RIP Scott Kalitta

[Rogue Leader]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/driver_killed_in_crash_at_old.html


http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/06/large_funnycar.jpg

[trish]

:(

[extramundane]

Sweet Jesus, that was one of the worst things I've ever seen. :(

[dando]

:(

Holy **** that was horrific. I assume the explosion killed him before the impact. That car never slowed. :eek:

First one of their planes falls apart, and now this. :(

-Kevin

[FCYTravis]

Why on Earth is there a perfectly straight concrete wall at the end of that strip? :shakehead

RIP Scott. :(

[Methanolandbrats]

I don't think the explosion killed him, that happens all the time. The chute did'nt do anything and it hit the wall at probably over 200mph :eek: Good question on why the wall was there, most strips have a lot more sandy runoff. :(

[TRDfan]

I've been following NHRA a bit more this year and was pulling for Scott. I was just in Brainerd this week, and have been trying to figure out how to
get there some year for the show.

What a tragedy - there's been so much in NHRA the last few years.

RIP Scott.....prayers and condolences to the family and the NHRA community.

[Andrew Longman]

Trevor and I were there yesterday.

Kallita's TF and FC team struggled to find the track and Doug blew up his supercharger on his first run.

Not blaming the crew, just that they were a tad behind figuring out the track, Just reporting.

Seriously sucks

A great family of drag racing loses a son. :confused:

[Accipiter]

Wow. That sucks. :(

They certainly need a better idea than that wall, but I don't think the trees behind it would have been better.

[Fio1]

Why on Earth is there a perfectly straight concrete wall at the end of that strip? :shakehead

Ya, no kidding.
These things go 300 mph and there is no sand trap? :shakehead :saywhat:

[Sean Malone]

300mph with no chute, I would suspect it skipped right across the sand trap.

[extramundane]

300mph with no chute, I would suspect it skipped right across the sand trap.

I saw a replay of it on TV (as opposed to the YouTube version where I first saw it) and with the better picture quality it looked like the right-side jersey barriers actually crooked out into the dragstrip lane at the very end and that's what he hit first. I don't care to replay the video just to check, but if that's indeed the case, they need to revisit that arrangement.

[Andrew Longman]

Ya, no kidding.
These things go 300 mph and there is no sand trap? :shakehead :saywhat:


There is a sand trap and a catch fence at the end of the track. Foley's chutes didn't open and he wound up tangled in the fence on Friday. The wall is there because there is an exit road that runs past the end of the track.

Doug's chutes opened but burned off. For whatever reason he didn't seem to ever get on the brakes.

[Rogue Leader]

I've run on that track before, the angle of the video is bad for seeing it but there is a trap at the end. Unfortunately no amount of sand can stop a 200 mph car :(

[cart7]

Really sad. I stopped watching NHRA quite a few years ago. The speeds have become absolutely ludicrous. NHRA will really have no choice but to re-assess each and every track they go to. A concrete wall at the end of that track obviously isn't going to work in the future.

[Winston Wolfe]

RIP, Scott :(

And ditto to the comments on the run off area... a wall of cement barriers fer crissakes ! And then forest and trees after that....
It appears that he never really slowed down, especially since the chute never really fully deployed. And it looks like there was some sort of crane type device down there with a camera man in it.... mebbe for TV ?

Truly a tragedy at a track that needs to be seriously re-evaluated for any other events that may take place there....

[oddlycalm]

Sorry to see this one. :( The Kalitta's lived a couple towns over when I was a kid so I was very aware of them. An awful lot of things have changed since I first experienced racing in the late 50's, but the Kalitta's have always been there. Very sorry for his family.

oc

[JohnHKart]

NHRA racing is the only sport I watch where there is no safety net compared to other racing. I'm surprised their fatalities aren't at Formula One 1968 levels. I have this race on tape so I was surprised when a co-worker told me about this today. Sorry to hear about it.

John

[Andrew Longman]

Wow, I don't want to be in a position of defending the NHRA because I'm not that vested in them, but...

He didn't hit the wall. It would be almost impossible given the 200' of sand in front of it.

