State fire investigators are trying to figure out what went horribly wrong Friday night after a race car exploded and killed a man in Cecil County.

The Elkton man, 33-year-old Thomas Logue, had just bought a silver 2014 Chevrolet Caprice fully equipped with a pressurized nitrous oxide tank to give its engine an edgy performance boost.

But around 8:30 p.m. Friday that nitrous oxide cylinder exploded at Logue’s Walnut Grove home, killing him and injuring his wife.

Fire crews, paramedics and state police all responded to the explosion and “immediately began life-saving efforts” for Logue and took him to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to a news release from the State Fire Marshal’s office

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His wife, the release said, sustained minor injuries that were evaluated at Christiana Hospital before she was released.

Investigators are still piecing together the cause of the explosion but said the blast “involved a 10-pound nitrous oxide cylinder” attached to the car parked at the back of the house.

Nitrous oxide is a mainstay in car racing. Fire officials said the compressed gas is stored in special cylinders designed to withstand extremely high pressure. They are used to amplify engine power but can be very dangerous.

When stored in an enclosed vehicle on a hot day, the liquid gas inside of a nitrous oxide cylinder can expand quickly and push the pressure beyond the cylinder’s limits.

“When those cylinders fail, they don’t just leak, they can rupture violently, sending deadly shrapnel in every direction,” the release said. “The cylinders become especially risky when exposed to heat, physical damage, or anything that pushes the internal pressure beyond what the cylinder can handle.”

The investigators did not rule out heat as a contributing factor and are still working to determine the exact cause.