Thread: Scott Kalitta crash

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Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

I really dont like thinking about it but after the hit with the wall dont think there was much left of him.

That's probably where they pronounced him dead. It is pretty hard to believe, no matter how much safety equipment you have, surviving that impact.
Ken

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

That's probably where they pronounced him dead. It is pretty hard to believe, no matter how much safety equipment you have, surviving that impact.
Ken

I agree , It was the track that killed him. People had to of known this would happen sooner or later. Hopefully like the guys were talking about earlier the old tracks will be forced to be made safer. Hopefully none will have to shut down permanetly but that would be better than losing another racer to something as stupid as a wall at the end of the track. I remember hearing a story of a fuel car flying over the sand trap and going through the steel cables about 30 years ago which ended the same.

Didn't a funny car do the same thing at Englishtown a few years ago, that's why they put in the concrete barriers? He ran into the woods and hit a tree.
Ken

Or also as all ready stated figure a way to stop the car with a unconscious driver, thats the main problem.

FYI...a copy of a news report (lengthy, but informative) that was placed on the HAMB, with quite a bit of info:

State police investigating Kalitta crash
By Keith Sargeant
Asbury Park (NJ) Press, June 23, 2008

New Jersey State Police are investigating the fiery crash that took
the life of National Hot Rod Association drag racer Scott Kalitta on
Saturday at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

"We're in the process of investigating the accident,'' said Sgt.
Julian Castellanos, a spokesman for the state police. "It could be
anywhere between two to four weeks depending on where the
investigation takes us. We're not going to clarify any part of the
accident at this time.''

An NHRA public relations official said its safety team is conducting
its own investigation but declined to issue an official statement.

A request to speak to Graham Light, senior vice president for racing
operations, was not granted by the NHRA's communications department.

Kalitta, 46, was racing alongside Tony Bartrone in the final
qualifying round on Saturday afternoon in the NHRA's Lucas Oil
SuperNationals when his Funny Car exploded into flames and crashed at
the end of the quarter-mile track.

Television replays showed Kalitta's car explode into flames about
1,000 feet down the track. His Funny Car hit a top speed of 300.73
miles per hour and crossed the line in 4.974 seconds.

It's not known what kind of mechanical failure caused the car to
explode mid-race, but replays showed the carbon-fiber shell, which
protects the chassis and cockpits the driver, appearing to break off
at least partially after engulfing in flames.

The parachute device designed to brake the 7,000-horsepower race car
appeared to be damaged by the flames. According to the NHRA, the
parachute is "the primary breaking system'' that "can produce up to
five negative G forces of stopping power.''

Kalitta cruised into the sandpit at an estimated speed of more than
250 miles per hour and appeared to launch airborne into a concrete-
filled metal post positioned just beyond a curved concrete wall.

Don Prudhomme, a legendary figure in drag racing, witnessed the scene and said Kalitta's car "hit a post that's virtually impossible to
do'' and "went into a million pieces.''

"He had a fire, the chutes didn't slow the car up enough, he got
airborne, he happened to hit a post,'' Prudhomme said. "I went down
there and I looked at it, and I couldn't believe he could possibly
hit this post. It's been there for years, it's a safety post. It's a
catch net and something has to support it. But he hit it at such a
high speed the car got airborne.

"But I don't think it's the track's fault. If I did, I wouldn't be
racing here.''

Raceway Park president Michael Napp said the post serves as support for the safety net that's designed to "catch a car'' if it fails to brake before the end of the track.

Napp said the distance between the quarter-mile finish line and the
sand trap is "probably a little less than a half-mile.''

"I don't know the exact number, but we have a quarter-mile track and probably a little less than a half-mile to stop,'' Napp said. "It
used to be longer, but when they (the NHRA) took the track away to
put in the gravel and safety net, which makes sense, you took some of the track away to put that there. Without that gravel there's more (track) than that.''

According to the NHRA, Kalitta was extricated from the car and
transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced
dead from multiple injuries.

Though the remainder of Saturday's race card was postponed after
Kalitta's crash, racing resumed on Sunday with the final round. An
estimated 80,000 spectators took in the four-day event, including
about 20,000 fans on Sunday.

"Nobody should go that way said Tony, but I guarantee you Scott woke up every morning and loved driving a race car,'' Schumacher said. "No one wants to die. But we do understand this is what we do. And Scott, of all people, was a gladiator.

"Race car drivers understand risks,'' he added. "It's why we do it.
It's why the fans come to the stands. No one wants to see someone
lose their life. But if it happens to me, understand there isn't a
thing in my life that I haven't done that I want to do. If it does
happen, understand that I'm doing what I love. I wouldn't be alive
without it. I get into a car and that's who I am. It made Scott who
he was.''

