Debris scattered by a high-speed crash has killed a spectator at an NHRA event in Arizona on Sunday.
The woman was struck by a tire, the NHRA confirmed Sunday night. The crash occurred at the NHRA’s Arizona Nationals event at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., the second event of the season.
The woman, whose name had not been released late Sunday, was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital. The tire flew off Antron Brown’s Top Fuel dragster when he crashed during the first round of eliminations.
Brown was not injured.
Racing continued after the accident, but was eventually halted by rain.
The Arizona Republic reported that Brown appeared to lose power after his 8,000-horsepower dragster roared off the starting line. The left-rear wheel came off and the car rolled onto its side.
The car slid across the track and hit a retaining wall. There was a flash of flame from spilled fuel as the car came to a stop, according to the site’s account.
“It felt like the back end just dropped out and the car started pitching end-over-end,” Brown said, according to a Speedtv.com report.
“At that point, I was upside down, and in my mind, things were going crazy. I was just hoping I didn’t go into Troy or into the other lane. The next thing I knew, I hit the wall.
“I saw a little burst of flame come around my head, and I saw sparks.”
It was not clear late Sunday if Brown was aware at the time that a spectator had been hurt.
Cars in the NHRA’s Top Fuel and Funny Car classes post top speeds well over 300 mph, completing their 1,000-foot runs from a standing start in four seconds or less.
Responding to the death of Funny Car competitor Scott Kalitta in 2008, the drag racing sanctioning body cut the distance of events for those divisions from 1,320 feet – the traditional quarter-mile – to 1,000 feet.
Kalitta was the son of drag racing legend Connie Kalitta. Many blamed his death on the speed reached by cars in the NHRA’s top classes and a run-off area that was too short.
All dragstrips have run-off areas that lie past the straight stretches of paved surface on which cars compete and are clocked, now 1,000 feet.
It is also generally agreed that some strips – like Englishtown’s and other, older facilities – lack enough room for drivers to slow down when there’s trouble during or right after a run.
The fatality on Sunday was believed to be the first in a major National Hot Rod Association event since the mid-1970s, at least among non-participants.
Four seasons before Kalitta died, Darrell Russell, a rising star in the Top Fuel ranks, was killed in a crash during eliminations at Madison, Ill.
“The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today’s incident,” the drag racing body said in its news release Sunday evening.
A separate NHRA release said that eliminations were scheduled to resume Monday.
A track worker carrying a fire extinguisher climbs over a barrier after driver Antron Brown’s Top Fuel dragster crashed at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Crystal Ochoa)
2
1