Scott Kalitta killed in NJ qualifying crash

[max power]

Sad news from the drag racing world:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080622/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_nhra_driver_killed_12

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Scott Kalitta died Saturday when his Funny Car burst into flames and crashed at the end of the track during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The NHRA said the 46-year-old Kalitta — the 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel season champion who had 18 career victories, 17 in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car — was taken to the Old Bridge division of Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at about 300 mph when it burst into flames.

The Palmetto, Fla., resident started his career at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 1982. His father, Connie Kalitta, was a longtime driver and team owner known as "The Bounty Hunter," and his cousin, Doug Kalitta, also drives competitively.

"We are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Kalitta family," the NHRA said in a statement. "Scott shared the same passion for drag racing as his legendary father, Connie. He also shared the same desire to win, becoming a two-time series world champion. He left the sport for a period of time, to devote more time to his family, only to be driven to return to the drag strip to regain his championship form. ... He will be truly missed by the entire NHRA community."

Kalitta had most of his racing success in Top Fuel, highlighted by his series titles in 1994 and 1995. He retired from racing in 1997, sitting out most of two seasons before returning for a 10-race campaign in 1999. He sat out three more seasons following that brief stint and then returned again in 2003, joining cousin Doug as a second driver for the family's two Top Fuel dragsters.

Kalitta started his pro career in Top Fuel in 1982, running limited events for four seasons before moving to Funny Car in 1986 for his first full season of competition. He returned to that category full-time in 2006.

One of only 14 drivers in NHRA history to win in both premier nitro categories, Kalitta's last victory came in Chicago in 2005 in Top Fuel. He had a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Chicago, his 36th career NHRA final-round appearance.

He's survived by his father, wife Kathy and sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8.

Last year, Funny Car driver Eric Medlen died after an accident in a testing session at Gainesville, Fla.

[Disclaimer]

I heard about that on the Qualifying broadcast tonight. It was horrible. They did show the accident, but warned everyone prior. The link is YouTube capture of the ESPN highlight.

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

From what I saw, it was a normal fiery funny car explosion (as 'normal' as one of those is anyway) around the 1000' mark, he pulled the parachutes, but they got tangled and pretty much rendered ineffective. The car continued down the shutdown area, and hit the sand trap / catch fence at one of the fastest speeds I've ever seen (my guess is somewhere between the 150- 200mph mark). The car exploded again and flipped end over end into some trees, as well as clipping the camera dolly and truck that captures the footage from the end of the track. I'd like to think he was somehow knocked unconscious after pulling the chutes since that car didn't slow down hardly at all. And I've seen runs of 250+mph where guys just barely nose it into the sand when the chutes fail because they're HARD on the handbrakes -- it's rare to see them hit the sand, and extraordinarily rare if when they do, they're doing more than maybe 40-50mph.

RIP Mr. Kalitta

[max power]

WOW, I've never seen anyone hit the trap that hard.

[NinjaNick]

Well I guess I'll hear all about it Sunday night while I'm watching the races.

That looked AWFUL! He hit the sand WAY too hard. He HAD to have been unconcious or something. They NEVER hit it that hard.

RIP Scott!

Also, Youtube and other video sites have the most classless people. I can't stand reading comments on those sites. Such idiots.

[Dweezel]

Well I guess I'll hear all about it Sunday night while I'm watching the races.

That looked AWFUL! He hit the sand WAY too hard. He HAD to have been unconcious or something. They NEVER hit it that hard.

He pulled the chute when the car first went up, or their automatic, they got tangled up upon deployment. I hope at least he was unconcious when that happened, I couldn't imagine being burned to death like that.

RIP Scott!

Also, Youtube and other video sites have the most classless people. I can't stand reading comments on those sites. Such idiots.

Very true. Karma is a bitch though, hopefully allot of them will die in fires as well and people will remember them by saying they were idiots.

[yotaman88210]

Wow. That was insane. I cant imagine what his family is going through. Thats horrible.

[EagleCock]

R.I.P.

scary shit and that was nasty wreck

[NinjaNick]

He pulled the chute when the car first went up, or their automatic, they got tangled up upon deployment. I hope at least he was unconcious when that happened, I couldn't imagine being burned to death like that..

The impact at the end is what killed him I'm sure. They go up in flames all the time like it did before the wreck. He hit that pit around 200 and that would kill anyone probably.

It's always weird watching the final eliminations after something like that happens. Just as it was with Eric Medlen last year. Jim Head when interviewed about it was talking about shortening the races for funny car to 1/8th mile or something else. He mentioned that after the 1000ft mark is when they get REALLY insane and dangerous because that's when they start increasing upwards towards 300+mph. Who knows, maybe there will be a decrease in race length for the nitro cars in time.

