Scott Kalitta Killed in Crash

[Pappy]

NHRA Funny Car driver and 2 time Top Fuel Champion Scott Kalitta died today in a crash during qualifying runs at the Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, NJ. His car exploded near the finish line and crashed into the wall off the end of the track at close to 300 MPH.

Scott was the son of lengendary racer Connie Kalitta and leaves behind his wife and 2 sons, 14 and 8. Connie is the owner/crew chief of Scott's car and was on the starting line when the crash occured. Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta is Sott's cousin and was also at the track to race.

He will be missed by drag racing fans and the entire NHRA community.

For the first time in the many years that I have followed the sport, the crash was replayed on television. Tapes of all previous fatal crashes during events have been pulled by the NHRA both to keep them from being sensationalized by the media as well as to spare family and friends the pain of seeing them broadcast repeatedly. I, for one, liked the policy and think it should be kept in place.

The run would have moved Scott from outside the 16 car field to 13th. When racing starts tomorrow, he will be listed on the ladder in that position. Ironically, Scott's first professional race was at Englishtown in 1982.

[TB Roye]

Have been involved in racing almost all my life. You would think you would become hardened to death but your not. I remember when Connie his dad was in his prime in the 60's driving the Bounty Hunter. A good friend of mine and former track announcer here in Sacramento and current Radio Voice of the Kings was there doing his job. Gary Gerould was at the finish line for ESPN and you could tell he was broken up bad. I agree with you on showning the tape but you couldn't see a lot from the tape that was shown. But like the drivers said and I totally agree it gets in you blood and the fear factor is put in a place where it doesn't affect your ability to race. Being involved in open wheel racing I have seen many fatal accidents in the Midget, Sprint Car and Indy type cars over the years it is never easy but you chose to go on. This was back in the day when there were no fire suits, roll cages, fuel cell or any of the safety equipment we have now. Funny Cars are probably the most dangerous cars running today because of the engine location and the huge engine explosions that can happen as today. My guess from the video is that Scott was unable to set off the fire suppresion system or apply the brakes, the shute did start to deploy, but he may have been unconcious from being hit by a piece of the engine. That was a bad fire and he could not have seen where he was going and the runoff area wasn't that big and with a wall at the end he didn't have chance. John Force almost lost his life last year in a simular type accident and he is not the same driver he once was especialy with his daughter driving. I am sure NHRA will do a through investigaion and make some changes to safety on the track and make some chages to the cars to prevent the fire and debris from reaching the driver. Auto racing has the highest highs and the lowest lows of any sport I know of.

Tom

[Pappy]

I watched what was supposed to be a repeat of the qualifying last night. Rather, they concentrated on the crash and reactions of others.

Agreed that the clip of the crash didn't show much othere than what appeared to be a secondary explosion when the cad hit the wall. Given the various carmera angles normally avaliable, I'm sure there were some that would have been much more explicit. Hopefully we won't see ANY of them during today's broadcast. I think Tony Pendergon was the one that mentioned the short runout are at the track and the need for it to be extended. (As a side note, Cruz was the only driver interviewed that seemed to be more interested in getting his sponsor's name on the air than expressing his feelings.)

There have been a lot of spectacular/horrendous crashes in the NHRA wheere drivers came away either unhurt or with minor injuries. Three in Top Fuel come to mind:

Eddie Hill losing it at the finish line and having the Pennzoil dragster wadded up around him like a pretzel. When the Safety Safari got to him, he was peering out of a small opening and motioning with his finger for someone to roll him over!

Kenny Bernstein losing a slick off the Bud King on launch and ending up sideways in the other lane. Had the other driver not smoked the tires at the hit, he was likely to be T-boned.

The other was was Tony Schumaker slamming the wall, having his car break apart and being treated to a definite "E" ticket ride when the cockpit broke free and went over the wall and tumbled down the grass!

[TB Roye]

Don

NHRA probably has all the video shot by ESPN from Every Angle including incar if there was one. When Dale Sr. was killed there were some incar video and only one was shown and the was straight on throught the front winshield showing the car hitting the wall, there was no picture of Dale though, that clip was never shown again. I knew it was bad when I saw Ken Schrader run to the car look and then motion the rescue crew to hurry up. It used to be they would show the clips over and over but no more. If it is caught live thats all you will get no replays unless they know the driver is ok. My first sports hero was killed at Indy in 55, still know to this day what I was doing and where I was. I was at the track years later when his Grandson was killed in a Sprint Car accident. There have been too many more. But the human mind is excellent at compartmentalizing things and putting them where they are safe, you never forget but after awhile they tend not to affect your day to day life. I wasn't a Dale Earnhardt fan but I took the day off and watched his memorial service, why I have no Idea, I just did. Between Racing and Nam I have been to too many funerals in my life. Has all this changed my mind about racing? no and never will.

Tom

[Uncle Cracker]

A very sad outcome. But most drivers will admit (and those that won't are fooling themselves) that the risk is a big part of the thrill of racing. If it wasn't, they'd use remote control cars. Every driver knows that something really bad can happen in a split second once they get in and light that thing up. It is the way of life they have chosen. I just wish they could all be safe, but then it wouldn't be the same...