RIP......Scott Kalitta
- Thread starter Fast Freddy
- Start date
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
This is so sad. I have been watching the discussion about the horrible accident.
Clearly the parachute failed to open, most likely the fire system also failed to fully function? Englishtown has a crash a few years ago where a dragster shot through the
fence and wound up on a public street, so they put that barrier up. I know they just built
a road course there, wonder what the future is for 300mph funny cars and dragsters?
May he RIP and his family and fans find peace. Dark day for racing.
Clearly the parachute failed to open, most likely the fire system also failed to fully function? Englishtown has a crash a few years ago where a dragster shot through the
fence and wound up on a public street, so they put that barrier up. I know they just built
a road course there, wonder what the future is for 300mph funny cars and dragsters?
May he RIP and his family and fans find peace. Dark day for racing.
come Sunday if i had any control over this matter i would tell the manager of that track that in honor of his death they race 1/8 mile only from now on......
i have raced on tracks b4 that were death traps just like this one......
i have raced on tracks b4 that were death traps just like this one......
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
AMEN to that... Let's hope this is the LAST time we ever see something like this.
What a crying shame.
(IMHO there should NEVER BE a concrete barrior across the end of a track like that. If the track's property is too limited to contain a "runaway" at speeds that high - don't sanction the track for T/FD's and T/FFC's. Period. And have catch wires/nets and sand traps for the rest.)
HiloDave
GT Obsessed
The drivers and team owners should boycott the track until and unless the safety issues are corrected.
dbtgt
One lucky SOB to own a GT
+1, That track is totally unsafe with that barrier in place - absolutely ridiculous IMO. The accident itself was bad enough without having a concrete wall to deal with as well!!!:frown
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even nascar and the IRL get safer barriers. the lack of consideration to the drivers safety at some of these tracks is a slap in the face to the drivers who risk their life.
It certainly was a horrible incident. Most of the tracks were built in the 1950s/1960s when speeds where in the 200 mph range. Rau off areas are too short.
That said in this particular case a run off area of several miles would have been required as it appears that Scott was unconscious and could not stop his car. At 300 mph a long, long distance is required maybe 3-4 miles.
As I said above most of the tracks are out dated. Second, how long should a run-off area be and can any existing track be modified enough. Third, the sand trap, catch net and concrete wall make no sense at te speeds he was running. A car reaching the end of the track at speed will go right thru the sand trap. Use Google Earth and look at the track layout.
Bony btw the road course is 1.4 miles long and single car only at this point in time. They are willing to expand it if there is enough interest. Currently being used for drifting events.
Dave
That said in this particular case a run off area of several miles would have been required as it appears that Scott was unconscious and could not stop his car. At 300 mph a long, long distance is required maybe 3-4 miles.
As I said above most of the tracks are out dated. Second, how long should a run-off area be and can any existing track be modified enough. Third, the sand trap, catch net and concrete wall make no sense at te speeds he was running. A car reaching the end of the track at speed will go right thru the sand trap. Use Google Earth and look at the track layout.
Bony btw the road course is 1.4 miles long and single car only at this point in time. They are willing to expand it if there is enough interest. Currently being used for drifting events.
Dave
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Dave, thanks for your comments.
I recall when Big Daddy decided to sit in front of the motor and hub-bub that it caused....until it proved to be safer and faster. I recall seeing huffers shoot 50' in the air.
I can name great tracks near me, such as Fremont, Halfmoon Bay, Cotati, Vacaville that are long gone. In fact the closest drag strip in the Valley is Formoso and the Sacramento. All closed because of residential development.
Always sad to loose a driver. Gary Selzi is our local hot shoe, and a great spokesman for FreYes.
Again, may he RIP and may the sport quickly heal.
I recall when Big Daddy decided to sit in front of the motor and hub-bub that it caused....until it proved to be safer and faster. I recall seeing huffers shoot 50' in the air.
I can name great tracks near me, such as Fremont, Halfmoon Bay, Cotati, Vacaville that are long gone. In fact the closest drag strip in the Valley is Formoso and the Sacramento. All closed because of residential development.
Always sad to loose a driver. Gary Selzi is our local hot shoe, and a great spokesman for FreYes.
Again, may he RIP and may the sport quickly heal.
STORMCAT
GT
for the last 30 years NHRA has imposed nothing but more and more safety rules to the cars in order for them to pass tech yet they have done nothing to make their tracks safer :thumbsdow that is total BS and i for one am a little ticked off at them for that :mad
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Hopefully this will be a wake up call. I am sure their insurance companies will be meeting with them. Freddy, I agree with you 110%
Did the nitromethane contribute to this disaster? This is a fuel that can become unstable under certain conditions. Also when buring it forms its own oxygen which obviously causes the fire to continue. Foam and other suppresants do not work very well with this type of fire.
