Posted on 11/16/2018 12:12:49 PM PST by ETL
Drag racer Kat Moller was killed in an accident at Sebring International Speedway on Thursday night.
Moller was making an exhibition run in her jet-powered car, which is capable of speeds of over 300 mph.
A witness told DragZine.com that her main chute failed to open at the end of the 1/8-mile strip and that she veered into the wall, but an official investigation into the crash is ongoing.
The 24-year-old was driving for Larsen Motorsports, which fields several jet-powered cars.
“Kat has been part of our racing family for 5 years and we cannot begin to express our sorrow,” team CEO Chris Larsen wrote on Facebook. ‘“Your prayers in this very difficult time are appreciated”
According to her team biography, Moller started racing Jr. Dragsters when she was 11 years old. She held an engineering degree from the University of South Florida and was pursuing a Master’s degree in the same subject at Florida Tech.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
What a shame. At least she enjoyed doing what she wanted. RIP.
I’m surprised they even let her do it.
Well, she was an adult.
They may well have even encouraged her. I think she was from a racing family. No time at moment to check.
No one will ever buy a present for a
Nitro burnin’ funny car
No one will ever go campin’ with a
Nitro burnin’ funny car
Top fuelers do 300 mph on a quarter mile (1/4 mile = 1320 feet) track
The article says this was an eighth mile (1/8 mile = 660 feet) track.
~~~~~~~~~
Beautiful -- but, sadly, too brave -- young lady... :-(
Who could ask for better? d:^)
That’s slick!
Racing itself constantly pushes the envelope. Putting a semi-guided missile on the straight away of a racing oval is a more than questionable move.
In the wake of Scott Kalitta’s fatal crash, the NHRA has decided to shorten the length of the race in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes from 1320 feet down to 1000 feet. This comes as part of an effort to reduce speeds; plus, with the shortened racing distance, the drivers are left with more track after the finish line, allowing them more time to slow down after the race. The measure is said to be temporary, but the NHRA is looking into several other ways to increase safety and decrease the risk of another tragedy.
Historically, the early jet dragsters were powered by huge military-surplus engines. The NHRA, fearful of a Challenger-style technical glitch, banned jet cars in November 1961 on the grounds that they were just too dangerous. That was a lie.
They were concerned that their top draw, the dragsters were being over shadowed by the jets. By the summer of 1961, Walt Arfons’s jet-powered Green Monster was routinely pacing in the mid-seven-second range. By comparison, Don Garlits barely managed a 7.99 that August with a conventional wheel-driven dragster. The sport was competing the two without trying and the jets were winning.
Twenty-five years later, there are about 35 jet cars in circulation and perhaps 50 licensed drivers. But NHRA sanctioning has come with strings attached, says Dennis Roslansky, president of ProJet, a drivers’ association that deals with the NHRA. Jet-powered cars are considered exhibition vehicles only. No race category. No prize money. And most onerous of all for the drivers, the NHRA imposes a speed limit currently 320.99 mph (the number has crept up from 260 mph to keep them “in their place.”
Tack that on to the strip changes, the increase in speed of the rails and funnies, and the NHRA is continuing to run a far more controlled program not based upon safety or competition, but the money.
rwood
I am an old codger, yet I am still too young to remember when NHRA (and NASCAR) weren't about the money.
Mr. niteowl77
I saw this young lady on TV recently, RIP, heart breaking, So much potential and talent, her family must be devastated.
I get it, the sound of the ICE ( British straight 6's might be my weakness ) is almost primal we need it. I hang w/ a couple of old school aircraft ( homebuilt's as well types ) guys and one noted back in the day, a local Detroit guy built a 200 mph electric rail type dragster. It made no noise, they accomplished it, and it was done. Heck, we have people tweaking Tesla's or using their motors and other battery packs and sticking them in lighter cars for constant 9 sec 1/4 mile cars. Throw that power package in a rail what times would you have? What times with further advances? Will the NHRA allow it? Or, like you kind of hinted with the Jet rails in the 60's kinda quash it.
