Two-Time Top Fuel Champion Scott Kalitta Suffers Fatal Injuries In Funny Car Accident

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By Deb Williams

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 21, 2008) – NHRA Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, 46, was killed Saturday during the final round of qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals when his Funny Car burst into flames, crashed and exploded.

Witnesses told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at an estimated 300 mph when the accident occurred.

Kalitta – the 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel champion who had 18 career victories, 17 in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car -- was transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge where he was pronounced dead from his multiple injuries, a NHRA spokesman said.

Kalitta is survived by his wife, Kathy, and sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8. The 5-foot-8 Kalitta is the son of legendary NHRA driver and team owner Connie Kalitta, who was known as “The Bounty Hunter”. His cousin, Doug Kalitta, also drives competitively and has 15 career Top Fuel victories.

A Palmetto, Fla., resident, Kalitta started his career at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 1982. Seven years later he won his first career event at Houston in Funny Car. In 1993, he recorded his first Top Fuel victory, emerging with a win at Topeka, It was also at Topeka where he recorded his fastest speed in NHRA history -- 308.64 mph.

En route to his first NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1994, Kalitta became the first Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to win four consecutive races -- Columbus, Topeka, Denver and Sonoma. Overall, he won five events that season.

During his 1995 Top Fuel championship season, Kalitta won six events and a career-best 45 rounds of eliminations. He finished second in the Budweiser Shootout at Pomona, Calif. The following season, Kalitta earned a $100,000 bonus for winning the Budweiser Shootout at Pomona, finished second in Top Fuel standings, and recorded the top speed at a category-best eight races.

In 1997, Kalitta won Topeka for the fourth consecutive season, then announced his retirement in October. He made a brief comeback in 1999 and advanced to one final round in 10 starts.

Kalitta returned to competition full time in 2003 and advanced to two final rounds. He clocked the fastest speed in history at 333.95 mph, but failed to certify the mark as a national record. The following year he earned one victory in two final round appearances, recorded his career-best time, was the No. 1 qualifier at both Las Vegas events, and earned his sixth top-five points finish in the POWERade Series.

In 2005, Kalitta qualified for all 23 events and was in the top half of the field in 13 of them. He earned two victories in two final-round appearances, and returned to Funny Car in 2006. Last year, he qualified for 16 of 23 races and reached the semi-finals at Denver.

Kalitta's death is the second in Funny Car in two years. Last year, Eric Medlen died after an accident in a testing session at Gainesville, Fla.