[Tommy]

I think bobcowan got it right. But, closing the throttle on a large, high compression engine in a car where the rear wheels are near the limits of traction can cause the rear tires to skid and slow to a much lower speed than the car. It feels like the tires are stopped completely, but until the driver steps on the brakes, they are not "locked", but turning slowly. Regardless, any time the tires are rolling at a different speed than the car is moving, the car will skid.