National Air Racing sanctioning body did the same thing to protect the War Bird modifiers in the Unlimited Class. They instituted a minimum empty weight to keep some upstart teams / designers who had on the boards and built and even test flew some lighter and smaller racers to take the big boys on. Not that they were on the cusp of being competitive, but they nipped them in the bud, one being a push-pull twin rotary powered ship that I think pushed the flight envelope up in too the 300's before they were outlawed.
Kind of what like McCain, Schumer and all the other Deep Stater's w/ the help of Louis Lerner did to the Tea Party's...
I must have a few year on you. I can remember when the NHRA didn’t mess with the cars, the drivers, an finally the ET’s for even minor competitions.
I remember when the kids went to abandoned airports or stole road signs and blocked off roads to run what they brought.
But the first of the major changes to organized racing came with the dial-in racing that covered the bracket racing in the 1990’s. It was quickly discovered that no matter what was put on the window, the car was not going to run it. To win races, drivers had to make the car run the number. The only way to do that was to sandbag it. Sandbagging refers to dialing in a time slower than you know the car can run. Most of it hoped as there were many veriables to get a car to run to a “guessed” e.t. The predominant theory was to dial one of the slowest ET’s, and if the car ran slow, the driver could cover the dial, and if it was running quicker, he/she could always hit the brakes. There were a few that became infamous for winning most races on the brakes.
So they took the competition out of the runs and gave them the tools to play with the times. Bad move.
rwood
Agreed. It’s very sad.
I’ve spent a lot of time on drag strips, in round numbers 5000 trips down one. The safety records are pretty good, but I still have two buddies who are short an arm from track injuries.
There isn’t an 1/8 mile track in existence where a 300 mph run could be stopped without a chute, on most tracks, I think I could get a 150+ mph Pro Stock run shut down without one, or with minor damage, I’ve ran runs over 120 myself hundreds of times without pulling a chute, but 300 is not possible, the 1/8 tracks just aren’t made for it for obvious reasons.
People will try anything. I was at the Bakersfield Fuel and Gas Championships back in the late 60’s and witnessed a real genius at work. The stock class tear down was being done and a few of the cars were being DQ’d there right after trunk checks.
Of course, the idea of adding weight to cars in the rear end to aid in traction is not a new one. In stockers, it is perfectly legal to have a spare tire, one even chained down to hold it. But what was happening is that some of the owners were filling the tires with cement causing it to be heavy. A few got caught. So the inspecters started hitting valve stems to see if there was any air in them. That worked fine until they hit one on a tire that had been pumped full of water under pressure. It made the tire super heavy. It also got an official knocked out of the trunk when the release shot out of the tire and the stem disintegrated. Besides pissing off a few race officials, he didn’t get to run that time.
rwood
Agreed. The 1/8 mile tracks were created to slow the machines in an effort to improve safety and create a greater competition with tighter runs.
In July of 2008, following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta in June, the technology of being able to power cars to top speed was nearing or, in this case, exceeding the tracks ability to stop a car that was not able to be controlled by the driver or the Auxiliary Braking ( parachutes).
There seems to be some talk / speculation of returning to the original 1320, (1/4 mile), but some competitors are bringing up the cost savings to running 1000. And that the competition is better in the current format.
I ran quarters in stock years ago, in my youth, in central California at Raisin City and Bakersfield. Got started following Shirley Shahan out of Tulare and I was running a rat pack Chevy.
But according to a report by inspectors, Kat drifted right from the left lane and as she hit the traps at the other end her main chute appeared briefly and she went into the wall. She didn’t lose it because of the chute, she lost it during the run. Wind gust, oil, moisture, could have been a lot of things.
I also feel if it had been a full size track her torque would have been beneficial in keeping the car under control. She might have, also, been powering down to gain control since she was so far down the run and lost the torque she needed. Car got light without it.
rwood
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