Thread: Scott Kalitta crash

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I have watched the video from two different angles, this is what I think happened. He was hard on the hand brake, when you do this the low air pressure in the tires can cause the back of the car to start bouncing, which his did, in my opinion he new what was going on and was trying everything too stop. But it bounced at the wrong time and he cleared the sand trap and went right into the retaining wall.
If you look at how many runs are made each year, this is a pretty safe sport. I agree there is always room for improvement, but at the speeds they are going they have done a good job.
Ken

Only speculation but I would have to say it was the crash at the end. Most of the time the big bang usually knocks out the driver which would explain no real attempt to stop. These cars catching fire is almost normal so I dont think that did it.

Iwonder if the car bounced over spilt parts? I wonder how the engine tuners feel?

Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

Iwonder if the car bounced over spilt parts?

I didn't look like that, it bounced several times. I had this problem sometimes in the Mooneyham and Sharpe coupe, there were no front brakes and when the chute would malfunction on a short track, hang on!!
Ken

I had read that he died at the hospital, so yopur probably right about him hitting the wall.

Originally Posted by hotroddaddy

I had read that he died at the hospital, so yopur probably right about him hitting the wall.

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

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

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???

Jim Head's idea, and one I would have to concur with, is to run either a 1000' or 1/8 mile race for the fuel cars at the tracks that do not have an adequate shut down area, not all of the tracks.... I don't foresee anyone going 400 mph at the 1000' timer anytime soon, they're around 240 to 250 now.... Granted, the tracks and NHRA need to get this issue of short shutdowns fixed soon, but the logistics, planning, and financing will take some time... In the interim, shortening the length of the race for the fuel cars will fix the problem RIGHT NOW before any more lives are wasted, or the whole thing is just forgotten about......