NHRA driver Scott Kalitta killed in 300 MPH crash and explosion.

[Elwood P Dowd]

I have never seen such a violent crash. He had no chance.

6/21/2008, 6:52 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (AP) — 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.

State police confirmed that the 46-year-old Kalitta, a two-time Top Fuel champion who had 18 career victories, was killed in the accident.

Witnesses told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at an estimated speed of 300 mph when the crash occurred.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

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[Maat]

2. May he rest in peace.

Healing and comforting energy to the family.

[Mojambo]

3. I'd imagine it's pretty hard to have a minor crash when you're going 300 mph. n/t

[jmowreader]

25. You don't even have to crash to fuck yourself up at those speeds

IIRC the amount of G-force experienced by a nitro driver is higher than that experienced on a cat shot off a carrier.

Remember Joe Amato? Top Fuel Dragster driver for 24 years, until his doctor told him he couldn't have his retinas welded back on again. This fucking guy ripped the retinas off the back of his eyes...I think it was twelve separate occasions. These cars will do that to you.

[TahitiNut]

4. Russian Roulette with internal combustion engines - eventually you lose.

Let's look on the bright side: more spectators will pay to watch. :eyes:

[Greyhound]

7. You are sick.

I like that in a person.:hi:
:kick:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. If I'm going to watch machinery perform, I prefer my toaster.

Less carnage, and tastier results.

[MindPilot]

14. You're lucky that works for you.

Some of us require a bit more stimulation. Ok, a lot more.


Toaster eh? Wonder how fast it will toast with dual-port electronic fuel injection...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Well, there's always the Quad Turbo, 4 stage, table fan.

With spring loaded master valves, and force fed goober control rods.

Not to mention the tooth brush.

[TwilightGardener]

5. 300 mph? Yikes, hate to be the one to pull what's left of him out of the wreckage.

Ick. I used to work with a guy who would take time off work to go out to the Utah and Nevada deserts to break speed records on a motorcycle. He knew that one minor mistake would kill him. I imagine this guy knew it too.

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. At the risk of sounding maudlin

I'd imagine Kalitta's body was fairly intact. Drivers in the NHRA Pro classes are virtually cocooned in steel roll cages. I've seen a few accidents in which the car was utterly demolished, but the driver was sliding or bouncing down the track, still inside the cage.

The NHRA is huge on safety (so are NASCAR and virtually every other form of professional racing), but with 7,000 horsepower and at 300-plus mph, the slightest mistake can be disastrous.



Edit: Just saw the video. I take it back. :scared:

[Wilber_Stool]

35. My take on the video.

Something happened after the initial explosion that kept the throttle from closing. It didn't seem to lose any speed from the time it left the traps to the time it hit the crash barrier. Worst I've ever seen in 45 years.

[Oeditpus Rex]

36. Worst I've seen, too

In fact, it's the only real explosion I've seen, not counting losing a blower and having it held on, more or less, by the straps.

I'd wager you're right about the throttle. The car didn't slow down much, if at all, and it seemed to keep blowing fuel everywhere. There's no way of knowing at this point if he pulled the fire bottles, but assuming he did, it looked like they were over-matched.

Again, not to sound maudlin, but I'd like to hear the tech report to know what caused this.

[DaDooRonRon]

57. Speculation is that he was knocked unconscious when the body exploded

and that is why the throtle never closed, the chutes never released, etc.

[scarpa43]

58. the chutes were released but they balled/burned up - N/T

[girl gone mad]

6. No one will ever write a song called.

nitro burning funny cars....

Let's go dancin' in a dioxin dump
Let's test our love, let's press our luck
Let's get sick and have our stomachs pumped
Let's go dancin' in a dioxin dump

This world is full of people who
Spend their lives in shoppin' malls

Let's go drinkin' on Highway 9
We'll get smashed and have a wild time

This world is full of people who
Think a lot about bowlin' balls

No one will ever fall in love with a
Nitro burnin' funny car
No one will ever have lunch with a
Nitro burnin' funny car

Let's go dinin' on rocks and glass
Get the hiccups if we eat too fast
See how long our love can last
Let's go dinin' on rocks and glass

This world is full of people who
Sit too long when the light is green

Let's find some statues and then deface 'em
I wanna beat up on Casey Casem

This world is full of people who
Eat a lot of franks and beans

No one will ever buy a present for a
Nitro burnin' funny car
No one will ever go campin' with a
Nitro burnin' funny car

Let's entertain some ugly thoughts
We'll cross our fingers so we won't get caught
We'll forget what we've been taught
Let's entertain some ugly thoughts

This world is full of people who
Crack their knuckles and talk too loud

Let's play some records and worship Satan
I tell you baby that it sure beats paintin'

This world is full of people who
Look a lot like Gavin McCloud

No one will really gives a damn about
Nitro burnin' funny cars
No one will ever write a song called
Nitro burnin' funny cars

Let's go dancin' in a dioxin dump
Let's test our love, let's press our luck
Let's go dancin' in a dioxin dump

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Holy shit!

