Posted on 06/21/2008 4:27:18 PM PDT by racing fan
Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed today in a fiery crash during a drag race at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, race officials said.
Kalitta, 46, was pronounced dead at Old Bridge Township Hospital after his car lost control during the fourth and final round of qualifying at the National Hot Rod Association Super Nationals, according to statement by the association.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Yep! Connie Kallita who owns Kallita Air,the 747 that broke up in Belgium last month. RIP Scott and to a Great Kallita Family.
Condolences to the Kallita family and organization.
Thanks to SouthTexas for linking me to this.
WOW!!
Crash video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziJdGwFQjU
That's how I fell about it myself. My First Wife just proposition me so we are off to the nearest Hunan Restaurant for dinner. Will post more T. Bender history latter...
Ghastly.....
Man o man. I actually caught part of the half hour show that preceded it today on ESPN2 (around 4:30pm, I think), 2007 Thrills and Chills. It featured a bunch of crashes just like this with some time set aside to demonstrate the safety advances, especially in the Funny Car class, with additional roll cage bracing and body protection.
By the looks of that crash, nothing would’ve made a difference. There’s only so much you can do to prevent death when halting a car from 225+ in just a few feet, with what apparently was still fuel on board.
Sad.
It looks like his engine blew, but the car kept tracking in a straight line.
Watched the tape twice and it looks to me like the drag chute never fully deployed.
RIP, bump
Very sad. Looks like the configuration of the track made the difference. There’s just no room for error there. Had this happened at Sonoma, for instance, he probably would have survived, as he would have went into the sand pit, instead of a wall.
Was he driving a Toyota?
loved watching him run. Prayers to him, his family, and friends.
If you feel the need to see it, it is on YouTube.
It’s pretty stunning to say the least. It’s a very different experience from watching the Earnhardt crash, which I still can’t watch, and haven’t been able to watch since the day it happened.
All I can say is that the car simply exploded. It stayed in a straight line before, during and after the explosion. Just a huge fireball.
Yrah, I believe it was a Toyota.
I believe that's what the article said. And I thought, "Toyota funny car? No wonder it blew up."
It was claimed that debris from the car's body became wrapped up in the chute so it couldn't deploy as needed.
Someone on the ESPN page this said that he met Kalitta there years ago and this was his favorite track.
;-)
When it comes to Funny Cars, the body is (rather loosely) based on a certain manufacturer's body style, but other than sponsorship money, that's about it for factory involvement. Yes, the car was a Toyota. But I doubt that anything inside that car was actually made by Toyota.
Mark
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