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Tony Pedregon says NHRA needs to look more closely at facilities

Like the Funny Car world did with John Force's horrific crash at Texas last season, reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion Tony Pedregon is hoping that once again something good will come out of a horrible tragedy.

46-year-old 2-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Scott Kalitta was killed during a qualifying crash at Englishtown, N.J., on Saturday when his car exploded just before the finish line and then coasted at nearly 300 mph into a wall at the end of the strip's run-off area. A second, far more spectacular explosion ensued.

Pedregon suggested to ESPN reporter Gary Gerould that the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park facility itself may have played a role in Kalitta's death. Kalitta was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

NHRA driver Scott Kalitta killed in crash

Former NHRA Top Fuel champion Scott Kalitta was killed on Saturday during qualifying for the Lucas Oil Supernationals at Englishtown, N.J.

Kalitta, who returned to Funny Car in 2006, crashed and burst into flames. According to the NHRA, the 46-year-old son of legendary drag racing personality Connie Kalitta, was pronounced dead after NHRA safety crews transported him to Old Bridge Township Hospital.

"We are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Kalitta family," the NHRA said in a statement.

ON PIT ROAD: Jeff Gordon, Junkyard Warriors and John Force

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* A FEW YEARS back, during that very dark period in my life when I was trapped working and living in southern New England, I wrote a story about how Thompson International Speedway officials had tossed around the idea of at least exploring the possibility of a Craftsman Truck Series race at their historic .625-mile facility.

At the crux of it, the track really needed only add some seating to bring its overall capacity into the tens of thousands with a slam dunk of a built-in local sponsor in either Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun right down the road, This came at a time when the Truck Series was returning to short tracks -- heading back to Mansfield, Ohio, among other venues.

Downshifting after a day at NHMS

I've got to put it out there -- it was very strange not driving to a hotel in Manchester, N.H., last night with 2 Vitamin Waters, 2 Monster energy drinks, a bag of Twizzlers and a slew of CLIF bars. In some ways, a test session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a big tease.

My system says after a day of working on story ideas, chasing down quotes and talking about setups under race cars that there should be a race today. But there's not.

Of course, there will be soon enough, that's for sure. And then I'll vociferously complain that I'm not ready for it.

NEWS: Leighton to run selected ACT, East Series races

Brad Leighton may be semi-retired from driving a race car, but expect to see him on the track when some of the region's biggest races take the green flag this year.

Leighton announced an 8-race schedule for 2008 this weekend, highlighted by the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 20 and both NASCAR Camping World East Series 125s at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Welcome to Oktoberfest at Wiscasset Raceway

I think I just walked into a time warp, where May isn't really May anymore -- it's more like Oktoberfest here at Wiscasset Raceway.

At least there's The Sway Bar (aka Pub 45) at the top of the grandstands down behind turn 1...

Practice is ongoing as we speak, or write if you're a stickler for details, and it looks like we got the weather we were promised last week. -- wind whipping, low 50s, cloudly skies. Sure does put the damper on an opening day, which should feel a lot more like a summer barbecue than a non-points extra-distance show at the end of a season.

ON PIT ROAD: Points, practice and Julio Lugo

For as long as Dale Earnhardt Jr. races for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, we're going to see things like we saw last Saturday night last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

It's not a matter of whether or not Earnhardt was purposefully wrecked by Kyle Busch, nor is it a matter of Denny Hamlin supposedly "interfering" with the outcome of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race by intentionally parking on the race track with a flat tire to bring out a caution flag. It's not about any of that.

That's not the point. The point is the points.

John Force earns 1,000th career round win

Not one to be outdone by anybody, John Force became the first driver in NHRA history to record 1,000 round wins in his career. The achievement, of course, came one week after his daughter Ashley Force became the first woman to win a Funny Car event by beating him in the finals at Atlanta.

The 14-time Funny Car champion beat Ron Capps in the first round of O'Reilly Midwest Nationals near St. Louis for the milestone victory.

Force, who turned 59 today, qualfiied for his 500th race a week ago. After his win over Capps, he was presented with a crystal trophy to commemorate No. 1,000.

ON PIT ROAD: Regan, Ragan and Rescue Me

Ashley Force's win over her father in the NHRA Funny Car final at Atlanta Dragway last weekend made for a great story -- the 2nd-generation racer and daughter of larger than life fixture John Force finally earning her 1st win in a professional category.

But even Ashley Force had trouble putting the win into perspective, coming just 8 days after Danica Patrick broke through with an Indy car win. Seems the media wanted to put the "women finally winning" spin on the Force story.

"It's an exciting time, you know, with Danica winning," Ashley Force said this week.

Ashley Force earns 1st career victory

Now she's got a win on the track to back it up.

Just 27 races into her National Hot Rod Association career, Ashley Force became the 1st woman in history to win a Nitro Funny Car event -- beating her famous father John Force in the finals of the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Force now leads the Funny Car standings by 59 points, and she picked up her 1st career victory in the place she recorded her first-ever round win last year. Against her father.

GWC still turning laps

"You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been, a place that has to be believed to be seen."
- U2

Wow, I feel like a race car owner in search of a sponsor for his investment.

It was a long, strange weekend, one that sandwiched a feature story about Cassius Clark and a 1-2 Rowe finish at Beech Ridge around the Central Maine Newspapers laying off 9 people on Friday. Luckily, I wasn't one of them -- though I did consider in the aftermath just how fortunate I'd been.

I mean, who pays to have a fishing writer on staff, right? What a gig!

But, as newspapers struggle for their lives in these internet times, tough decisions continued to be made.