[Dweezel]

The impact at the end is what killed him I'm sure. They go up in flames all the time like it did before the wreck. He hit that pit around 200 and that would kill anyone probably.

It's always weird watching the final eliminations after something like that happens. Just as it was with Eric Medlen last year. Jim Head when interviewed about it was talking about shortening the races for funny car to 1/8th mile or something else. He mentioned that after the 1000ft mark is when they get REALLY insane and dangerous because that's when they start increasing upwards towards 300+mph. Who knows, maybe there will be a decrease in race length for the nitro cars in time.

I hope not. After that, they'll sell out to DMG and they'll be drag racing spec cars. I DO however think they really need to have longer run-outs for just such instances. Over all Drag Racing is actually quite a safe sport, it's sad to see stuff like this happen.

[NinjaNick]

I hope not. After that, they'll sell out to DMG and they'll be drag racing spec cars. I DO however think they really need to have longer run-outs for just such instances. Over all Drag Racing is actually quite a safe sport, it's sad to see stuff like this happen.

+1 Even LONGER shutdown area maybe.

[Disclaimer]

I've never been to E-town, but from the pictures of the shutdown area... yes it's short, but the concrete wall on the right side of the track does a little bend on the turnoff... so in essence, if you carry enough speed like Kalitta did, you'll end up nailing the concrete retaining wall head on....

I can only say from experience running Norwalk, National Trails, and Milan (though I've spectated at many more tracks). All the three aforementioned tracks run off into grassy fields....I don't know why you'd want a concrete retaining wall to cross the racing surface like E-town seemed to have? I think that's the flaw in that track design.

[NinjaNick]

I don't know why you'd want a concrete retaining wall to cross the racing surface like E-town seemed to have? I think that's the flaw in that track design.

Agreed. That's pretty stupid to put a concrete wall there.

[John]

Agreed. That's pretty stupid to put a concrete wall there.

englishtown is one of the oldest tracks. they definitely need more runoff. its not 1965 anymore.

[Dweezel]

shit, I need a new calender.

[kawi kid]

i just got back from cinci. and i just found this thread thats a bitch. i cant believe he is dead.

is there any other vids that one wont work and i cant find one that works now

[NinjaNick]

i just got back from cinci. and i just found this thread thats a bitch. i cant believe he is dead.

is there any other vids that one wont work and i cant find one that works now

The crash at the end is crazy!

http://jalopnik.com/396760/the-horrifying-scott-kalitta-funny-car-crash-video-as-shown-by-espn2

[kawi kid]

holy shit. did anyone notice the man lift at the end over top of the sand pit. whoever was on that i bet was shitting their pants i wonder if there is an angle from that?

that is pretty much horrific R.I.P.

[NinjaNick]

It's the lift they use to video the end of the strip. I would like to see video from that end myself kid.

[kawi kid]

i bet we would be like :eek:

[Disclaimer]

holy shit. did anyone notice the man lift at the end over top of the sand pit. whoever was on that i bet was shitting their pants i wonder if there is an angle from that?

that is pretty much horrific R.I.P.

That was one of the first things I noticed when I saw the footage. Camera 7 (or 8) is at the end of the track like Nick said, the best angle to see the actual 'driving' that you have to do just to go in a straight line.

I would think the camera itself is on a remote controlled boom with servos, but it could've been manned? I can't tell.

As far as the footage though, I don't think you would see much. The max view angle of those cameras I've ever seen is setup to just barely catch the edge of the catch fence. You'd see the car coming -- which would definitely scare the shit out of anyone manning that camera, but you'd only see the car catch air then it'd be gone off camera (along with some dust). You wouldn't catch any of the 'business end' of the crash. JMO.

[max power]

I believe in the video footage the ESPN guys said that there was a camera guy in the basket who was uninjured. I'll bet he had to change his pants.

[Disclaimer]

If that was the case, I missed it... I stand corrected.

I have a feeling those won't be manned for long after this accident.

[kawi kid]

if anything it made them think about it

[owndjoo]

crazy shit for sure. my good friend was the clutch man on scott's car this season... it's a dark day for the team and the whole nhra community

[Disclaimer]

I went to Norwalk on Sunday to catch the final eliminations for the Summit Nat's. Apparently the story my dad got was that Kalitta hit the base of the boom tower. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the forklift-like base structure, but walking by one at the track this week, those things are made with 1"-thick steel beams on each side of the frame --- REALLY heavy duty piece of equipment. It didn't budge. The speed was surmised by be in the mid 200mph range according to some folks more intimate with the details than I.

They found Scott in the woods (said it took 20 minutes to find him, but we guess that maybe that was to actually extricate him from the belts), all they did was cut him out of the car and give him to the rescue crew.

Also, the boom tower was unmanned - at the time at least... but, I'm still pretty sure they are remotely controlled.