Scott Kalitta killed in crash @ Etown

[Hemidoug]

I just heard for a friend down there...Scott passed away in the crash. The track is shut down and it is doubtfull if there will be any more racing tonight. They think he was knocked out when the engine blew and never hit the brakes...the car ended up in the road that goes into the racetrack. 


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

[tan top]

sad news    RIP Scott

[Steve P.]

What the hell is going on with this sport?? Too many crashes lately..

RIP Scott..

[Hemidoug]

Youtube video of the crash.......

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

[Ghoste]

WOW!!  That was just terrifying to watch.    RIP Scott

[69*F5*SE]

Wow, that was horrifying. RIP

[69bronzeT5]

Wow, that was a horrific crash. Especially the end of it R.I.P Scott

[Chris G.]

That is one disturbing video to watch. RIP Scott. 

E-Town is one of the safest tracks around. They could have a 2 mile shutdown area, and that wouldn't of made a difference. trying to stop a 300MPH car is impossible once the chute fails. What a scary crash.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Wow.....unbelievably sad

My condolences to his family

[RJS]

We lost yet another "ONE OF THE GREATS!" RIP Scott

[chargerrt]

Gosh that was a horrible crash    Is there no sand pit at the end of the track?  It looks like it's just pavement into a wall 

[hemi-hampton]

Bummer My dad said he knew Connie Kalitta & Connies brother used to come into the Restoration shop I worked at in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to sell us Welding Supplies not to long ago. Kalittas well known Michigan along with Shirley so I'd always watch their Races over the years. Total bummer LEON.

[bmoparmofo]

Just brutal.....R.I.P...... 

[charger Downunder]

Gosh that was a horrible crash    Is there no sand pit at the end of the track?  It looks like it's just pavement into a wall 

Sad sad sad
Tracks should be safer a wall like that is no good.

[71ChallengeHer]

R.I.P. Scott   

[Mike DC]

 
Do those cars run remote brake & kill switches under the control of a track official or crewmember?  It seems like he never even braked and the chute didn't look right either.


The Monster Truck world has been running remote kill switches for years because they're so afraid of a truck climbing the bleachers.

[NHCharger]

Gosh that was a horrible crash    Is there no sand pit at the end of the track?  It looks like it's just pavement into a wall 

Sad sad sad
Tracks should be safer a wall like that is no good.

Very sad.
It's time for the NHRA to implement NASCAR's ideas about making a safer race track. Many of these tracks (NASCAR and NHRA) were built years ago when  top speeds weren't close to what they are now. It took NASCAR losing four driver in less than two seasons to finally pull their head out of their ass and install soft walls and crack down on driver safety systems inside the car. At 300+ MPH I'm not sure what else they could do inside the cockpit but I would think someone could come up with some type of barricade system at the end of the track to keep these cars from exploding on impact.

Mike. It looked like the chutes got shredded from debris off the car.

[hutch]

damn that sucks.  I saw the photos, i hope it was quick.  that fire did not look like something you would want to live from.

[hemi68charger]

Very sad indeed.... That was tragic and to think his family was there?

RIP Scott........

[Shakey]

Very sad indeed.

I guess when you play with fire there is always a chance you'll get burned.

[Mike DC]

300 mph is no joke on hardware that's comfy doing it all day long.  Let alone a race car where every part has to be completely maxed-out to accomplish it.  Roll the dice enough times, ya know? 


It's sad. 

But at least he got to die quickly & painlessly while doing what he loved.  I can think of plenty of worse ways to go.

[BigBlockSam]

 

[Steve P.]

         Fantastic tribute by Robert Height and team Force. It made me cry...... 

[firefighter3931]

Horrible tragedy.....condolences to the Kalitta family 



Ron

[RallyeMike]

Do those cars run remote brake & kill switches under the control of a track official or crewmember?  It seems like he never even braked and the chute didn't look right either.

The Monster Truck world has been running remote kill switches for years because they're so afraid of a truck climbing the bleachers.

I would say that the motor explosion pretty much killed all power.  Once the chute is gone at 300+ it's pretty hard to stop the car. The G-forces from the chutes slowing the car I think are harder than the launch and can pull the car off the ground.

These cars a are just so brutally violent that I just don't see how you can find a way to 100% stop something similar from happening again. Short of a 5 mile long shut down, I don't think there is much that can be done. Maybe remote set of backup chutes? Even in this case I think they would have been toast.

