Drag racing is not a sport we talk much about here at www.thecollectorsgroup.com, but being a sports oriented website, I figured this story could use a little attention.

Saturday during qualifying, Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed. Scott’s death is not something new to drag racing, as an up and comer out of the John Force team, Eric Medlen, was killed last year.

Seems as though every year some sort of racer is killed; be it drag, stock car, Formula 1, or Indy, a driver knows the risk. Each year it seems there is some “safety improvement” being made; yet, technology has not advanced to protect a driver at speeds over 200 mph hitting a wall or another driver.

Tragic as this latest incident is, it will not be the last we hear of a driver being killed. The question is, when will it happen next? Changes will be coming soon to drag strips to make them safer, but there is no telling how long the changes will take to put in place.

In a show of mourning, the entire Kalitta team took Sunday off, even though they had qualified for the races. Some, like Hilary Wills, could lose their shot at the season championship due to not racing Sunday. Also, from what I saw, all the cars had stickers on their cars as a tribute to Scott.

While Scott may not have been the top named racer in Funny Car, the Kalitta name is huge in the sport, and his death will only go to save others through the safety improvements.

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