Scott Kalitta
Scott Kalitta (born February 18, 1962 in Santa Monica , California , † June 21, 2008 in Englishtown , New Jersey ) was an American dragster pilot .
Kalitta, whose father Conrad also drove drag racing, began his career in 1982. His greatest successes were overall victories in 1994 and 1995 in the Top Fuel class , in which he achieved 17 of his 18 race victories. After the 1997 season, he retired from racing for the first time. In 1999 he again took part in ten races, but did not return permanently to the drag star until 2003. He now drove with his cousin Doug in the family team.
During a qualifying run for Top Fuel Funny Cars at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park - the track where he drove his first race in 1982 - on June 21, 2008, his Toyota Solara caught fire. The braking parachute failed at 485 km / h and the vehicle hit a concrete wall. He succumbed to his injuries a short time later in a hospital. Kalitta left two sons and a wife.
After Scott Kalitta's fatal accident, the NHRA shortened the race distance for the top fuel classes to 1,000 feet.
Web links
- Scott Kalitta, 1962–2008 Entry on the accident and career highlights on the NHRA website
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Scott Kalitta killed in NHRA crash during qualifying. CBS Sports, accessed April 9, 2010 .
- ↑ Dragster pilot Kalitta dies in a horror accident. (No longer available online.) RP Online June 22, 2008, archived from the original on May 15, 2011 ; Retrieved April 9, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kalitta, Scott |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 18, 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Santa Monica , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 21, 2008 |
| Place of death | Englishtown , New Jersey |