RIP Scott Kalata

[majorloser]

The NHRA has lost a true champion and ambassador for the sport of top fuel funny car this weekend. It was a horrible way for a man to lose his life. He left this world doing what he enjoyed.
Rest in peace Scott.

WARNING: this may be disturbing to some viewers.

 

[aberkowitz]

Was in a bar last night and they kept replaying the damn crash on ESPN- how many times in 1 hour did the network actually need to show it????

So sad.

 

[race4aliving]

It appeared the explosion knocked him out. I can only hope he stayed that way till the end.
My heart goes out to his family and friends.

 

[unreal.freak]

The man died doing what he loved...... we should all be so lucky!

Peace,
Tommy

 

[mike c]

The man died doing what he loved...... we should all be so lucky!

Peace,
Tommy

errr, i don't want to be electrocuted by my use of cheater plugs OR get squashed by my subwoofers.

 

[unreal.freak]

errr, i don't want to be electrocuted by my use of cheater plugs OR get squashed by my subwoofers.

Thats funny!!

if given the choice would you would rather be electrocuted & squashed while listening to your favorite composition, or ran over by a train?

 

[mike c]

there's no "old age" option in there?

i'll be sure to STOP LOOK and LISTEN.

 

[unreal.freak]

there's no "old age" option in there?

i'll be sure to STOP LOOK and LISTEN.

You have made my evening my friend.....Thats good for the funny bone!!!

Peace,
Tommy

 

[Davemcc]

That's a horrible accident. It must have been terrifying for his family before the true consequences were known. It's a real tragedy for his family.

 

[Rickster71]

It appeared the explosion knocked him out. I can only hope he stayed that way till the end.
My heart goes out to his family and friends.

I saw the chute deploy, further down the track. I wonder if he came to and pulled the cord; or if it just somehow released.
The car also stayed straight the whole way down. Would've been an even greater disaster, if it veered into the crowd. That also makes me wonder if he hung on till the end.
What a horrible thing for his family to see.

 

[mike c]

don't these things have driver cams inside the vehicle?

 

[j_garcia]

That one shocked the heck out of me. Quite often we see accidents like this in racing, but it is somewhat rare for an accident like this to be fatal at that level of NHRA. It makes me very sad.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

That track looked a little too short for 330 mph cars. My heart goes out to the Kalata family. Rest in Peace Scott.

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, the catch area doesn't look like it can handle those speeds regardless of track length. I have seen accidents like that many times and more often than not, the driver walks away. There appeared to be quite a bit of damage at the end of the track due to the chute burning.

 

[Rickster71]

I found a link, a story with another picture:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/motorracing/ny-nhra-driver-killed,0,3833788.story

 

[Rickster71]

I've found other videos.
When I try to play them I get the following message:
"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by National Hot Rod Association / ESPN, Inc"