Very sad and sobering.

[Steve P.]

He hit a pole at the end of the track. You tell me WHY a DRAG TRACK has a POLE in the end of it?? 

Yes, at 300+ MPH these cars are violent. At the same time many tracks are NOT even close to safe for these speeds.  Is there a reason they cannot raise the shut down end of the track? Is there a reason these short tracks cannot have a long sand field?? How about a capsule for the driver like they do with race boats?? Maybe a radio controlled fuel shut off and chute deployment at the finish line... How about a secondary chute that is controlled both by the driver and the finish line?? How about water or foam tanks like they use on the highway off ramps??    ANYTHING other than a concrete and steel pole!!!!!!   

[RallyeMike]

Its a mobile crane, which to me is even worse.

Man, this is depressing   

[Steve P.]

Here is something I found on the web.




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.

[Ranger Max]

.

[mikepmcs]

Horrible to say the least.

[Blown70]

WOW Never saw the footage before.   I could not imagine the concussion from the motor blowing looks like it disintigrated the body of the car.  Shutes looked like they were toast too

SAD very SAD   RIP Scott.

[Steve P.]

Here is a piece of what a buddy sent me this morning.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Read this.
ents,
     After watching the video and hearing some first hand accounts the story gets worse. The car skipped over the sand trap and netting clearing even the wall. Scott then hit a boom scaffold and careened into the forest. It took them several minutes to find Scott after the wreck. There is a road 400-500 feet past the wall and the engine was found near it. He was found several dozen yards inside the tree line after that I wont go on....

[Blown70]

Here is a piece of what a buddy sent me this morning.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Read this.
ents,
     After watching the video and hearing some first hand accounts the story gets worse. The car skipped over the sand trap and netting clearing even the wall. Scott then hit a boom scaffold and careened into the forest. It took them several minutes to find Scott after the wreck. There is a road 400-500 feet past the wall and the engine was found near it. He was found several dozen yards inside the tree line after that I wont go on....

THAT makes me wonder if he was in on piece.... yea gross I know.  But, after seeing the vid. 

Also, Jerry Toliver was told NOT to go down to the end of the track, as he was headed there.  They did an ESPN interview with him.

[Steve P.]

It makes me wonder if we will ever know the REAL truth of what exactly happened and if the NHRA will require all tracks to improve their brake down lanes.



_________________________


Isn't it amazing.. I have heard many stories of what was what. How it happened. What he hit. How he hit it.... The simple fact is that the track is TOO SHORT for 300 mile per hour PLUS cars.  This track and many others were designed for cars to go 200 MPH safely. (If SAFELY can be a word used in this sport).  If not for a well working parachute, these tracks are ALL death traps.  Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a very long shut down and it runs up hill. It is hard to see on TV. But I have seen it many times in person and I can verify it. I still don't think it's enough.

Some say that the sport of DRAG RACING is a "Dare devil" sport to begin with.  Maybe so. I don't think it has to be. Not by any means.

From what one of the top racers said in an interview with ESPN2, Scott's car went air born at the leading edge of the sand trap and hit a pole at the back of the trap that holds the retaining net. The pole is steel with embedded concrete. From there the car exploded into what he says, (a million pieces).   I have seen these poles up close and I can tell you from my experience these poles are just waiting for this kind of catastrophe.  The nets are nylon and very strong. They are made to contain much like a pickup truck bed net.  This is STUPID in my mind. The idea is right, but they are built to take a sudden impact and stop it in a specific spot.
They should be designed like a climbers harness. I the iron working industry we had to wear a life harness that would be tethered to a cable above us. If we fell, it would react by becoming taught with the cable and ripping threads in the folds of the harness. I can't properly describe it, but I know how well they work.  When working for Florida Power I had to wear these quite often and know of at least 3 men that these harnesses saved their lives.  I luckily never had to put one to the test. A quick Google could show you how they work better.  The fact that they are using a SOLID ANYTHING in the middle of the "SAFETY" catch is completely beyond me.  Yes, the net needs to be held continuously high. So use PVC tubing with a breakaway cup at the bottom as they do on ALL the roadways in Florida.  They are using a foam fill substance in new runway construction at large airports. If that can stop a fully loaded 747, well, you get my point..

At any rate, I believe that this sport can and should be made much more safe. I have heard many racers complain for years about some of the track conditions. MAYBE with the three major wrecks in the last 17 months, (including 2 deaths), they will start to take these problems seriously.

