Losing Scott Kalita is his families loss and ours. This did not not have to happen. I feel for Scott's wife and children with their loss.
A father and a husband is not here now, May God bless his wife and children.
N.H.R.A is responsible as they have allowed to Top Fuel classes to almost run unabated for many years with minimal rules to curb speeds.
The sanctioning body really needs to look at the total package. The Top Fueler's and Funny Car's must slow down. These solid block engines running off of a Nitro Methane combination are time bombs. The motors are so powerful that there isnt a dyno that can measure horspower at this level. The experts have said for quite some time that brake horspower is above 5,000 hp !
When these motors detonate it is serious as anyone who has watched drag racing over the years knows. They can run gas or alcohol and still be at least 50 mph faster than the Pro Stock division.
It is also time to look at the tracks as a gravel trap doesnt do much with a vehicle traveling at 200 plus and then there is a wall, this is what took Scott away. These Funny cars are really not funny as we see. When they blow it is big. The Top Fuel cars face similar problems as both classes are consistently hitting the traps at well over 300 mph.
N.H.R.A must address this situation and give up on 300 mph passes. Other sanctioning bodies have made adjustments in recent years.
Greg Moore lost his life at California Speedway several years ago coming off of the second turn sliding onto the grass on the back stretch, he had no chance in hitting the infield wall, he was going to drive for Roger Penske the next season. Scott Brayton pitched into the wall at Indy years ago preparing for the 500 and was lost. Cali has the back paved now and Indy took away to bottom groove with pit exit lanes as they determined that at Indianopolis, drivers would take the apex to the limit because of what is caused by a natural push under these conditions.
Bobby Allison's fiasco at the spring Talladega race in 1987, if anyone remembers this race it was unbeleiveable as he nearly flew into the grand stands running a 205 mph lap. Now Nascar has the restrictor plate. John Nemecheck, Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty lost their lives at much lower speeds but losing Dale Earnhardt brought the safer barrier or soft wall.
There is always risk at any speed and it is time for the quarter mile guys to make an adjustment. I do not apologise for rehashing this point under the circimstances.
Rick, it seems to me that John Force is doing all he can for safety along with Eric Medlin's dad. I just don't see the NHRA scantioning body doing as much. Am I way off base with this thought? Thanks.
NHRA needs to make sand traps at the end of the track rules for all tracks. They save lives. I dont know if it would have helped or not. Wish we had a chance to find out...
I do think NHRA needs to be involved in making these rockets safer. I don't think the answer is slowing them down. The explosion is not what killed Scott. The end of the track killed Scott. I am a drag racer and have been 200 mph in the quarter. If you go to a NHRA event you will see more than half the crowd leave the stands after top fuel and before pro stock. The excitement of crews taking apart the engine and puting it back together in 45 mins. Also the teams firing up the engine in the pits and you stand only 20 feet from a monster with 7 to 8000 hp. They crack the throtle and 100s of people jump at the loud pounding of nitromethane. The things that would have saved Scott is 4 wheel brakes, more pavement, a skid plate that prevents the front end from digging into the sand trap and flipping the car. I will end saying this as racers we know the dangers, we accept the dangers, If you take away the excitement of the danger it is no longer worth it. God speed Scott!!!
Good points but safety must rule first. You will have to admit the fact many tracks are an accident waiting to happen while other tracks seem to stay on top of the safety issues. Can't understand why some do and others overlook it. Can you?
I do admit some tracks are an accident waiting to happen. I have been to several national event tracks and the only thing I can say is shut down area. The last track I was on was Gainesville. I went through the finish line at 163 mph and coasted to a stop before the last turn off but some other tracks are scary during shut down, way too short. These cars do not have room for short shut down and a problem. Funny cars blowup with lots of fire. The parachute comes out and before it can scrub 10 or 20mph it burns to nothing. There is only your rear brakes to stop a car that is bouncing the rear tires off the ground. This is insane to me! We talk about slowing them down and this fact I am ok with but do it in a way that does'nt kill the excitement. Run to 1000ft instead of 1320ft. I will bet if you ask a top fueler what should be done they will tell you shorten the distance. They will still run 290 to 300mph and be exciting. Again I like 4 Wheel disk brakes because most of the stopping power is in the front brakes.
An excellent idea on the 4 wheel brakes but keep the same length. Just force the track owners to have longer shut off areas and stronger nets along with a ban on concrete walls at the end of the track to stop cars.
This is an area the NHRA has been negligent with for too long.
In the late 80s I was running the now Pro Modifieds ( NHRA) ( Top Sportsman in IHRA) and we were breaking into the 200 MPH barrier at local tracks not of national class that were ancient and not designed to handle cars that speed. Pro Stock drivers were hitting in the 180 + MPH range then. I think the Top Fuel drivers were hitting near 300 + MPH in the late 80s
Both classes of drivers and the Top Fuel drivers were quite concerned about the safety at the end of those tracks. Quite a few were short and had no provisions to stop the cars at those speeds back then in the event of an acident or failure. Both sanctions had no provisions to mandate proper safety guidelines on the tracks for the faster speeds in most cases and in my opinion.
I'm going to ask what may be a really stupid question, but here it goes. Do we know what the actual cause of death was? I know people are saying it was the impact at the end of the track, but is that for sure? Another question. Are there sensors at the end of the track to deploy the chutes in case the driver can't for some reason? If there are not, I think it would be a good idea. Now I know in the case of Scott, his chutes were out, that's why I'm wondering. No matter what was the cause, this was a terrible and tragic loss. My condolances go out to the Kalitta family.
A fire proof chute could be developed for sure. It still goes back to the engines. The motors pump a tremendous amount of fuel and if a line fails or a supercharger blows there is going to be a fireball.
The blowers used in Top Fuel and Funny car are based on the 671 Roots type of supercharger used on Detriot Allison diesel engines.
A diesel engine uses compression and heat to fire the fuel, the supercharger forces large amounts if air into the engine and this is a powerful combination.
Ever heard of a run away diesel ? Some times soomething happens or goes wrong causing the engine to over rev to a point the the blower seals get sucked in and the engine will run off of the #### case oil even with the fuel shut off. The only way to stop one of these is to stop air from getting into the engine, this takes a brake man because aftger that connecting rods will blow out of the block.
These Top Fuel guys are using air pumps fired with something close to rocket fuel, this is serious business.
Guido- In 10 years that Irwindale Speedway has been opened there have been 5 deaths. Including 2 in just the first year. Since then they have closed one of the openings on the backstretch where the drivers used to come out onto the track from. They also reconfigured the entrance to get into the pits. Even with those modifications. There have still been some pretty bad wrecks.
I agree with Volfan. Every year John Force has an open house at his race shop out here in Yorba Linda. Just this last year the topic was safety. He answered all of our questions especially since he was fresh off of just having his accident. Motorsports in general is very dangerous. You could get all of the sanctioning bodies together to put together some kind of a R&D plan on safety.
But until they slow down these cars. There risk factor will always be high. Especially when you start to talk about our physical bodies. A persons reactions are only so quick. Once you pass that line. Then they are putting that person in danger. The sad thing is you have guys and girls who are willing to put ther own lives on the line to see how far they can go. Where do they draw the line and say enough is enough.
I live north of Washington DC in Frederick Maryland. My job is as an Automotiive Service Advisor in the Washington DC area..
My interesests are the Blues, Rock music, playing guitar and Nascar racing..
