NHRA Drag Racer Killed in Qualifying Crash

In what has to be one of the worst drag racing accidents I've ever seen, veteran Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed in a crash during qualifying today at Englishtown, NJ.

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Two-time American drag racing champion Scott Kalitta was killed Saturday when his "funny car" burst into flames and crashed during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The NHRA said the 46-year-old Kalitta -- the 1994 and 1995 champion in the premier top fuel division who had 18 career victories, 17 in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car -- was taken to the Old Bridge division of Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at an estimated speed of 300 mph when the car, leading his race, burst into flames, continued to the end of the track, struck a barrier and exploded.

He's survived by his father, wife Kathy and sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8.

"We are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Kalitta family," the NHRA said in a statement. "Scott shared the same passion for drag racing as his legendary father, Connie. He also shared the same desire to win, becoming a two-time series world champion. He left the sport for a period of time, to devote more time to his family, only to be driven to return to the drag strip to regain his championship form. ... He will be truly missed by the entire NHRA community."

Kalitta had most of his racing success in Top Fuel, highlighted by his series titles in 1994 and 1995. He retired from racing in 1997, sitting out most of two seasons before returning for a 10-race campaign in 1999. He sat out three more seasons following that brief stint and then returned again in 2003, joining cousin Doug as a second driver for the family's two Top Fuel dragsters.

Scott came from a very famous racing family. His father, Connie Kalitta, was a racer in his own right and was made famous when part of his life was portrayed in "Heart Like a Wheel", the story of Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney.

The Kalitta family has had some rough times lately. They also own a freight aircraft service and just a couple of weeks ago a 747 belonging to their company split apart during an aborted take-off in Brussels, Belgium. You can replace airplanes - you can't replace people.

I was a big fan of drag racing from the early 70's through the early 90's. I went to a lot of races back when the old Orange County Raceway was still in business, and in later years went to Pomona a time or two, including 1990 when my quartet sang for the Racers for Christ chapel service at the NHRA World Finals at Pomona (the last event on the NHRA schedule each season). There are a lot of Christians among the NHRA drivers and teams and I had a chance to meet a number of famous people from the sport.

Our other duty that day was to sing the national anthem at the start of the event. That was an experience I'll never forget. We stood right near the Christmas tree lights at the starting line, and as soon as we hit the last big note they fired up the first pair of Top Fuel cars that were parked just a few feet behind us. I nearly jumped out of my skin. If you've never heard one of those things close up, it's impossible to describe.

We were allowed to stand just off the starting line when the first pair launched and the noise really rocks the place. I can't even imagine what it must be like to drive one.

The sport took a big hit today, but like always, they'll line them up again tomorrow and the drivers and teams will do their jobs and hopefully everyone will go home at the end of the day. God bless them.

UPDATE: Kalitta should have been in the first pair of Funny Cars that ran in eliminations on Sunday, but his opponent, Robert Hight, got a single run. The remaining members of the four Kalitta teams all walked out into the starting line and accepted the applause of the crowd while Hight made a slow speed single pass. Nice touch.