As a result of the blown motor and fire, did it create a vacuum behind the car and thus the parachutes did not open? This could be the same situation with gasoline and alcohol as the fuel source.
Many issues here in addition to run-off areas. The arresting gear on carriers, as suggested, is very interesting. I was at the track and there were several 300 mph runs where the cars stopped without deploying the parachutes. But there was a conscious driver operating the controls.
NHRA had a crane at the end of the track for the ESPN cameras. This was struck and damaged by the car.
Also the concrete walls are there to keep the cars within the boundaries of the track. ANd Bony is correct ENglishtown had a vehicle leave the premises onto a public road a few years ago and changed the configuration to stop it from happening again.
I am sure NHRA will look at this and come up with improvements that will not close every drag strip in the country.
Dave
As a result of the blown motor and fire, did it create a vacuum behind the car and thus the parachutes did not open? This could be the same situation with gasoline and alcohol as the fuel source.
Many issues here in addition to run-off areas. The arresting gear on carriers, as suggested, is very interesting. I was at the track and there were several 300 mph runs where the cars stopped without deploying the parachutes. But there was a conscious driver operating the controls.
NHRA had a crane at the end of the track for the ESPN cameras. This was struck and damaged by the car.
Also the concrete walls are there to keep the cars within the boundaries of the track. ANd Bony is correct ENglishtown had a vehicle leave the premises onto a public road a few years ago and changed the configuration to stop it from happening again.
I am sure NHRA will look at this and come up with improvements that will not close every drag strip in the country.
Dave
A big gravel sand pit where that wall was at with a catch fence would probably saved his life and kept the car inside the track.
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Yes if the gravel run off area was two miles long...
The prudent thing for us to do is say our prayers for a great racer and wait for NHRA to issue their blue ribbon report.
FourFather
GT Owner
About our friend Scott Kalitta- from Eddie and Ercie Hill
A Racer’s Heart
by Ercie Hill
With the loss of our friend and fellow racer Scott Kalitta recently, the drag racing world was knocked to its knees. We’d known Scott for 23 years when tragedy struck in an unthinkable, untimely, unforgiving accident at Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, New Jersey, on June 21, 2008. A day we can’t forget.
Over the decades we saw Scott evolve from a party-down young man into a serious racer. He married Kathy and they had two boys – Corey and Colin. He won back-to-back top fuel championships in 1994-95, a wonderful legacy.
Scott was a formidable opponent. He’d race you hard. No monkey business or trying to take unfair advantage -- just a heads-up racer with an enormous desire to win. We had to take our A Game to the starting line when it came our turn to run against Scott. Sometimes he won, sometimes we won, but you could be assured it would be a good race.
Back in 1989 we used to dog-sit Scott’s three-pound Pomeranian, Elsa, during qualifying and eliminations at the track. She was precious, sweet, and tiny. When Scott won his first funny car race, we were dog-sitting Elsa in our transporter, and Scott borrowed our three-wheeler to party through the pits. Somewhere around 11:00 p.m. while Scott was driving his transporter home that evening, he remembered that he had left Elsa, so he turned around and drove back to the track. When he came to retrieve her, I told him we’d trade him his dog for our three-wheeler, which he had not returned. He couldn’t remember where he left it, but we gave him his dog anyway and found the three-wheeler at Shirley Muldowney’s pit area. That was our friend Scott.
What happens in the pits and behind the scenes at NHRA events is often more interesting than the race itself. Racers will go toe-to-toe with each other to win a round. They give it everything they have; and on a rare occasion tempers flare. But let a racer get in trouble, and help comes his way from his competition every time. We’ll fight tooth and nail to win over our opponents; but we recognize the need to help each other, and that always prevails.
Many people have asked us if we knew Scott Kalitta, and have extended their condolences and prayers not only to his family, but to us. Then they ask how we feel about the accident.
Drag racing is dangerous, and that’s part of the thrill. It takes a special kind of person to handle a 330 mph nitro “flopper” or a top fuel dragster, and Scott was an expert at driving both. It takes experience, guts, and quick thinking to handle a race car at those speeds. The adrenaline rush is one you can’t get any other way, and it’s addictive. Scott probably had as many laps and experience under his belt as most any other driver at Englishtown the day of the accident.
We’ve seen drivers like Jim Head drive with broken ribs. Lori Johns drove with a broken finger. Eddie drove with broken toes. They’ll drive with the flu, suffer heat stroke, dehydration, and all manner of other ailments; but they all seem to be able to get in the car when it’s time for the next round. I used to laugh and make the comment that a top fuel racer will drag himself over a quarter mile of broken glass in 100 degree heat, and pull himself up into the cockpit in a body cast for just one more ride.
