pure irresponsibility. Nothing more, nothing less.

Wow, what a shame, it was such a nice looking car. I hope the driver wasn't seriously injured who he crashed into. I also had my brakes go out on my 1965 Mustang Fastback in 1980, the front flex brake line to the drum brakes wore a hole in it rubbing against my tire, and my brakes failed coming off the free way, I was able to downshift with my automatic transmission, and put on the emergency brake and turned off the engine, I coasted and stopped in the middle of an intersection when it was a red light on my side. Fortunately people just went around me and did not cause an accident, and I was able to push the car to the side of the road with my friend that was with me who is now a San Jose Police Officer. After that event I put in Disk Brakes in the front from a 1970 Mustang Mach 1 that was being parted out due to a rear end collision, and installed a 1970 Dual Reservoir Master Cylinder and Earls stainless steel braided flex brake lines to the front and back brakes.

I'm watching this, reading your analogy and can say this from my own throttle sticking episodes over the years. How the hell can you get behind the wheel of a car like this and not know how to shut off your ignition? You should stick to things under 200 horsepower. That's the nicest thing I have to say.

Forgive me if i'm wrong but I watched the whole video and didn't hear any mention of the driver that you rear ended at 45mph... are you kidding me?

Two boomers figure out why handbrakes exist, the movie.

All of that experience and all of those warning signs, and were just like a normal person and blew them off until you found yourself in “OH HELL” Moment

As a tech, that was very worrying after hearing about the brakes, seeing how small they're appeared to be. That impact though, man its nasty but a miracle they both made it out

The crash victim's lawyer thanks you effusively for this footage.

1300hp, 60 year old brakes, sticking gaspadel, no handbrake? Good way to try that on the public roads. Sue the hack out of him.

Love how people simply don’t think to shut the ignition off.

Ten and a half minutes telling people to use harness and inspect brakes and install a hand operated brake. Wow! Completely ignores what really caused this accident. Two people in a very powerful car driving with a sticking throttle. The instant you noticed the throttle hanging open one of you should have insisted that the ignition be turned off and pull over and find and fix the problem. Unforgivable.

What a scumbag. Choosing to put every other car and pedestrian at risk of death or injury in a car they knew wasn't safe to be on the road at all and continuing despite them needing to burn the brakes to even drive it. You are awful and so are the people defending you. I hope the other driver was okay and gets a good payday for this.

So glad all parties are okay... Thank you for making this video, it is a difficult video to watch but knowing all of the facts helps us to understand and prevent. Get better quickly!

This just seems insane to me. The brakes were the second thing I upgraded on my car was the brakes. Went with Wilwood 4 pistons and upgraded rotors on front and swapped the rear to a disc setup. Full steel braided lines. I built my car to handle a 700hp turbo engine. Because power means nothing if you can’t control it!!

1 guy snaps his arms backwords bracing himself the other ate the dashboard u sirs u won the darwin award

The only one I feel sorry for in this situation is the minivan driver/passengers. Two "car guys" driving around in a car that is knowingly having issues but continuing to drive was completely irresponsible. This wasn't a brake issue, it was a hanging throttle that caused severe brake fade, and you guys drove the car like that knowingly instead of stopping and fixing the issue.

What a horrific crash, glad to see y’all recovered well, I just pray to God there was no babies inside that mini van!

Elephant in the room: what in the fuck happened to the innocent people they plowed into? How do you not acknowledge that?

I'm just so confused at this. How the hell does a car with 1300hp not have a kill switch? On top of that, the throttle is sticking and you're boiling the brakes the whole ride....how long did you think they would last? I guess it just goes to show, experienced builder in no way equates experienced driver. No real driver would ever even consider driving a car like that, with shit brakes.

So thankful that the comments on this video are generally siding AGAINST these two guys in the video. If they want to completely disregard all brake safety rules, they should do somewhere other than a public road that has children, pedestrians, and other innocent people.

I built a modest 600hp street strip car. I put big brakes on all 4 corners. I bled the brakes 3 or 4 times after the upgrade. I drove it 3 weeks until i parked it to keep it fresh for a drag event at the strip near where i lived. 2 passes and everything was Great. The third pass i turned up the whick a little further than i probably should have. Fresh builds can surprise you if you arent ready for it. It was my fastest and also last pass. After passing the finish i downshifted and hit the brakes. There were none. Not even a little bit. The e-brake was never hooked up. I made it all the way through the run off and smacked a row of trees that were just beyond it. Totaled the car after three passes. I broke an ankle, my wrist, and a few ribs. Freak accidents can happen no matter how prepared you think you are. When and if you're able to walk away you learn lessons from things like this. The main take away from the video and my experience is the fact everyone eventually will heal and things can be repaired or replaced. Keep doing what you love and never fear the unknown. Life is boring with goals and hobbies.

Well... out of any video you've uploaded this one's gotten you the most views. Gotta thank Russ for that one!

Ok, I won't comment on the "accident" itself, everything has been said. But I'm VERY disappointed that not a single word of compassion was spoken out for the poor people who were hit. I really hope they are not in a wheelchair. 😠

I'm 57, I've built/driven fast cars since I was a kid. I've seen dozens of beautiful, very fast and rare cars totally destroyed, drivers/ other people killed in the same way this happened. The brakes/harness/ safety equipment are the most important upgrade that everyone seems to overlook, I've been gulty myself when i was young..So glad everyone is ok.. Hope some lessons learned..

Boomers.. you'd think they'd know that the brakes are the most important part of your car lol

Thank you God that everyone is safe.

A classic case of not paying attention to the red flags until it's too late. Glad you survived and are using this experience as a learning lesson, for the rest of us 🤔

I had a stuck throttle at WOT in my 86 prelude at this exact same speed coming to a stop light. I turned the car off and pulled over safely. I was 19yrs old and understood this.

Emergency brakes?nay who needs em

Expert car build. Who needs a functional emergency brake on a high end build?

Russ's identity is his car. Played it off Macho of how well the car was built. He put an unfinished car on the road, putting lives in danger.

Hearing Russ yell "no brakes" took me back 10 years ago when the same thing happened to me going down a hill road I said to my father sitting in the back " no brakes" I started pumping the brakes with no effect then I tensed my body on the steering wheel like Russ did when I saw that sharp curve at the end of the hill, I went flying off the road landing hard in a ditch. I broke my back and my father broke the femur in two places, he recover eventually but I was left paralyzed in a wheelchair for life. So yes I agree 100% with what you said, do whatever t takes to maintain those brakes in perfect working condition.