RIP - Scott Kalitta

[MoeRon]

Scott Kalitta died Saturday when his Funny Car crashed and burst into flames during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.  Witnesses told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at an estimated speed of 300 mph when the crash occurred.


 Sad news, i met him last year in Chicago, really nice guy.   

[Newman5]

Coming from someone who has two young ones, I hate hearing about fathers who died tragically while their kids are still so young.  It's like a punch in the gut.    Kalitta and his family and friends. my thoughts are with them.

[Ripsnort]

RIP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziJdGwFQjU

[CAP1]

rip..thanks for posting that link. i truely hope his family and friends are able to deal with this. he is a great loss to the drag racing community.
 now..did you notice what looked like a secondary explosion near the sandpit at the end of the track?
 
 

[Ripsnort]

rip..thanks for posting that link. i truely hope his family and friends are able to deal with this. he is a great loss to the drag racing community.
 now..did you notice what looked like a secondary explosion near the sandpit at the end of the track?
 
 

I think the hit at the end of the course into the jersy barrier is most likely what killed him.

[Strip]

That barrier was a ticking time bomb.....looks like it finally went off. 

 

<S> RIP Scott

Strip

[CAP1]

That barrier was a ticking time bomb.....looks like it finally went off. 

 

<S> RIP Scott

Strip

Back when i used to drive the shops super pro camaro, there was no barrier at the end, only sand pits. the barrier is kind of a stupid idea.

[CAP1]

i put this in the other thread for him too, but what the hell......

 

[CAP1]

they're tsalking about it on espn right now. they just showed the accident again. it looked like the secondary explosion happened just before he hit the fence at the end.

[Strip]

they're tsalking about it on espn right now. they just showed the accident again. it looked like the secondary explosion happened just before he hit the fence at the end.

CAP1,
    The "explosion" was the body coming off the car as it went flying (I assume) over the sand trap. The oil burning under the body is likely most of the flame your seeing. The nitromethane/alcohol mix wont burn at atmospheric pressure by itself. The problem with sand traps is the cars tend to skip right over it if they enter at too high of a speed. They are great under 80-100 mph but any faster and I tend to think of them as being a liability. Sad to say this but I am suprized this hasnt happened sooner. The blower explosions in the funny cars have become eerily common recently. They need more vent panels and better fire containment in my opinion. Even at the speeds I run (145mph) the safety factor is always high on mind. Safety doesnt stop at the wheels...

Strip

[CAP1]

CAP1,
    The "explosion" was the body coming off the car as it went flying (I assume) over the sand trap. The oil burning under the body is likely most of the flame your seeing. The nitromethane/alcohol mix wont burn at atmospheric pressure by itself. The problem with sand traps is the cars tend to skip right over it if they enter at too high of a speed. They are great under 80-100 mph but any faster and I tend to think of them as being a liability. Sad to say this but I am suprized this hasnt happened sooner. The blower explosions in the funny cars have become eerily common recently. They need more vent panels and better fire containment in my opinion. Even at the speeds I run (145mph) the safety factor is always high on mind. Safety doesnt stop at the wheels...

Strip

you could be right. i thought i saw the body come off when the blower went. i think the explosions are getting more common because (i think) thye're running much much higher percentages of nitro in their mix for the last year or so?
 i never went past about 135mph, and i never really was worried at that speed. the brakes stopped me perfectly fine, although we did have a chute on the car. it was an old chassis, built by danny smith in the early 70's, and it went straight as an arrow. i kinda miss driving it. but then again, although not as fast, i do fly now. in it's own way that is actually more of a rush, especially when you see the ground falling away below you.

anyway, i'm gona go get a drink.

<<S>>

[Strip]

CAP1,
    The blower broke the body in half but it stayed on the car. Keeping the fire on the driver and probly obstructing Scott's view. The percentage of nitro is on its way down actually from 100% just a few years ago to 85% percent now. Last week there was an explosion very similar to Kalitta's and more within the past few months. I think it has to do with the way they are applying the timing and power at the top end or hydraulic lock?

Strip

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Nitromethane and methanol WILL burn in the normal atmosphere, and do not need to be confined under pressure to burn. The percentage of nitromethane used is strictly regulated by NHRA, (and it wasn't 85% early this year when we last ran NHRA Top Fuel, it was 90% or so) you actually buy the stuff pre-mixed from VP Fuels, the only legal supplier of nitromethane for NHRA. A close friend of mine, Scott Palmer, has a Top Fuel car that he runs mostly on the IHRA circuit, but we have run NHRA.

The explosions are caused when you "put a hole out", meaning it doesn't fire and burn the fuel. The resulting load of fuel becomes uncompressable in the cylinder (but the cylinder has a static compression ratio of between 9.5:1 and 11:1, plus the bower makes about 100 pounds of boost) and it "hydraulics" the engine, literally using the pressure exerted to split it open. Each cylinder makes 1000HP. So if you put a couple out, there's still 6000HP available to try to compress the fuel and hydraulic the engine. Nitromethane burns the best and most reliably when you have the engine loaded real hard. So if the clutch is set soft, the tires spin, or the tires rattle, when it unloads the engine it will likely put a hole or two out. Whether or not it explodes depends on how lucky, or unlucky you are. If you get lucky, it doesn't hydraulic, if you don't get lucky, it explodes after it hydraulics.

[rpm]

It's always sad news when a racer dies. RIP Scott.

[wrongwayric]

  Tragic accident that more than likely could have been lessened by a run out stretch of pavement at the end with some type of softer barrier at the final point. A couple of the drivers and pit guys made the same comments.

This is like the Dale Earnhart Sr. tragedy and hopefully they will react like NASCAR did and make some major changes in their safety programs that will only make the sport safer in the long run.

Prayers and best wishes to his family in this sad hour.