[billssuperbird]

 

[472 R/T SE]

Its a mobile crane, which to me is even worse.

Man, this is depressing   

Do you even know what a mobile crane looks like?  Any crane operator would be smart enough NOT to park his rig w/ the boom extended over the traffic lane.
Not being there I can only speculate, but that piece of machinery was a zoom boom (man lift) that very well could have been a camera man's end of track point of view.  Very well could have been more than one death.

RIP Mr. Kalitta.    I feel for the family.

[Steve P.]

In one of the many you-tube video's you can make out what looks like a perminant structure that the extended camera boom is mounted on.

Also Jim Head spoke about the steel and concrete pole that the car hit and on impact the car exploded into what he said was "a million pieces". This was on both espn2 and espn news.

Some are calling it a freak accident. The sheriffs office has said this is not the first wreck like this. It was the first death though..

Though VegasMike is not running 300 mile per hour, he tells me that the incline at the Vegas motor speedway slows his car quickly. I have been there when chutes DID NOT open and the cars did NOT wreck.. I have to think that a 1, 2 or 3 stage incline has got to be a much better idea than a concrete wall and a forest... 

[Chris G.]

Some are calling it a freak accident. The sheriffs office has said this is not the first wreck like this.

I have lived here all my life and been to e-town more times than I can count. I don't ever remember a wreck even remotely similar to this. Where is this information coming from?

Like it or not, Raceway Park is one of the safest tracks on the circuit. The drivers love it, and there has never been an incident like this in the history of the track. That boom at the end of the track was a mobile lift you see at rental places and building doing small jobs on the exteriors of buildings (or a gutted interior). I'm sure Mike could better describe it than me. I have know idea what happened to that guy on the lift, but he must of been terrified.

How many NHRA tracks would have had a different outcome than this? Probably not many. You think E-Town is bad, take a trip to Lebanon Valley, NY and look at their shutdown area. It's downright scary. The NHRA also races there.

It was a freak accident, and it's obvious that if a chute fails on one of these cars, this will happen again. There needs to be better "Panic Stop" methods in this sport. Unfortunately it takes something like this to usually make that happen.

[Steve P.]

Hey Chris,

The info I read on the internet while doing a search of Scott Kalitta's racing history. The sheriffs dept. says they will not make any more comment until a full investigation is complete. They said it may take up to 4 months.

Other info. I added was from a racer from back home that runs over 200 MPH in a door slammer. He had a chute problem there 3 or 4 years ago and said he thought he was dead. (He HAS 4 wheel brakes). Once back in the pits he had some other fellow racers tell him that he did well and that they had seen others go into the curved wall at the end. 

I have never been to 200 MPH let alone 300, but I don't take anything lightly when it comes to things like this..

The other Funny car drivers had even said that nothing had changed at that and many other tracks since the days of breaking the 200 mile per hour barrier.  WHY??

[Shakey]

Its a mobile crane, which to me is even worse.

Man, this is depressing   

Do you even know what a mobile crane looks like?  Any crane operator would be smart enough NOT to park his rig w/ the boom extended over the traffic lane.
Not being there I can only speculate, but that piece of machinery was a zoom boom (man lift) that very well could have been a camera man's end of track point of view.  Very well could have been more than one death.

RIP Mr. Kalitta.    I feel for the family.

JLG & Genie have a few versions of these.

Probably a great vantage point for some photgraphs or video.  Who would ever think that a car would become airborne and take him/her out.

At the same time, at the many of the oval speedway's I have visited, it's very common for the flag man to be on his perch above, not directly over top but more off to the side, of the speedway.  I wouldn't doubt that the racing community as a whole will learn something from this.  At least I would hope.

[Chris G.]

The other Funny car drivers had even said that nothing had changed at that and many other tracks since the days of breaking the 200 mile per hour barrier.  WHY??

Good question, but if the tracks aren't told to mandate anything by the NHRA, I doubt most will take it into their own hands to do it. Tracks like E-Town need the NHRA. Without them, this track would shut down in a year (IMO). I am gonna guess that after this tragedy, things will change at all NHRA tracks. Not sure how e-town will swing it, considering the track can't go any farther than it is already. There may be a bridge in it's future across Pension Rd. but that is a big big stretch.

2 ways to help the situation...