Scott was of that ilk. We’ve seen him drive a funny car with a cast on his leg and do a 180 degree blowover in his dragster. He was in the other lane when Eddie had a horrific crash at Sears Point, California in 1997 – and Scott retired for a while thereafter. He had the best seat in the house to see our dragster disintegrate at over 300 mph. Drag racing isn’t always pretty.
Eddie and I have been married for 24 years, and I managed our team for most of them. We’re privileged to have become friends with racers in a lot of different motorsports – drag racing, NASCAR, Indy Car, Sprint Car. One thing they all have in common is their love of G forces. The ride of a lifetime. The thrill of victory and the roar of the crowd. Piloting a rocket ship over the ground.
We’ve learned that a racer’s heart feels broken when the ride and the thrill are no longer there. Eddie has experienced it, and Scott experienced it after both of his retirements. He had the means and will to return to the sport he grew up in, the only son of a racing legend and our dear friend, Connie Kalitta. He missed the smell of nitro, the overpowering thump of a fuel engine, the grandstands rushing past at over 300 mph. He missed his racing family and crew and he was once more drawn back to his roots, a way of life like no other.
There are very few who will ever experience the adventure and thrills that Scott lived. He knew the perils, the danger, what could happen. He’d seen it before when we lost Eric Medlen, Blaine Johnson, Darrell Russell, Jimmy Nix, and many other great drivers.
It was an acceptable risk. If it had not been, Scott would not have raced. That’s a decision all racers make, and no one can make it for them. None of us have ever gone to the starting line thinking something tragic was going to happen. In fact, just the opposite -- we’re an optimistic bunch.
For whatever highs drag racing lavishes on its participants and fans, it can also have a terrible sting. The reality that we lost Scott has hit us hard, and we will forever miss him. But at the risk of sounding callous, Eddie and I are glad that he left this world doing what he loved to do. Not tied to a hospital bed dying of some hideous disease, or falling off a ladder cleaning gutters. Doing what Scott did best.
His life was not a long one, but Scott Kalitta packed more living into his 46 years than most folks get to pack into twice that many. He wasn’t much for the limelight, just a guy who loved his race car.
But for the grace of God, the same tragedy could have struck Eddie numerous times in boat, motorcycle, and top fuel racing. He had a lot of major crashes, some at over 300 mph. We know how blessed Eddie has been to race and pull through. It could easily have gone the other way. We praise God for His mercy.
Our profound condolences go out to Conrad, Kathy, Corey, Colin and Scott’s cousin Doug Kalitta, a top fuel driver for Team Kalitta. May the good Lord bless each one of you abundantly and wrap you in His arms in your grief. God bless you guys in every way possible.
If we could ask Scott what he’d want his family and team to do, our idea is that he’d probably say, “Make the cars and tracks as safe as you can, and keep on racing.” That’s what we hope will happen. It’s what racers do.
A Racer’s Heart
by Ercie Hill
With the loss of our friend and fellow racer Scott Kalitta recently, the drag racing world was knocked to its knees. We’d known Scott for 23 years when tragedy struck in an unthinkable, untimely, unforgiving accident at Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, New Jersey, on June 21, 2008. A day we can’t forget.
Over the decades we saw Scott evolve from a party-down young man into a serious racer. He married Kathy and they had two boys – Corey and Colin. He won back-to-back top fuel championships in 1994-95, a wonderful legacy.
Scott was a formidable opponent. He’d race you hard. No monkey business or trying to take unfair advantage -- just a heads-up racer with an enormous desire to win. We had to take our A Game to the starting line when it came our turn to run against Scott. Sometimes he won, sometimes we won, but you could be assured it would be a good race.
Back in 1989 we used to dog-sit Scott’s three-pound Pomeranian, Elsa, during qualifying and eliminations at the track. She was precious, sweet, and tiny. When Scott won his first funny car race, we were dog-sitting Elsa in our transporter, and Scott borrowed our three-wheeler to party through the pits. Somewhere around 11:00 p.m. while Scott was driving his transporter home that evening, he remembered that he had left Elsa, so he turned around and drove back to the track. When he came to retrieve her, I told him we’d trade him his dog for our three-wheeler, which he had not returned. He couldn’t remember where he left it, but we gave him his dog anyway and found the three-wheeler at Shirley Muldowney’s pit area. That was our friend Scott.
What happens in the pits and behind the scenes at NHRA events is often more interesting than the race itself. Racers will go toe-to-toe with each other to win a round. They give it everything they have; and on a rare occasion tempers flare. But let a racer get in trouble, and help comes his way from his competition every time. We’ll fight tooth and nail to win over our opponents; but we recognize the need to help each other, and that always prevails.
