NHRA drag racer Scott Kalitta died Saturday after his Funny Car crashed and exploded in flames during a qualifying event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey.

Kalitta, 46, was the son of 70-year-old drag racing legend Connie Kalitta, a former driver and current owner of Kalitta Motorsports, based in Ypsilanti. Connie Kalitta's nephew, Doug Kalitta, 43, of Ann Arbor, drives for the team in Top Fuel, as do Dave Grubnic and 27-year-old Hillary Will.

Scott Kalitta, the 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel series champion, had 18 career victories -- 17 in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car.

After Saturday's crash, Kalitta was extricated from the car and transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead from multiple injuries.

The parachute in Kalitta's Toyota Solara failed to deploy, and the car cruised off the quarter-mile strip at a speed estimated more than 300 mph during qualifying for the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.



Don Prudhomme, a legendary figure in drag racing, witnessed the crash and said Kalitta's car "went into a million pieces."

"I haven't witnessed anything like that in a number of years," Prudhomme said. "The car didn't slow up enough, got airborne, and he happened to hit a post that's virtually impossible to do. ... I would've never thought that you could get airborne and hit that guardrail and hit that post."

The concrete post, Prudhomme said, serves as support for the safety net that's designed to catch cars veering off the strip. Because Kalitta's parachute never deployed, Prudhomme said the car "never had a chance" once it hit the post at such high speed.

Kalitta was racing side-by-side against Tony Bartrone in the final round of qualifying. Bartrone's parachute deployed after crossing the quarter-mile line in 6.06 seconds, but Kalitta's failed to open.



Click here to see a video Scott Kalitta's crash.

His father, his wife, Kathy, and sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8, survive Kalitta, a resident of Snead Island, Fla.

Kalitta Motorsports spokesman Todd Myers said Saturday that Connie Kalitta was devastated by his son's death and would make no further statement.