1. Fix all shutdown areas at every track and have a required safety plan for each track.

2. Slow the cars down...which nobody wants to do.

Either way, something should come from this tragedy. If this is just called an isolated incident that is BS. It will happen again sooner or later. Can you imagine if John (or Ashley) Force was in that car? It would be a monster of a situation. The Kalitta name carries clout, but not like the Force name does. Those aren't my rules. 

[Steve P.]

   With all of the above... I don't know where the money will come from. I do know that track conditions need to improve with speed and that (no one) should be next......

[71ChallengeHer]

I don't know if any of you saw this yesterday. But it was very touching   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvcu9ne9zMI

[Hemidoug]

As I stated in Moparts, I think this is the perfect situation to use an arresting hook/cable type of safety device. The cable (or cables) could be set up just before the sand trap. The hook could be deployed manually by the driver or automatically by some sort of radio device.....The Navy has used this type of system to trap aircraft for over 60 years....food for thought anyway.

[Steve P.]

I worked with them in the Navy. Yes they work well, but take a ton of maintenance and energy. Of course it should not be used often, but it must be tested and maned all the time. Also the TAIL HOOK is a problem as the front and rear tires would have to cross over the cable. At 300 miles per hour that alone could lift the car into the air...

Keep those ideas coming ladies and gents. You never know who is lurking and maybe one of us could come up with a great solution to this problem..

[RallyeMike]

Do you even know what a mobile crane looks like?  Any crane operator would be smart enough NOT to park his rig w/ the boom extended over the traffic lane.
Not being there I can only speculate, but that piece of machinery was a zoom boom (man lift) that very well could have been a camera man's end of track point of view. 

Gosh, did you get the model number     (there does appear to be a basket).  The point is not what exactly it is, but WHY IS IT THERE? 

... and after 20 years in heavy civil construction, I agree that crane operators are generally at the top of the game, ... yet there are still plenty of stories.




Well, hopefully something good comes out of this loss.

[mikepmcs]

Retired Navy here and I thought of the arresting cable idea as well.  It seems they have a semi barricade system in place as well but it kind of failed the pilot on this one(probably don't expect a car to be traveling nearing half mach either but something to ponder).  The arresting hook could work if the tension was kind of like a fishing reel sort of deal.  Almost like a long wire on a Naval Air Station, it just slows the object gradually instead of ripping it to a stop immediately like a carrier(don't have much choice on a floating city)  The Crash Barricade would work as well IMO if it were set up permanent and also on sort of a tether/bungee type system.  There is always going to be the rare case, but these systems could work and I believe are not bank breakers.  Technology today is awesome and it all could be controlled remotely(with back ups of course)

Marty Butler(Butler and McMaster, right here in Hallowell Maine) was there as well and has a little different story he told my buddy Pat today but I'm tired of speculation and I'll wait for the end result and more importantly the ideas/fixes that come of this.

v/r
Mike

[hemi-hampton]

What good is a sandtrap or net if you fly over both of them airborn? To do this there must have been a slight bump or hump or hill before sandtrap. Hitting a small bump at 50-100 MPH may not airborn you much but hitting this bump at 250-300 MPH is just like taking off on a ramp which is what I think propelled him airborn, without the airborn, no pole & no wall to hit I think it could have been prevented. LEON.

[John_Kunkel]

Some are calling it a freak accident.

I think this is the gist of it, even with all the Monday morning quarterbacking it's unlikely that anyone could foresee the exact set of circumstances occuring. Learn from it and move on.

[derailed]

Retired Navy here and I thought of the arresting cable idea as well. 

Sounds like an idea that could work. Maybe not so much a cable but a large non flammable strap type device that would absorb the impact then have some sort of automatic detent device to release itself and prevent the wreckage from springing back.

What good is a sandtrap or net if you fly over both of them airborn?

At that speed its probably like skipping a rock across water.

[Ghoste]

Wouldn't the explosion and loss of half of the body do more to upset the aerodynamics of the car at 250-300 mph and allow it to go airborne than poor track conditions?  It would at the very least exaggerate a track condition that wasn't normally seen as a problem.

[Mike DC]

 

Just an idea:   


They could create a gradual "funnel" at the end of the track with SAFER barriers.  (A pair, one path for each lane.) 





Make the narrowing funnel VERY long and shallow angle of course.  They'd start narrowing the walls early, like where people in slower cars still turn off and exit the track.  (Maybe only close all the gates when the 300 mph cars are running.)


