http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080917/NEWS/80917030&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSELEngine fire cited in crash that killed driver at Raceway Park in Old Bridge
By JOSHUA BURD • STAFF WRITER • September 17, 2008
OLD BRIDGE —Investigators determined a ""catastrophic mechanical failure'' caused a fuel-fired
explosion in Kalitta's Toyota Solaria that led to a series of crashes over the course of thousands of feet at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park on June 21.
The 46-year-old racer died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries sustained in the accident, which happened at about 4:20 p.m. and turned the 39th annual
Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals into a weekend of grieving and tragedy.
Kalitta was in the right lane just before the quarter-mile finish line when the explosion happened, state police said.
Within barely a second, the rear portion of the vehicle's fiberglass body separated,
deploying the car's damaged parachute system.
The car was on fire as it continued about 2,300 feet before reaching the end of the paved track and entering a ""run-off'' area. The front of the vehicle then pitched upward and flew over a retaining wall, less than a second before crashing into a
steel post that supported a cargo net, state police said.
Investigators said the car continued even further and hit a 23,000-pound boom truck that held an ESPN TV camera, which was on site for the final qualifying round of the event.
The largest part of the vehicle, which had separated into pieces from the various impacts, came to rest more than 150 feet from where it first struck the pole,
authorities said.
The report notes that the 7-foot-tall support post was only partially protected by a
concrete barrier, and that Kalitta's car struck an exposed portion that extended above the wall.
Officials from Raceway Park did not immediately return a call made late yesterday
afternoon.
An autopsy found that Kalitta had a blood-alcohol concentration of .02 percent, the police report said. While that is only a quarter of the legal limit, the level is in violation of the NHRA rules, state police said.
The New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, as the regulator of state racing, conducted the investigation over three months. Police said the reports were turned over to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
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Topic: NJ State Police report Scott Kalitta crash (Read 3645 times)