TedH

It is with a heavy heart that I bring the news of Scott Kalitta. I do not have any details as of yet except for the knowledge of his passing. NHRA has a release here: http://www.nhra.com/content/news/30033.htm

This sport we all love is risky at best, no matter how many precautions we take. Accidents happen on all levels and at any time. The Kalitta team is one of the best in the business, with a lot of knowledge and experience, and the latest and greatest safety equipment.

Scott was a great guy with good priorities and a lot of experience. My condolences to his family and friends and I urge everyone here to send a card if you have the time, make a donation to a charity if you have the means, and to stay safe at all times.

Z-RATED94

I'm sorry to hear that. May his family stay strong in these sad times.

AL SS590 M6

A sad sad day.

Ultra_Dog

I read his story in the Sunday paper.

Real sad.

Goes to show how dangerous racing is and especially drag racing even if you have a safe environment and equipment and procedures, etc.. Even having an Ambulance and Fire truck on the ready couldn't make a difference.

CamaroRacing12

rest in peace

The Engineer

Here is another NHRA link about Scott.

http://www.nhra.com/2008/kalitta/index.html

During the Summit Series race at the local NHRA track on Staurday, they anounced Scott's death. Everyone there at the track (all hard-core drag racers) were sad to hear the news.

WD

slomarao

Sad and sorry to see. You can see it on youtube.com. Its hard to watch, it appears he has the gas held down all the way down till he it the barrier at the end of the track.
My boss races scca and was at the june sprints in wisconsin over the weekend. I guess sunday after it happened was a very sad day at Elk Cart Lake wisconsin.

TedH

6/23/2008


A public memorial service to celebrate the life of Scott Kalitta will be held this Thursday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at Ernsthausen Performing Arts Center, 350 Shady Lane Drive, Norwalk, OH 44857

The Kalitta family appreciates the desire to send flowers to express sympathy and asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to these charities close to Scott's heart:

The school his sons attend:
Saint Stephen's Episcopal School
Attn: Development Office
315 41st Street West
Bradenton, FL 34209

B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe)
c/o Doug Herbert Performance Parts
1443 E. Gaston St.
Lincolnton, NC 28092

*All donations to BRAKES will be used for the expressed purpose of saving lives and keeping our children safe. Website – www.putonthebrakes.com

A private funeral service for family members will be held at a later date.

Cards for Scott's family or Connie can be sent to:
Kalitta Air
818 Willow Run Airport
Ypsilanti, MI 48198

Email condolences can be sent to:
champion@kalittaracing.com

The Engineer

One of my drag racing friends said he had heard, "the ESPN-2 camera-man in the cherry-picker at the end of the track where the crash occurred, was also killed." Is that correct?

In the videos of the crash you see the flames totally engulf the cherry-picker bucket. However, I haven’t been able to find anything on the NHRA web-site about the camera-man and if he was OK, or was also killed.

Also, I was surprised to see that the right-side concrete retaining barrier-wall turned 90 degrees to the left “across the end of the track” and that concrete wall was the impact area.

WD

slomarao

I hope everyone finds it in their hearts to sent flowers, make donations, or at least send their family an email expressing your sorrows.

I know eveyone is hurting on money because of our economy but please, Make a $5 donation. Its 5 bucks your mostly like going to grab a burger or a beer with. Put it to a good cause.

CamaroRacing12

the rumor around my local track is the camera man did also die but they didnt want to release it to the public

The Engineer

I did a search about the camera-man and found this. The rumor is out there about the camera-man's death, but no final word that I can find.

WD

http://www.streetlegaltv.com/forum/s...crash-754.html

KEITHZ06

I was at E-town for the race and sitting in the top end stands when Scott's car exploded in a fireball in front of me. I watched the bigscreen and the top end camera shot of the car coming at it was unreal the speed was very high and then the camera went dark. No formal announcment was made at the track when we left several hours later due to privacy issues. I am pretty sure that the top end camera was a remote unit. On Sunday that boom and camera were off to the side.A fun weekend turned into a sad one and I made sure to call my son and say hi you just never know.......

canuck94z28

Yes this was indeed a very sad day for the entire drag racing family and Scott was always taking time to talk w /his many fans and i will especially remember when i met him at a driver,s session@the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas in Oct.05.He will be missed greatly.