The runaway car would go into the "funnel" and begin scrubbing off speed just hitting between the sides of the gradually-narrowing walls.  It would be a very safe way to slow the car down a little, and it would begin that process long before the actual end of the track space.

It would also pinpoint where the arresting method needs to be set up at the end.  It would make it into a smaller area, and only a REALLY out-of-control car would ever reach it.  That would open up the possibilities for some more aggressive /destructive methods of stopping the car at the end.





If the driver is still conscious, and the car still has some amount of control & brakes, then he could just steer the car to coast down the center of the funnel for a while, without nerf-ing the walls at all.  That way, the option of preserving the car still exists during a less-serious runoff situation. 

[Steve P.]

Yes, I'm sure it would.  My point is that not much has been done to the older tracks since these cars broke the 200+ MPH peak. Engines blow all the time. We watch it every week. Sometimes it takes the blow shield and sometimes it takes the body. Most times when they show the very slow motion film, you can see the the body and chassis lift from the concussion.

You cannot see into the future, but you can look at the millions of feet of film and see what has happened in the past and improve on all...

[MOPARHOUND!]

Engines blow all the time. We watch it every week. Sometimes it takes the blow shield and sometimes it takes the body. Most times when they show the very slow motion film, you can see the the body and chassis lift from the concussion.

You cannot see into the future, but you can look at the millions of feet of film and see what has happened in the past and improve on all...

The irony of it all, this is Robert Hight's Funny Car fire at Topeka, Kansas last year.......the guy who made the 1st round solo run after Scott Kalitta's death........notice who the opposing driver is........it was well worth my time to watch it beginning to end.......John Force (Hight's car owner) has about a minute long ab-lib spirited thought provoking interview towards the end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3rP8_Z0Kbg

Another related good video of Robert Hight's Funny Car fire at Topeka, Kansas, with several different angles of his race/fire, with ESPN commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3rP8_Z0Kbg

[duo-stripe]

my condolances to the family and friends of Scott

[hemi-hampton]

I noticed when Hights car hit the sand trap it did indeeed encounter a bump. I also noticed that he hit this bump at a speed of what looked like 1 MPH maybe 2MPH haveing zero effect on the car being propelled &/or airborn. I rest my case LEON.

[Steve P.]

NHRA SHORTENS RACE DISTANCE FOR TOP FUEL AND FUNNY CAR CLASSES TO 1,000 FEET
AS INTERIM SAFETY STEP WHILE KALITTA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
GLENDORA, Calif. (July 2, 2008) -- As the investigation continues into the tragic accident that took the life of driver Scott Kalitta, NHRA announced today that beginning at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colorado, both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet or one-quarter mile.  This is an interim step that is being taken while NHRA continues to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport's long standing safety record, given the inherent risks and ever-present dangers associated with the sport.
This interim change was made by NHRA in collaboration with professional race teams.  NHRA believes that racing the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet will allow NHRA and the racing community time to evaluate, analyze and implement potential changes based on the safety initiatives outlined last week. 
With the change, fans will still be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and thrill of NHRA nitro racing with speeds around 300 mph and quick elapsed times to 1,000 feet.
Over the years, NHRA has implemented many initiatives to enhance safety including measures to limit speeds from increasing, personal protective gear, vehicle improvements, and track enhancements such as sand traps, catch nets and concrete barriers the entire length of the drag strip.
In the wake of the tragic series of events that took Kalitta's life, the following technical issues are currently under investigation: 1) what might be done to reduce engine failures; 2) parachute mounting techniques and materials as well as identifying a parachute material that could be more fire resistant; 3) exploring whether there is a way to increase brake efficiency when cars lose downforce due to the loss of the body; 4) analyzing additional methods that might be developed at the top end of the race track to help arrest runaway vehicles; 5) considering whether current speeds should be further limited or reduced to potentially improve safety.
"The board members of the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) wholeheartedly and unanimously support this decision," said its president Kenny Bernstein.  "We want to thank NHRA for listening to our input and suggestions to incorporate these changes.  It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history of running a quarter-mile, but it's the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety which is foremost on everyone's mind.  This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer.  We will continue to work hand in hand with NHRA to evaluate other methods of making Top Fuel and Funny Car competition safer so that we might return to our quarter-mile racing standard. We also want to thank Connie Kalitta for his invaluable input.  He has been a rock through these difficult times."
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