Driver seriously hurt as dragster crashes into smoke shed in Bristol

The driver of a dragster was seriously hurt when he crashed in Bristol Thursday afternoon.

The vehicle smashed into a barbeque restaurant's outdoor smoke shed on Metacom Avenue.

Charles Frizado, the owner of the restaurant, Wing-N-It, told NBC 10, “It sounded like a big explosion.”

Witnesses told NBC 10 the driver was the owner of a nearby business, Steve Elmslie, who was trying out his dragster in his parking lot when it took off, speeding across the street.

“Jumped the back mound that we have there, catapulted itself over the jersey barrier blocks which we have installed to stop situations like this from arising,” Frizado said.

The airborne dragster just missed a restaurant worker, who was getting out of his car, as it crashed through the middle of the metal siding of the smoke house.

There wasn't anybody manning the smoker next to the restaurant.

The dragster barely missed the smoker, which was cooking at the time.

The driver was badly hurt, and was listed in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital Thursday night.

Frizado was the first to get to him. "Once I got over to the vehicle and saw who it actually was in the vehicle, it was definitely a heart-racing moment. We just talked to him. He for a few minutes lost consciousness. Responding officers performed CPR on him. When he left the scene, he was breathing on his own."

Bristol police told NBC 10 they're trying to determine what went wrong and what the 51-year-old was doing before the crash.