RIP Scott. You will be missed. Our prayers go out to the Kalitta family and friends.
Scott Kalitta killed in a wreck
- Thread starter 200MPHCOBRA
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thoughts and prayers to his family
poor guy, RIP
yeah he had no chance.. the chutes came out but from debris and the fire they got burned up. and they are pretty sure he got knocked out from the first explosion and he never even hit the brakes, just coasted full speed to the end.. there was nothing that could be done.. i almost called out yesterday and went to the track i work down the road from there. very sad day in racing and he will never be forgotten. my heart goes out to his wife and young boys. at least he died doing what he loved, thats the way i wanna go out someday, not suffering on some bed. GODSPEED SCOTT
wow so sad, RIP.
The catchment area at the end of the track is way too short for "out of control" cars at 300 mph. Drivers were saying it yesterday and from what I saw I have to agree. Whether he would have survived had he not hit that wall..but continued on for a mile is anybody's guess.
I hope the issue is pressed for safer track catchment areas. A wall is not the answer in my humble opinion..
I hope the issue is pressed for safer track catchment areas. A wall is not the answer in my humble opinion..
Yes Tony Pendergon(SP) said we have reached speeds beyond the safety measures at most tracks. The tracks and the NHRA have done nothing to keep the safety measures at the tracks equal to the speeds they are running.
Sad situation, but maybe Scott's death will have the same effect on the NHRA safety measures that Sr's death had in NASCAR.
VPF
I agree with Tony but, it is a huge problem.... buying more land to extend runoff is easier said than done... also tracks like Englishtown are dealing with surounding neighborhoods and sound levels.... I don't think there is a good answer right now.....
I was there, and the explosion and accident was heartstopping in person. They shut down all filming right after the car hit, and shut the evnt down after. No announcements made at Etown, but we more or less all knew.
His engine actually made it over Pension Rd he hit so hard. I am praying he was knocked out or died instantly.
My friend snapped this an hour or so after the crash of John Force speaking to a lot of friends and fellow drivers. It was an awfule experience. I like being places when history happens, just not this kind of history.
Also to note, there is no room to extend Etown. There is sand, net, wall a small patch of trees and Pension Rd. The town is so crazy to shut the track down, that it would never fly to reroute the road or make any changes to the track that might affect the neigbors.
His engine actually made it over Pension Rd he hit so hard. I am praying he was knocked out or died instantly.
My friend snapped this an hour or so after the crash of John Force speaking to a lot of friends and fellow drivers. It was an awfule experience. I like being places when history happens, just not this kind of history.
Also to note, there is no room to extend Etown. There is sand, net, wall a small patch of trees and Pension Rd. The town is so crazy to shut the track down, that it would never fly to reroute the road or make any changes to the track that might affect the neigbors.
x2 I've gone down the right lane a few times.
It's crazy to think about that stuff when you are running at big tracks like that.
May he RIP.
sad for the family and all of drag racing
This is very sad indeed, rest in peace Mr. Kalitta. I would think it might help to put a huge row of barrels all filled with water at the end of the track.
that was horrible. unfortunatly, such a great man for the sport is gone now. definatly the worst wreck ive ever seen.
i mean every bit of this with respect, but hindsight is 20/20. we've never seen something like this happen, and any time a car needed to hit the sandpit, it worked out no problem. i totally agree that the performance of the cars has passed up the safety of the track, but i dont know if anyone would be saying that before this wreck. its so unfortunate that it takes an event like this to happen to put it all back into perspective and for changes to happen. but this is no different than the safer barrier wall things coming to be because of the deaths of a few stock car drivers(excuse me, earnhardt sr. that always bothered me how those couple unknowns that died never got mentioned while sr. gets golden ceremonies). we can just hope for some major change to happen soon though. it may have been a completely freak accident but it could very possibly happen again too.
I just got home from vacation and I went to the race and sadly watched it unfold in front of me. The irony is that Scotts previous time trial, the chutes came out right after he hit the gas. By the looks if it, he was knocked out from the initial explosion as the fire bottles never came on. That was my first indication right there. I remember seeing the body come off and then saw the final and big explosion at the end of the track where he hit the barrier of some sort.
It was at least an hour before we heard that Racing will not happen for another hour or so. So we went into the pits and tried to see what was up. The look on Kenny Bernstein's face and seeing Jerry Toliver crying and all the crew members on their phones kinda hinted the bad news. I also know that E town has a very short shutdown section compared to other newer built tracks. I don't know how they will address this being there is nothing there to extend the track except a public road.
I do agree with the Racetrack owner, Antron Brown ran 4.6's@32x mph and stopped when his chutes failed on Saturday. I think a lot of the right things that could cause this tragedy occurred perfectly. The cars can stop with that shutdown there. However, if the drivers is not conscious to do it, then there is a problem.
RIP Scott, I enjoyed watching you race and talking with you.
Here is a video that is still up
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2A1l_zx05k"]YouTube - Scott Kalitta Fatal Crash Body BLows up NEW Video[/ame]
It was at least an hour before we heard that Racing will not happen for another hour or so. So we went into the pits and tried to see what was up. The look on Kenny Bernstein's face and seeing Jerry Toliver crying and all the crew members on their phones kinda hinted the bad news. I also know that E town has a very short shutdown section compared to other newer built tracks. I don't know how they will address this being there is nothing there to extend the track except a public road.
I do agree with the Racetrack owner, Antron Brown ran 4.6's@32x mph and stopped when his chutes failed on Saturday. I think a lot of the right things that could cause this tragedy occurred perfectly. The cars can stop with that shutdown there. However, if the drivers is not conscious to do it, then there is a problem.
RIP Scott, I enjoyed watching you race and talking with you.
Here is a video that is still up
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2A1l_zx05k"]YouTube - Scott Kalitta Fatal Crash Body BLows up NEW Video[/ame]
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