Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws may have wrapped up filming several years ago, but the esoteric cast members, the thrill, the blood and sweat, and the entertainment that came with the show are hard to forget.
To date, it’s no surprise that fans still keep up with cast members such as James Goad and others. So, when the news broke that something bad had happened to Reaper, one of the show’s most popular cars, everyone was curious to find out what had transpired.
We have all the insider details on what happened to Reaper on Street Outlaws. Read on to find out more.
What is the Reaper?
The Reaper is James Goad’s race car. The Camaro had a large nitrous engine and many other unique modifications that Goad added to improve its performance.
Among the most notable changes are a ProCharged 540 cubic-inch engine. Goad also added a profiler for better traction.
James Goad ‘’Reaper’’ Was Involved In a Fatal Incident
Nothing sucks as much as putting so much effort into something only for it to come down crumbling!
You were this close to your dream life, and then something happened abruptly that would change the course of your life.
That’s exactly what happened to James Goad and his beloved Camaro, the Reaper. If you’ve followed the Street Outlaws long enough, you know how much time, money, blood, and sweat went into building the Reaper into the raging road machine that it was.
Unfortunately, something bad happened to the Reaper, and there was no coming back this time.
According to a Facebook post that James and his wife, Stacey, put up, they were travelling back from
Texas, where he was participating in a race at the Xtreme Raceway Park.
Stacey noticed something strange in the trailer as they drove through Oklahoma, like a glowing spark.
“I alerted James, telling him what I had seen, but he said he couldn’t see anything in the mirror and dismissed it as probably sparks from the safety chain,” Stacey explained.
But the sparks continued even after the trailer lights went off. That’s when they both knew something was terribly wrong!
James opened the trailer doors and tried putting out the flames, but the fire was too big to tackle with an extinguisher. At this point, the front of the trailer was consumed in large, raging flames.
In the post, Goad explained that he attempted to break the windows of the Camaro, aka The Reaper, which he was carrying at the back of the trailer. But the flames had already taken over the entire trailer by now, and it was too late to pull out the race car’s fire system.
“It was too late, and all we could do was sit at the roadside and wait for the fire department. By the time they arrived, the entire trailer had caught fire, and everything had burned to ashes. It was too late,” Stacey lamented.
The couple revealed that the estimated cost of damage totaled about $200,000, and this was after insurance.
James Goad Almost Quit Racing After The Reaper Was Destroyed
What made things worse was that the trailer was packed with several tanks of gasoline and methanol. Still, it is unclear what exactly caused the fire.
In a follow-up post, Goad shared pictures and videos of the fire damage, showing the orange car and The Reaper burning to the frame and being destroyed.
Stacey revealed that the accident was so devastating that Goad seriously considered leaving the sport of racing altogether. The monetary loss plus the mental trauma were enough to get the otherwise brave James Goad to quit racing.
Fortunately, therapy and support from close friends and relatives helped him heal and eventually change his mind about racing again.
“After the accident, my YouTube and Facebook pages were full of my fans supporting me. I couldn’t turn my back on them.”
He added, “The fans I have gained over the years are awesome. I have received so many messages from fans on social media encouraging me to come back.”
After having a change of mind, Goad returned to television. He is featured as one of the cast members on the Street Outlaws spin-off, Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings.
On the new show, James began working on a new street car, the Red Reaper, a 1968 Camaro that is super light and probably better than his previous black race car, The Reaper.
You can watch new episodes of Street Outlaws on the Discovery Channel every Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