I grew up watching his dad race "The Bounty Hunter." Connie Kalitta, btw, was a big supporter of Shirley Muldowney when she became the first woman to hold an NHRA license.


This is sad, man. :(

[TomInTib]

9. At least he went out doing what he loved to do.

And it had to be pretty much painless.

[Bluebear]

10. "Funny" car

:(

[Xenotime]

60. My thoughts exactly..

What the fuck does this sport prove? What pratical use does this sport serve?

[MindPilot]

61. Don't you grave-dancing assholes know when to shut the fuck up?

Apparently not.

Go shit someplace else motherfucker.

[Owl]

12. Rest in peace Scott.

[IDemo]

13. Drag racing isn't billiards or golf

Navigating a 6,000+ horsepower vehicle at speeds over 300 mph can and does result in crashes, most of which the driver survives because of the construction of the car.

John Force and his daughter were both involved in bad crashes within the same year and both survived to race again. Not everyone is so lucky.

[MindPilot]

15. Goodbye Scott, from a lifetime drag racing fan.

:cry:

[cayuga]

16. Kalitta Airways has a multi-million dollar contract with the govt.

Scott's famuly-owned airlines is contracted to bring dead US soldiers back to the US. They also carry other stuff, allegedgly including Iraqi prisoners in rendition flights. They lost a plane last month in Belgium when it split in half on takeoff.

Sorry about Scott but Kalitta is dirty.

[BrotherBuzz]

29. Kalitta Air is no fly by night operation - or is it?

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict Kalitta Air made weapon resupply flights from the US to Israel, via Prestwick Airport in Scotland for refueling, without authority from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority.

I remembered the brouhaha about the flights but I had no idea there were contract planes doing the work at the time.

[Mendocino]

42. Four year contract/$66 million

$16.5 million a year, almost $1.4 million a month. They are reluctant to discuss how many flights they make.

[ileus]

18. God Speed SK....RIP

[gollygee]

19. Poor guy

:(

[dysfunctional press]

20. a big share of the crowd probably got what they paid to see.

nt

[Elwood P Dowd]

21. That is not true.

I don't know a single race fan, NASCAR or NHRA, who enjoys wrecks, fires, or the death of a driver. The only people who spread this lie are those who don't know a damn thing about the sport or it's fans.

[XOKCowboy]

24. It seems to make some people feel more liberal or something..

to put down motorsports participants and fans with no basis for their insults. I try to just ignore them.

[Forkboy]

30. I'm not a fan of either, and that's always been my guess as well.

The people into it seem to genuinely enjoy the many other aspects of it. It's the half-assed fans that root for the wrecks.

[TahitiNut]

32. I have NEVER seen a "race fan" turn away when there's a crash. Not one.

They're on their feet ... straining to SEE ... looks of excitement on their faces. I've never seen anyone avoid looking. It's worse than a traffic accident... which *I* refuse to look at when I'm unfortunate enough to pass one. Yes, I've attended dirt track races, funny car races, a Gran Prix race, and even the Indy 500. I'm not a "race fan" ... I'll try everything at least once - if it's not blatantly illegal or harmful to the person or property of others.

It's not quite like hockey ... some go to watch a fight in the off chance a hockey game breaks out. I'm a hockey fan. I love the sport ... and watch for the teamwork - that choreography. I detest the fights - it ruins the game more often than not.

[Forkboy]

33. I think your bigger gripe is with human nature, not race fans.

You may refuse to look, but 99% of the rest of us are rubber necking it, whether we really want to see it or not. A crash IS exciting. It doesn't have to be a good thing or a bad thing. :shrug:

Of course, when the bombs go off I'll be there going, "Oooooooooooo...pretty lights!", so take what I say with a grain of salt. ;)

[Elwood P Dowd]

37. Your logic is seriously flawed here TahitiNut

Wrecks happen sometimes, just like crippling injuries happen in football. People are going to watch. Fans don't spend $1,000 for a weekend at a NASCAR or NHRA event to watch wrecks. One of the most exciting races I've ever seen was at Talladega, and there wasn't a single caution flag. The fans were on their feet at the finish. I didn't notice anyone leaving because there were no major wrecks. The wrecks ruin the competition just like the fights ruin the competition in hockey games. The caution flag or red flag comes out, and nothing happens for several minutes. Today, they shut down competition after the tragedy and many of the fans left crying. You don't know real racing fans.

[dysfunctional press]

46. i didn't say "fans"- i said "crowd".

nt

[MindPilot]

49. Yeah, like that changes the meaning of what you said.

At $150 a pop for admission everyone in the crowd is a fan.

[DS1]

22. Not true

Racing fans watch for excellent driving ability. However, as I said above, I don't see being strapped into a virtual rocket and keeping it straight to be racing.

[spanone]

23. youtube

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

[bridgit]

26. that's harsh

:(

[TomInTib]

47. It may be harsh, but it is reality.

And sometimes reality bites.

And bites really hard.

