Scott Kalitta died Saturday when his Funny Car crashed and burst into flames during qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The link to the short story is on the MSN home page.

Dam* I hate to see this.
My prayers go out to his family
Jeff

 

Damn, I was watching that on ESPN but I changed the channel. That sucks.


I'm adding a link to the crash that took Scott Kalitta's life. He died doing what he loved to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziJdGwFQjU

 

Rip.

 

At least he died doing something he loved instead of some boring way... How many people can say they died driving a super fast car?

 

not any 04+ f150 drivers.... LOL

 

Geezzz! Saw that video! Did they ever determine what caused the explosion? That was horrible! RIP!...............

 

He hits the retaining wall at the end of the track don't he???? Looks like they're would be a sand pit at the end instead of a net and concrete wall...Or maybe I missed something.

Ok, looks like there is a sand pit but it should be longer....IMO

 

Also something Ironic....That's the very first track that he raced at...I think. NHRA I presume

 

i am thinking none of the dead people can say anything.

 

sure they can..... when they haunt your *** for speaking of the dead.

 

 

I was at that track 2 years ago at the end of Power Tour.. from what i recall, the ends of that track is very short, there is actually a road on the other side of the retaining wall. NHRA really needs to step up like NASCAR has and improve the track safety. Add the SAFR barriers on the sides and especially in the ends, advance the safety items in the cars. Seems like the cars are going faster and faster but they are not advancing the safety items at the tracks. I realize he was probably going well over 200 mph at the end of that run, but they need to take steps to make the drivers safer. Try different media at the sand pits, use different types of materials maybe make the car slow faster.. something. That was tragic what happend, but they all accept the risk...

RIP

 

While I agree that some things need to be looked at, in this case anything short of a 1/2 mile shut down area would have probably failed. Nothing was going to slow that car down, and he was going close to 250 when he hit the kitty litter, which is actually pea gravel at that track.

In racing, some crashes are just not survivable.. this was one of those, in my opinion.

RIP Scottie.

 

He hit the post that holds the runaway net at the end of the track. That caused the larger explosion after the engine blew and the chutes failed. Not sure that even if he hit the net square at that speed that he would have survived.

This is a tragedy none the less in a sport that is pretty safe for the most part. Now there are big investigations concerning the accident. Hope these investigations don't lead to the sport being shut down in NJ, the track has been here since 1965 and alot of NHRA events as well as other car events are held here. The owners try to make it as safe as possible.

The neighbors don't like the track noise and are always trying to close the track, even though the track was there first, in the middle of nowhere back then. Guess this incident is more fuel for their unjust cause.

 

Gipraw:
I agree, there is probably nothing that NHRA could have done that would have saved his life, He was just on one of those rides. However, we saw last year when John Force had that horrific crash, he added the enclosed ****pit to all of his cars on his own, adding about 150 lbs or more to each car. I just think the NHRA should take every step possible to keep these guys safe. Some things are just going to happen, that's an accepted risk all of these guys take.

srfd44: The track was there first, so the neighbors just need to deal. They knew what it was when they bought their property. I do like the track, we had a great time when we were there. Really nice part of Jersey. I am sure the surounding neighbors will lobby harder now to close it, hopefully they will keep it open and add some improvements where it is feasible.

It was tragic, nonetheless.