NHRA Scott Kallita Killed at ENglshtown

[MojoTeddybear]

Condolenaces to his family and his team. RIP, sir.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/news/story?id=3455554

[Lady Resin]

http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/06/large_funnycar.jpg

http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/06/medium_KALITTA.jpg

[Towelie]

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DziJdGwFQjU&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DziJdGwFQjU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[MadMatt]

That video in unreal! Have they released cause of death yet? I guess it is early, but I wonder if the crash at the end only added insult to injury or caused most of the damage.

It's horrible to see somebody go out like that - and worse that he had a family and young children. RIP, sir. :down:

[Kris10]

Freaky!!!! I usually go to Englishtown a few times a year too but I don't want to take my daughter now that she had her ear surgery.

RIP Kalitta....

John Force really needs to get his daughter's out of the sport. I don't know how he can watch them race.

[Tenbatsuzen]

That video in unreal! Have they released cause of death yet? I guess it is early, but I wonder if the crash at the end only added insult to injury or caused most of the damage.

It's horrible to see somebody go out like that - and worse that he had a family and young children. RIP, sir. :down:

Could have been one of a few things -

If the engine exploded, it could have been shrapnel, although it's doubtful.

Heart attack from what happened.

Or the most likely cause, blunt force trauma.

[Tenbatsuzen]

I don't know how funny cars work - is there an actual steering mechanism or are they designed to go straight? I know the chute is automatically deployed, and that car went in a ridiculously straight line after the engine went.

[Towelie]

I heard the impact killed him on the spot.

Shitty last few seconds of his life though once he figured out the parachute wasn't going to stop him

[Fallon]

Why is their a wall at the end? Even if you have a chute come out.

[Tenbatsuzen]

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2387/large20080621mjrsu5095emt7.jpg

[Tenbatsuzen]

Why is their a wall at the end? Even if you have a chute come out.

It's a fence, not a wall. There's a couple of sand pits before that.

Spectators at the track watched as Kalitta's car exploded, hit a sand trap, then vaulted over a protective catch fence. A slow-moving ambulance took him away.

[MadMatt]

Could have been one of a few things -

If the engine exploded, it could have been shrapnel, although it's doubtful.

Heart attack from what happened.

Or the most likely cause, blunt force trauma.

I guess my morbid curiosity has me wondering if he would have survived had the parachute opened and the car not crashed (or not crashed as hard as it did).

I guess it does no good wondering though - the crash happened the way it happened and there is nothing we could change.

[Kris10]

If the chute does come out but the brakes don't work

[Tenbatsuzen]

One of the rules of watching motorsports is that in the last 15 years, the more spectacular crash, the MORE LIKELY the person is to walk away from it. It's the ones that look really innocuous is what you have to be scared of - Dale Sr, Adam Petty, etc.

[Tenbatsuzen]

If the chute does come out but the brakes don't work

The chute would slow the car tremendously. The car had no front end and was still doing over 250 MPH.

[Tenbatsuzen]

Morbid joke time -

Since he races everything else, let's get Kyle Busch seat time in NHRA.

[MadMatt]

Morbid joke time -

Since he races everything else, let's get Kyle Busch seat time in NHRA.

Wow - that's dark dude...
















But a good idea.

[Judge Smails]

I hear that the funeral is on MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY!


(too soon?)

[Tenbatsuzen]

I hear that the funeral is on MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY!


(too soon?)

10/10.

[TheMojoPin]

I demand a 21-Truckosuarus-salute.

[joeyballsack]

Thats horrible..but on the bright side I found out Mike Timlin is on the DL from that video.

[HBox]

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2387/large20080621mjrsu5095emt7.jpg

That Transformer is on fire!

[Judge Smails]

I hear that the funeral is on MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY!

They'll sell him the whole coffin. But he'll only need the edge.

[TheMojoPin]

See what happens when you don't hit 88 MPH?

That's right.

Libyans blow up your weird ass race car with an RPG.

I guess what I'm saying is...has terrorism been ruled out? If our funnycars aren't safe, are any of us really safe?

[JPMNICK]

wow this thread turned from somber to slappy humor quickly.

and the edge of the coffin thing made me fucking spit my drink on the table

[PapaBear]

I don't know how funny cars work - is there an actual steering mechanism or are they designed to go straight? I know the chute is automatically deployed, and that car went in a ridiculously straight line after the engine went.
They do steer, but not very well. The steering is just enough to keep the car going in the direction you want to go, and of course to navigate into the starting position.

[Fallon]

wow this thread turned from somber to slappy humor quickly.

and the edge of the coffin thing made me fucking spit my drink on the table

I guess it was pretty funny.

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/1232/funnycarcrashfj9.jpg

[Mike Teacher]

This is 20 mins from me.

What killed him? If not the engine exploding [people survive that a lot in these] the massive deceleration puts G force loads on the body... thats what essentially kills anything moving very fast and suddenly stopped. Your brain [and every other part of your body] suffers termendous force G forces from catastrophic deceleration [one scientific way of describing crashing into something.

Yes they do steer the cars, and they deploy the chutes manually, I'm almost positive on the last, but not 100%.

A real bummer.

I was a huge fan of this stuff in Snake vs Mongoose and Garlitz and Kalitta, and then Shirley Muldowney. 'Heart like a Wheel' has Bonnie Bedilia playing Muldowney and one of the Bridges [Lloyd?] playing the elder Kalitta. Pretty good movie as I remember it.

[Towelie]

Scott Kalitta, 46, was barely clinging to life when he was pulled from his charred car after the stunning wreck at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Kalitta, a two-time Top Fuel champion, was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.

Yeesh

[Tenbatsuzen]

Yeesh

I'm thinking video concept next time Anthony talks about driving fast.

[MojoTeddybear]

I'm thinking video concept next time Anthony talks about driving fast.

If watching that guy crash into a toll booth on the Parkway didn't get through to him, I doubt this will.

[Towelie]

If watching that guy crash into a toll booth on the Parkway didn't get through to him, I doubt this will.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IZd0diHBhQw&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IZd0diHBhQw&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[cozzie]

I went to the races today , Kalitta actually qualified to race today. When it was suppossed to be his race they assembled his whole team at the start line. The other driver went down the track real slow to pay tribute. here's a pic at the starting line.


http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p199/yourblinkerison/races002.jpg