I've spoken with rally drivers, one thing that makes them a little cautious is trees by the track.
At moderate speed and with a larger tree, a car will wrap around a tree.
At very high speed and with a thinner tree, the tree will slice through the car.
Although these trees are pretty thin, I believe that this guy was, as Bruce put it, honkin'.
And I reckon he's alive due partly to seatbelts and crumple zones but mostly just dumb luck.