Many people have asked us if we knew Scott Kalitta, and have extended their condolences and prayers not only to his family, but to us. Then they ask how we feel about the accident.
Drag racing is dangerous, and that’s part of the thrill. It takes a special kind of person to handle a 330 mph nitro “flopper” or a top fuel dragster, and Scott was an expert at driving both. It takes experience, guts, and quick thinking to handle a race car at those speeds. The adrenaline rush is one you can’t get any other way, and it’s addictive. Scott probably had as many laps and experience under his belt as most any other driver at Englishtown the day of the accident.
We’ve seen drivers like Jim Head drive with broken ribs. Lori Johns drove with a broken finger. Eddie drove with broken toes. They’ll drive with the flu, suffer heat stroke, dehydration, and all manner of other ailments; but they all seem to be able to get in the car when it’s time for the next round. I used to laugh and make the comment that a top fuel racer will drag himself over a quarter mile of broken glass in 100 degree heat, and pull himself up into the cockpit in a body cast for just one more ride.
Scott was of that ilk. We’ve seen him drive a funny car with a cast on his leg and do a 180 degree blowover in his dragster. He was in the other lane when Eddie had a horrific crash at Sears Point, California in 1997 – and Scott retired for a while thereafter. He had the best seat in the house to see our dragster disintegrate at over 300 mph. Drag racing isn’t always pretty.
Eddie and I have been married for 24 years, and I managed our team for most of them. We’re privileged to have become friends with racers in a lot of different motorsports – drag racing, NASCAR, Indy Car, Sprint Car. One thing they all have in common is their love of G forces. The ride of a lifetime. The thrill of victory and the roar of the crowd. Piloting a rocket ship over the ground.
We’ve learned that a racer’s heart feels broken when the ride and the thrill are no longer there. Eddie has experienced it, and Scott experienced it after both of his retirements. He had the means and will to return to the sport he grew up in, the only son of a racing legend and our dear friend, Connie Kalitta. He missed the smell of nitro, the overpowering thump of a fuel engine, the grandstands rushing past at over 300 mph. He missed his racing family and crew and he was once more drawn back to his roots, a way of life like no other.
There are very few who will ever experience the adventure and thrills that Scott lived. He knew the perils, the danger, what could happen. He’d seen it before when we lost Eric Medlen, Blaine Johnson, Darrell Russell, Jimmy Nix, and many other great drivers.
It was an acceptable risk. If it had not been, Scott would not have raced. That’s a decision all racers make, and no one can make it for them. None of us have ever gone to the starting line thinking something tragic was going to happen. In fact, just the opposite -- we’re an optimistic bunch.
For whatever highs drag racing lavishes on its participants and fans, it can also have a terrible sting. The reality that we lost Scott has hit us hard, and we will forever miss him. But at the risk of sounding callous, Eddie and I are glad that he left this world doing what he loved to do. Not tied to a hospital bed dying of some hideous disease, or falling off a ladder cleaning gutters. Doing what Scott did best.
His life was not a long one, but Scott Kalitta packed more living into his 46 years than most folks get to pack into twice that many. He wasn’t much for the limelight, just a guy who loved his race car.
But for the grace of God, the same tragedy could have struck Eddie numerous times in boat, motorcycle, and top fuel racing. He had a lot of major crashes, some at over 300 mph. We know how blessed Eddie has been to race and pull through. It could easily have gone the other way. We praise God for His mercy.
Our profound condolences go out to Conrad, Kathy, Corey, Colin and Scott’s cousin Doug Kalitta, a top fuel driver for Team Kalitta. May the good Lord bless each one of you abundantly and wrap you in His arms in your grief. God bless you guys in every way possible.
If we could ask Scott what he’d want his family and team to do, our idea is that he’d probably say, “Make the cars and tracks as safe as you can, and keep on racing.” That’s what we hope will happen. It’s what racers do.
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i just wanted to go on the record to say that i have so much respect for Eddie and Ercie Hill. while i am by no means a pro racer i have been racing all forms of motorsports on a amateur level for about 15 years now and nobody in the racing world as a team gets more respect from me than these two people. this post here clearly shows that while you can rack up all the trophies in the world and become the greatest racer who ever lived that nothing is more important than your character. and in that regard nobody has more heart, soul and character in the racing world than Eddie and Ercie Hill. they are without a doubt a BIG inspiration to me to make myself a better person. as i get older i judge a racers greatness less and less by their acheivements on the track and more and more by their accomplishments off the track. and in that regard Eddie and Ercie Hill win a lifetime acheivement award as far as i am concerned. Eddie, i am not sure if you have been inducted into the drag racers hall of fame yet, but i will say this - Ercie deserves to be inducted just as much as you do to the Drag racers Hall of fame :bow
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