Napp, whose family has owned Raceway Park since it opened in 1965,
said track officials took further precautions to ensure the safety of
the drivers by setting sand-filled pales in front of the curved
concrete wall and post.

While Napp said he would welcome any other safety precautions the
NHRA would suggest, he said repositioning the post wasn't an option.

"There's things that I think that I'll keep to myself about moving
the pole location,'' Napp said. "Sure, moving it is a great thing.
Let's put it on the other side of the planet. But there's balancing
acts about that. But I'll let them review the evidence that they have
and come back with suggestions.

"Look, we have to leave the poles where they are. They have to stay
there in order for the nets to work effectively. So now maybe what we
do is protect the poles better. There were days when there wasn't any
nets or gravel back there. So they came to us and said we need to
install that. We did, and that was installed in the early '90s.''

Napp said Raceway Park is "a very safe facility,'' and pointed to the
lack of a fatality in "25 years'' as proof.

"Most of the facilities are similar in design,'' Napp said. "I don't
believe the NHRA would run here if we weren't up to snuff. Since
we're old, we've been part of the involvement of safety in the sport.
I'm always open to anything about safety.

"Certainly we've handled enough NHRA events to present a facility
that they're comfortable with. We are a very standard facility. We're
not the longest track, we're not the shortest track, we're right in
the middle. I think the circumstances have very little to do with
anything other than what was a very serious mishap.''

Napp said when "everything's going well'' with a race car, "there
were guys that stopped without parachutes and came out fine'' on
Saturday.

"Who knows? The explosion, the shock, maybe not being awake, maybe he
couldn't see because of the fire,'' Napp said, explaining possible
reasons for the accident. "Who knows? But it's obviously a terribly
sad day for the Kalitta family and we at Raceway Park share in their
condolences.''

I guess its just me but that read like a lame excuse....Move the post to the other side of the planet, WTF. Anyways , I hope the NHRA can come up with something better then the post have to stay there and it was a freak accident. It happened , make sure it don't happen again. Move the post to the other side of the planet, I wish I could slap old Elmer silly!

Haven't raced a drag strip for 40 years, and even at that, I think my top 1/4 mile speed was 100-105. I'm curious....is a half-mile stopping distance way too short for these 300 MPH cars? I don't have a clue.

back when my car had a single resivor master cylinder and running 11.70's at around 115-120? it sometimes would be a pain to stop on the 1st return road <we have 2 seperate roads> and our 1st return road is a little over a 1/4 mile past the finish line. that double resivor sure helps now. i agree with the crew chief having a cut off switch all monster trucks have a remote that the officals can kill the truck if it gets out of hand. we need the same for nhra fuel cars..

Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

back when my car had a single resivor master cylinder and running 11.70's at around 115-120? it sometimes would be a pain to stop on the 1st return road <we have 2 seperate roads> and our 1st return road is a little over a 1/4 mile past the finish line. that double resivor sure helps now. i agree with the crew chief having a cut off switch all monster trucks have a remote that the officals can kill the truck if it gets out of hand. we need the same for nhra fuel cars..

The engine was allready off when the blower exploded....He was on the brake...... Stopping from 300 without a chute was the problem. Just ran out of room. I've had to stop from a lot lower speed with a chute failure... The brakes are on, the slicks unload and start bouncing and you run out of room real quick....the sand won't do a thing for you at 200+, the car went airborne.....

Wasn't surprised to read the double talk from the track owner, what would you expect???? The poles could quite easily have been positioned outside the side walls...

Granted, the crash was a worse case scenario situation, but isn't that what safety rules for the shutdown area should deal with???

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

Didn't a funny car do the same thing at Englishtown a few years ago, that's why they put in the concrete barriers? He ran into the woods and hit a tree.
Ken

Sure did Ken... I don't remember who it was but I do remember the crash....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Sure did Ken... I don't remember who it was but I do remember the crash....

it was Johnny West in 1990...here's a clip of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kw37uiYwOI

Wow, you guys are on top of this. I'm don't mean to hijack this but I always wondered if someone had a video of the fire of me in the Mooneham car. I have a clip taken from about 1/3 of the way down, but would love one from the finish line if someone has it. I was told it was out there. If you saw it you wouldn't forget it, I never will !!
Ken

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

Didn't a funny car do the same thing at Englishtown a few years ago, that's why they put in the concrete barriers? He ran into the woods and hit a tree.
Ken

This in its self is a brilliant safety move....after all it's so much better to hit a concrete barrier than hit a tree. I guess looking like they are doing something about safety is more important than actually doing something about it.

I was trying to look at the vid on you tube and it states its no longer available due to a claim by NHRA....

I just clicked on the link I provided and it works.