1. Scott D Kalitta was an American drag racer who competed in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes in the National Hot Rod Association Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
21 Facts About Scott Kalitta
1. 2.
Scott Kalitta had 17 career Top Fuel wins and one career Funny Car win.
3.
Scott Kalitta was the son of veteran NHRA driver and crew chief Connie Kalitta.
4.
Scott Kalitta's career began in 1982 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
5.
Scott Kalitta got his first win in 1989 in Funny Car at the event in Houston, Texas.
6.
Scott Kalitta won six events and 45 rounds of competition in 1995 to win the championship.
7.
Scott Kalitta had the top speed at a series-best eight races that season.
8.
Scott Kalitta won the Topeka event for a fourth straight year in 1997.
9.
Scott Kalitta came back in 1999, making one final round in 10 starts.
10.
Scott Kalitta returned to Top Fuel in 2003 after a three-year layoff.
11.
Scott Kalitta made two final rounds and set a speed record at 333.95 miles per hour, but did not certify the speed with a fast enough backup run to claim the national record.
12.
Scott Kalitta was the top qualified at both Las Vegas events, and finished in the top five in season points.
13.
For 2006, Scott Kalitta returned to Funny Car in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but did not have as much success as he had in Top Fuel the previous two years.
14.
Toward the end of the year, Scott Kalitta switched from the Monte Carlo to the Toyota Solara, which he ran for the remainder of his career.
15.
On June 21,2008, Scott Kalitta was fatally injured during the final round of qualifying for the 2008 Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey.
16.
Scott Kalitta was contained in this portion of the race vehicle and had sustained fatal blunt-force injuries.
17.
Scott Kalitta shared the same desire to win, becoming a two-time series world champion.
18.
Scott Kalitta left the sport for a very long period of time, to devote more time to his family, only to be driven to return to the drag strip to regain his championship form.
19.
At the time of his accident, Scott Kalitta was not qualified for the following day's national event in the Funny Car class.
20.
The next day, in what would have been his opening elimination round event, the entire Scott Kalitta team stood on the starting line on his designated side of the dragstrip as Robert Hight, who would have been his opponent, idled his car down the quarter-mile track as a sign of respect.
21.
Scott Kalitta is buried at the Skyway Memorial Gardens in Palmetto, Florida.