NHRA
Englishtown: John Force Racing Saturday notes
JFR FUNNY CARS STAY ATOP QUALIFYING LADDER IN ENGLISHTOWN -Fourth Qualifying Session Cancelled Following Kalitta Crash- (ENGLISHTOWN, NJ) --- All four John Force Racing Ford Mustang Funny Cars will head into eliminations at the 39th annual Lucas ...
Published: Jun 22, 2008, 4:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
JFR FUNNY CARS STAY ATOP QUALIFYING LADDER IN ENGLISHTOWN
-Fourth Qualifying Session Cancelled Following Kalitta Crash-
(ENGLISHTOWN, NJ) --- All four John Force Racing Ford Mustang Funny Cars will head into eliminations at the 39th annual Lucas Oil SuperNationals tomorrow with heavy hearts following the tragic death of fellow Funny Car competitor Scott Kalitta during the fourth round of qualifying today.
High temperatures solidified the quick elapsed times from the Friday night qualifying session for Ashley and John Force as well as Robert Hight. The only change was Mike Neff and the Old Spice Ford Mustang team slipping one spot from 9th to 10th place after Tim Wilkerson made an exceptional run of 4.863 seconds during the first session on Saturday at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, 46, died Saturday from multiple injuries suffered after his car went out of control and crashed in a high-speed racing accident during the fourth and final round of qualifying.
Kalitta was extracted from his car by NHRA emergency services officials and transported to Old Bridge Township Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Kalitta, a two-time NHRA POWERade Series Top Fuel champion and one of only 14 drivers in NHRA history to earn victories in both premier nitro categories, earned 18 victories during his career, his last coming in Chicago in 2005 in Top Fuel.
Kalitta earned most of his racing success in Top Fuel, where he claimed back-to-back world championship titles in 1994 and 1995. He retired from racing in 1997, sitting out most of two seasons before returning for a 10-race campaign in 1999. He sat out three more seasons following that brief stint and then returned again in 2003, joining cousin Doug as a second driver for the family's two Top Fuel dragsters.
In a tragic twist Kalitta's last run was quick enough to qualify him for the field of sixteen and he will be paired against the Auto Club's driver Robert Hight.
"I never want to get a single in eliminations. I want to race someone every time I go down the track. To get a single this way is just terrible. I remember when I was just a test driver for John Force and Eric Medlen had just started racing," said Hight. "Eric would talk with Scott (Kalitta) all the time and I was always right there listening and learning. Scott was a world champion and you could always count on him to help you out."
* * * *
THE DRIVERS
JOHN FORCE, 59, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Saturday Qualifying: 3rd at 4.810 seconds, 321.12 mph
First Round Opponent: Tommy Johnson Jr.
ASHLEY FORCE, 25, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Saturday Qualifying: 2nd at 4.803 seconds, 314.75 mph
First Round Opponent (W-L): Tony Pedregon (2-4)
ROBERT HIGHT, 38, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang
Saturday Qualifying: 4th at 4.810 seconds, 303.71 mph
First Round Opponent (W-L): Scott Kalitta (1-1)
MIKE NEFF, 41, Old Spice Ford Mustang
Saturday Qualifying: 10th at 4.870 seconds, 306.12 mph
First Round Opponent (W-L): Ron Capps (1-0)
-credit: jfr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mid-Ohio: GM Racing race report
Next article Adria: SRT race report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Hight
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
NHRA
NHRA
Pomona II
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
Latest news
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
50 min
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 h
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe