RIP Scott Kalitta

Holy shit. That thing's a bomb on wheels.

 

Very bad month for the Kalitta family. That was a Kalitta 747 that broke apart in Belgium not long ago, which I'm sure hurt the family business. Not to compare the loss of a plane to the death of a loved one, but it's been some seriously bad times for Doug.

 

Couldn't agree more.

Leading off the telecast with a fiery death in a niche sport would give the anti-media yutzes plenty of ammo.

 

After seeing the footage, yeah, I'm with you. I was just looking at the TV in office when I saw it. We didn't have the volume up, so I thought they were simply showing a race as a plays of the day or something like that. Ugh ...

RIP.

 

I was thinking of this as reading the thread: The line between HOLY SHIT THAT'S AWESOME THAT'S THE TOP PLAY OF THE DAY THAT DUDE IS AWESOME and fiery death is a thin one.

 

I don't think you can have an inkling of the volatility of the whole thing unless you see it in person. I just made my first trip to Maple Grove last month.

The speed generated is other-worldly, and the margin for error has just got to be tiny.

 

Wow, another NHRA tragedy. RIP and prayers to the family, but also to the workers and crews associated with NHRA that had to witness this event.

 

I know it's accurate, but the headline on ESPN.com reads "NHRA's Kalitta dies in Funny Car crash." I know that's what it's called, but for someone like me who doesn't give two craps about racing, that headline is very awkward at first glance. There are better ways to do that.

 

I don't know how you deal with something like this if you are on the Kalitta crew. It's not like a driver making a stupid move or some kind of freak crash. His car exploded and he still crossed the finish line first. A terrible tragedy

 

Lest we forget, 1955 Le Mans when Pierre Levegh's magnesium car turned into an inferno in the stands.

 

Look, in comparison to most race cars, these cars actually carry LESS fuel; about 15 to 20 gallons. Remember when Formula 1 cars had to carry their entire fuel load in the 1980s? Or when Winston Cup cars carried 22 gallons?

I wouldn't want to be CSI: NHRA on this one.

 

I got an email back from the producer...
The camera op just got missed, as did an ops producer who was in a van just behind the crane.