[bridgit]

51. I spoke with my husband about this as he was raised with auto racing...

Indy, F1, road racing, 1/4 midgets, carts, drags, etc; and saddened to hear as he remembers Scott when they were just kids running round the pits. But he was very concerned by what appeared to be the blunt conclusion of that raceway, mentioning instead that other facilities have a longer run-out through a couple different means by which to absorb energy, or decelerate. That clip just shows Scott smashing into what looks like a wall :(

[TomInTib]

53. NHRA is extremely stingy.

That short run-out is criminal.

And NHRA is equally complicit for sanctioning events at any track such as that.

Hell, a failed 'chute carries its own Death Warrant there.

I, too, have been a lot of horsepower and you couldn't pay me to run that track.

[Hawkeye-X]

27. And one of his dad's 747's had an 'accident' a few weeks ago

[Forkboy]

28. Ride the dragon and eventually you get tossed.

Not my bag, but R.I.P. to the dude. I'm sure he went the way he would have preferred, which is more than 90% of us get.

[XOKCowboy]

34. Exactly Forkboy

I've had my thrills with high speeds and know the rush it gives you. Scott Kalitta knew the risks and went out doing what he loved. RIP Scott.

[WilliamPitt]

41. At least it was quick, I have to believe.

300 mph?

Gad zooks.

Live fast, etc.

:toast:

[Blue_Tires]

38. r.i.p.

at least he died doing what he loved

the incredible advancements in car safety (in all race series) sometimes make us forget how dangerous these things can still be (especially at 7000 HP)...

[DS1]

39. To revisit this

I'm sorry this dude died, but drag racing is crap.

[MindPilot]

45. Yes, you have made you opinion clear,

Now please go back to lawn bowling or croquette or whatever activity you east coast elitists find exciting.

[RamboLiberal]

40. Sad but he might have lived if they hadn't put a wall at end of track

WTF with that? Why didn't they have a runoff area instead of a concrete wall? I'm no drag racing expert but I've seen videos of drivers who walked away from exploding cars. It was probably hitting that wall head on that killed him.

[trumad]

43. Good observation....

[MindPilot]

44. That will probably be the major causal factor.

Tony Pendergon said in an interview yesterday that he blamed the track management for not upgrading the slowdown area to keep pace with the increased speed of the cars over the years.

Whatever happened to the car rendered the chutes inoperable so it couldn't stop or even slow down. (At 300+ mph brakes just don't do much.)

Had that happened at any other major track, the sand at the end of the track would have stopped the car and it would have been just another mid-track fire show.

[Paulie]

48. Yep exactly

That short shutdown area was the first thing that jumped out at me watching the video.

[leftofthedial]

50. why do you hate America?

That wall is there to keep spectators from watching for free. Why do you want the track owners to go bankrupt? Are you a commie?

[DS1]

52. So true

Can't have anyone watchin free, gol-dangit!

[Baclava]

54. Hit a post....airborne

(Detroit Free Press)

"The parachute in Kalitta's Toyota Solara failed to deploy, and the car cruised off the quarter-mile strip at a speed estimated more than 300 m.p.h. during qualifying for the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.

"I haven't witnessed anything like that in a number of years," Prudhomme said. "The car didn't slow up enough, got airborne, and he happened to hit a post that's virtually impossible to do. ... I would've never thought that you could get airborne and hit that guardrail and hit that post."

The concrete post, Prudhomme said, serves as support for the safety net that's designed to catch cars veering off the strip. Because Kalitta's parachute never deployed, Prudhomme said the car "never had a chance" once it hit the post at such high speed."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080622/SPORTS16/806220670/1048/SPORTS

[RamboLiberal]

56. Watching the video it looked more like a damn wall n/t

[Baclava]

63. 8000 hp outta control = bad news no matter what you hit

Machines break - they know the risks

[scarpa43]

59. The wall at the end of the track....

I can't remember who was talking, maybe Jim Head, but he was talking about how Englishtown was built in the 1960's and the fastest cars back then were going about 200 MPH and the short runoff was not an issue.

Now you add 100-130 MPH and all of the energy associated with those speeds and the track is obviously outdated.

He was saying that this is a problem with a lot of tracks and some drivers would like to only race to the 660 or 1000 foot mark as the 1/4 mile speeds are getting too dangerous for the current batch of tracks available to race on.

Also, the wall at the end was curved and should not have caused that kind of damage, I heard that there was a concrete pole in the runoff area that SK hit and just stopped the car in it's tracks.

[flvegan]

55. Multiple failures beget misfortune.

Something failed, causing the car to erupt in flames. Then the chute went wrong. I think that there should be a secondary chute that deploys if a certain G deceleration isn't reached upon deployment of the first.

I've done a good number of 1320 foot runs in my time, never in anything even CLOSE to this sort of machine. Quarter mile drags are not easy for a good driver in anything pushing more than 800 hp or so. Cars like his have 8,000.

Bear in mind that Kalitta has run a quarter mile in 4.4 seconds at 335 mph. In comparison, a very good driver would need that amount of time to motivate a Ferrari 599 to just get to 60 mph in that amount of time.

Sad weekend, and I feel for his family, friends and his fans.

[jeffrey_X]

62. Racing and America = great use of gasoline

eom