he did kill the engine.
think about it for a second. from the time that he lifted his foot off of the throttle (not to mention he was trying to keep the car straight) he traveled about another 100' easy. he reached up, killed the motor and tried to keep it from going on it's roof..
i've never wrecked a car drag racing at 170+, but I have put it into the wall at around 120 and trust me it happens a HELL of a lot faster then you could ever imagine..

also, if they ran and left the camera, how did it follow him to a dead stop?