http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...html?tag=stack
Printable View
that happens .. but it should`nt be national news .. it throws a bad lite on the sport ..
I disagree. Too many businesses would try to "enhance" their marketability, instead of paying respect to him. The guy died participating in a sport he loved. Just my opinion, but I think that hiding the price he paid would be disrespectful to him.
We all know that these things happen, and I like the fact that NHRA dedicated this event to his memory...
"Neal Parker.... Alcohol Funny Car Racer."
i agree hotrod.
Neil Parker driver of the EXCAVATOR alky funny car died when his chutes did not open during his run ...He ran a career best e.t.Speed was 249 and change
It was not a good site from were I was standing
http://dragracecentral.com/stories/p...ckingham79.jpg
Tragic to lose another life like this.The comments at the end of the report and numerous stories of crashes,it is very clear how CBS intended the tone of the report to be read."Those reckless hot rodders" etc,etc.Little does CBS know the hundreds of thousands of dollars race teams spend based on NHRA rules to protect drivers.If it was NASCAR,there would be a stiff quick response in a press release.That is if CBS even dare to report negativity on a death of a driver from a NASCAR crash.
I will pray for the lost and hope to God that CBS gets what is coming to them for tagging stories,using that lost for a agenda not related to the crash.
Thank you for the report.
Gary
I would agree about the media behavior today. "If it's bad, and they can get you upset.... they will run it". Most of their energy is spent keeping the public inflammed, or pushing their own agenda. I have started watching BBC's daily broadcasts, that are done for the American market. At least that way I get to hear the other 90% of the news.
... and guess what? "No spin"! :-)
[QUOTE=deuce bigalow;389097]Neil Parker driver of the EXCAVATOR alky funny car died when his chutes did not open during his run ...He ran a career best e.t.Speed was 249 and change
It is always sad when a fellow racer ends in such a tragic way, especially at only 58 (my age)...
That said, we all know that the day will come for each of us to move onto another existence...
I imagine that if given the choice to go out doing a personal best, or slowly in a hospital bed seeing your dignity and life drain away, many of us would chose leaving on a high...
God Speed, Neil.
Sad to see, but I agree that he died doing what he loved, and from the looks of it he had a lot of years in the sport. All any of us can ask for is the chance to enjoy whatever years we are allowed to be on this planet, so it is important to get the most out of every day.
Rest in Peace.
Don
Sad for his family,but as others have said,he died doing what he enjoyed...
What bugs me with the media,is that they have to drag up all the other naughty little dragracers accidents/deaths of the past few months/years,as if we or the general public need to know..:(
Very tragic and I feel for his family ......... but I also wonder how many more are going to have to die before the NHRA drops Englishtown and its antiquated, short shut down area .......... sorry, I raced there and despised the track ........ to me only National Trail had a worse shut down length, and it has been replaced :confused::mad::rolleyes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Coyote
I was there and again we go with "Short Shutdown", Top Fuel Cory Mac just went Lowest EVER 1000' at 4.75!!! He stopped!! Parker NEVER tried to stop....Maybe he had a heart attack...NO shut down is long enough for that unless running at bonneville or it runs out of gas first!!
MANY cars have STOPPED at E-Town WITHOUT chutes!!!! the nets worked last year on Alexis DeJoria when her chute's pulled the rear end off the car. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NMhzawONJM
HOW than is it too short? Yes its one of the shortest, but AGAIN the CAR NEEDS to TRY to STOP, and IF NOT another 600' is not going to work.!
....................
As already mentioned, it is sad to hear news like this, but that is the
risk we all take when we get behind the wheel. I quit racing years
ago, and just keep an ole hot rod around for rememberance. I do go
to the track which is about 20 minutes from my house..Saw 4 funny
cars run last week, and going tonight to watch some of those wild street
cars run..I think Drag racing just gets in your blood, and stays there.
Yeah, it's great when evertything works correctly ......... people don't get killed when everything works correctly .......... a facility needs to be able to handle a "worst case scenario" ......... and Englishtown continues to prove it can'tQuote:
Originally Posted by deuce bigalow
I wound up in the Englishtown sand pit in my altered when a brake caliper let go ........ and I wound up in the farmer's front yard at National Trail when my chute lines became tangled and I got a partial "blossom" ............ but neither of those facilities could have protected me had I been unconscious for whatever reason ............ newer facilities are built with that type of scenario in mind ........... whether or not some cars can stop without deploying chutes is irrelevent in my opinion .......... but again these are just my opinions
It sounds like he should have been able to get his speed down with the brakes.
I know there is no report that he was "under power", but wasn't NHRA working on an automatic shutoff for fuel cars, that would kill the motor in the lights?
Based on the no chutes and no skid marks, there might be a possibility that another extra mile of shut down would not have helped him.
Wasn't this the same track that Scottie Kalitta died in '08 and wasn't it because of the length also?
Quote:
Originally Posted by deuce bigalow
It sure wouldn't have hurt. Two deaths inside of three years is two too many and in my opinion the place is a death trap and needs to be shut down as far as NHRA national events are concerned. Probably one of the reasons NHRA still sponsors events at tracks such as Englishtown is because Pomona is in the same boat. Pomona is land locked and will never be any longer in it's current configuration and it is one of NHRA's "premier" strips.