Well, I went to the qualifying today, and they had some really tight fields among the nitro and alcohol cars, it was goodracing . One of the drivers died though when his chute didn't open at around 240mph and he couldn't stop. He went off the end of the track and out into the orchards pretty hard. They airlifted him to Kern Medical Center and he was later pronounced dead.

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_ne...ry/384552.html

http://www.turnto23.com/news/15543637/detail.html

 

please rip and godbless

 

Dang thats terrible
Think it's safe to say he died doing what he loved though...

 

It was the first fuel run of the day too. And yeah, he was doing what he loved.

 

This is very a sad thing bruddas.. but I have to tell you, if I was given my choice, I"d want to go out like he went out... At 250+ MPH probably, ***** to the wall in one hell of a smash-up wreck, doing what he loved to do.. I truly do feel for his family, but honestly, more than likely he didn't suffer bruddas.. I think that's the way any racer'd want to go if you ask me..

 

So, apperantly his chute not only never opened, but he remained in the throttle for the 3,000ft run off and through the sand trap and into the berm, where the car finally flipped into the orchard. He had raced fuel cars since the 60's, so he wasn't a newbie. They think he lost conciousness sometime during the run, and was unable to deploy the chute and his foot just kept the throttle open as all 4,500hp or so powered him down the runoff area.

 

God damn 250 mph, thats no joke going that fast.

 

Since his foot was still in the throttle, it's safe to assume that he kept accelerating for most of the 3,000ft runoff area, at least as far as the engine would let him. I wouldn't be suprised if he was going 300+mph when he hit the sand trap. At that speed you might as well smash into a concrete wall.