1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

RIP Scott Kalitta

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by lono, Jun 21, 2008.

  1. OnTheRiver

    OnTheRiver Active Member

    That was simply horrifying.
     
  2. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    I haven't seen it and I won't.

    All auto racing deaths are horrible, but I cannot watch death by fire. Seeing replays and close-ups of the '64 Sachs-McDonald wreck at the Indy 500 is enough for one lifetime.
     
  3. I was more making a reference to the fact that no matter how horrible the accident, the driver always dies at the hospital or en route--never, ever at the track.
     
  4. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Dammit, if Kalitta just stayed in dragsters then the whole thing is literally behind him.

    Dammitdammitdammit.

    Two kids, too. This sucks all the way around.

    Am I the only one who thought the runoff area at Englishtown looked short in that clip? Or was it an optical illusion?
     
  5. Hank_Scorpio

    Hank_Scorpio Active Member

    Yea, I know what you mean. I interviewed him (and his father) for a feature once.

    It always hits home harder for those you have come in contact with.
     
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Tony Pedregon, after the crash, said the runoff area is too short and that the NHRA hasn't kept up with runoff areas at a number of tracks in relation to the increases in speed.

    That said, gosh, who knows. It's just a terrible tragedy.
     
  7. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Glad to know I wasn't hallucinating, anyway.

    The other three Kalitta cars have been withdrawn from the event, according to Autoweek.
     
  8. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    I was horrified when I saw it on the ESPNews crawl. Then moreso after seeing the actual accident.

    RIP.
     
  9. Clerk Typist

    Clerk Typist Guest

    The runoff area looked very short. Apparently the car hit the sand and was vaulted into the air, over a concrete wall (what's that doing there with no tire barrier?) and into a grove of trees. Just awful, fire or not. And somehow, he pulled the chutes well after the explosion.
    RIP, Scott.
     
  10. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    ESPN2 just showed it again, and that is pretty much what happened. Don't know that he popped the chutes, though — it looked like the lines holding the chutes closed were damaged.
     
  11. lono

    lono Active Member

    After having watched it twice, I'm guessing what killed him was the impact and subsequent explosion, not the fire.

    But either way, the result is the same.

    RIP, Scott.
     
  12. Stone Cane

    Stone Cane Member

    For the record, AP dateline is wrong

    Track is not in Englishtown Borough, which is in Monmouth County.

    It's several miles away, in Old Bridge Township, in Middlesex County.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page