We're in the final hour of racing here at Thunderhill, and we can't say who the favorite is at this point. What we can tell you is that oil-coated VWs burn really well.

Here's the scene under the hood of the Squirrels Of Fury car. Oh sure, you've seen LeMons cars with holes in the engine block before, but the Squirrels take it to a new level...


Yes, that's a flashlight shining all the way through the block. The car had been leaking oil for quite a while, so the engine compartment and underside were thoroughly coated. When Mr. Connecting Rod finally decided he'd had enough, the resulting blast of hot flying metal and combustion gases set the oil alight.

Many thanks to Zandr Milewski of Team Dead Smurfs for the unspeakably amazing burning-VW photographs!

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.