He hit the sand and launched into the air over the catch fencing. He then hiy a pole supporting the catch fencing and the scissors lift for the TV .

One thing that is certain is to look at the catch fence design to make it harder to go over it as well as the placement of the poles. Seriously, the fence is designed as the last line of defense and it didn't work.

The second thing to look at is if sand is really the right retardent. It works at 200 mph but proved a disaster at 300

[OW]

Just Horrible
As we are to 300+ in 1/4 Mile makes NO SENSE to not have another 1/4 mile of safety..

Simple as That...

Like when the poor 6 year old was killed at Chicago Midway in a freakin' car on the road cause of too much snow and not enough runway...

What A shame...

[trish]

Just Horrible
As we are to 300+ in 1/4 Mile makes NO SENSE to not have another 1/4 mile of safety..

Simple as That...

Like when the poor 6 year old was killed at Chicago Midway in a freakin' car on the road cause of too much snow and not enough runway...

What A shame...

They've made some changes, at least for the short term. http://www.nhra.com/content/news/30355.htm

[Andrew Longman]

Can't say I agree with this.

It would have made no difference in Scott's case. We wasn't slowing down until he hit something.

If they felt the need to do something, I would have suggest dropping the nitro percentage, which would slow speed and lessen they likelihood of type of explosion that actually blew up Scott's car and burned off his chute and brakes.

But if the drivers agree, then so be it, but it neuters the product.

[jcollins28]

Did NHRA contact NASCAR and ask them for advise? This is so dumb NHRA just topped NASCAR in dumb rule changes.

[TedN]

Stumbled across this post on another forum ....


Now that some info has been released, I guess I can talk.

My daughter was directly involved in the crash investigation. Dont really want to say what govt agency shes with.

Obviously the engine explosion was the initial cause. The issue with the chutes appears to be, when the body started coming apart, pieces of the body got caught up in the chutes and caused them to collapse.

Kallita was still alive when he hit the post. Video shows he was still trying to steer the car, but appeard to be blinded by the fire. (She sat through about 12 hours of reviewing different camera angles.) The car was at 300.7 mph when the engine let go. He hit the concrete pillar at aproximately 265 mph. If he was over about 2 ft, he would have ran into the safety net.

He died imediately on impact from massive head trauma. He was not ejected from the car as has been reported. Amazingly the only burns he suffered was to any exposed skin. The ME said that the fire suit manufacturer has to be complimented on the amazing job it did preventing burns in that explosion and fire. his helmet was completely intact also.


Link (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showpost.php?p=4039434&postcount=143)

Ted

[dando]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/news/story?id=3593470


The New Jersey State Police said investigators determined that "catastrophic mechanical failure" caused a fuel-fired explosion in Kalitta's Toyota Solaria during a qualifying race at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

State police said the rear portion of the car's body separated, deploying the damaged parachute system. The car crashed into a pole and a boom truck.

-Kevin

[eiregosod]

Good grief.

First time I saw this thread, and wondered where I heard of Scott Kalitta.

RIP

[Andrew Longman]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/news/story?id=3593470
-Kevin

I read that in the paper this morning and I just had to say, "You think? What about the massive explosion led you to believe it was a mechanical failure?"

I'm so glad my State Police did a thorough job. :rolleyes:

[dando]

I read that in the paper this morning and I just had to say, "You think? What about the massive explosion led you to believe it was a mechanical failure?"

I'm so glad my State Police did a thorough job. :rolleyes:

No doubt. They were likely just doing the needful and making sure no foul play was involved.

-Kevin

[JohnHKart]

I read that in the paper this morning and I just had to say, "You think? What about the massive explosion led you to believe it was a mechanical failure?"

I'm so glad my State Police did a thorough job. :rolleyes:


This reminds me of reading NTSB reports...The airplane failed to maintain clearance with the terrain. A leading cause was the engine failure and loss of airspeed. Yeah duh!

[Michaelhatesfans]

I read that in the paper this morning and I just had to say, "You think? What about the massive explosion led you to believe it was a mechanical failure?"

I'm so glad my State Police did a thorough job. :rolleyes:

Sadly, at 300mph, it becomes a plane crash with no black box.:(