Not much info at the moment, but the AP reported a few minutes ago that Scott Kalitta was killed today in an accident during qualifying.. More to come..

RIP Scott.

 

Man thats sad. RIP

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_zb64jpY0c

 

Holy ****. RIP...

 

R.I.P. first Eric Medlen last year...now Scott Kalitta.....its a shame.....

englishtown is not a good place to be knocked out in.

 

I'm kind of curious as to why they have no run off there? It looks like it's just a short sand trap then a wall.. Very strange and unsafe for cars running 315+...

 

 

has something to do with not being able to lengthen the track because of a road closeby..

 

even if lengthened he was gonna be in that cab for a long time. horrible accident.

 

there is a road that prevents they to add onto the track. they would need to build the other direction which means that they would have to move the booth to compensate for the extension.

here is a lil map of the track and the road....i would be scared shitless if i just saw an explosion on htat road....

 

Ya.. I would build the other direction..relocating the booth isn't that bad.. whats booth relocation compared to more deaths?

I don't know.. that car was already on fire when it hit the wall..so i don't know.. but seems to me he may have survived the fire, but the impact is what killed him.

 

RIP Scott, was just about to post this on here

 

My wife called me at work and broke the news. I am saddened. Scott was a great guy. I shook his hand in 1982 during the spring nats in Rockingham. On his next run in a TF dragster he flipped his dragster at least 7 or 8 times right in front of us, big flame came out and we could all feel the heat from it. ( rockingham seats are very very close to the track). But after it stopped, he got out and waved to the crowd. He got a standing ovation for scaring the hell out of everyone, and walking away from it. It's imprinted in my memory forever. RIP Scott ..

 

i totally agree that he was killed on impact...its still up in the air whether or not he would have lived even if there was an extension on the track...i dont thin he would have...that explosion was pretty bad and it would have taken staff a while to get to him to put out the fire....

RIP

 

True, There is no guarantee that you will live no matter what happens at 300+ MPH. There is no way to say what can kill you or not at those speeds. Eric Medlin died from the massive vibration from wheel hop his car was doing. It just rattled his brain to death.

John Force survived one of the most destructive crashes in FC history last year. He was just lucky because his cockpit separated from the whole car.

I'm just speculating but, I'll be willing to bet they will slow down Pro classes in drag racing. They did it in Nascar. And if any fans get hurt or killed, you can certainly bet on some changes in NHRA. Comments??

 

I just can't see why they would run the 300+ mph cars on a track with that short of a shutdown? I was at the dragstrip this weekend when we heard the news, and a couple guys said that they have had accidents with that wall before. How could the NHRA find it safe?