Despite elaborate press coverage and endless TV treatment of the death of drag racer Scott Kalitta during a Saturday qualifying run at New Jersey’s Old Bridge Township Raceway Park dragstrip in Englishtown, no official reason as to why the Funny Car Kalitta was driving burst into flames and crashed has reached us. Nor has the reason why his crash injuries proved fatal been reported at this writing some 30 hours after the tragedy. One report had the car’s 8,000 horsepower engine blowing (exploding?), ripping off its bodywork, stunning Kalitta, but no confirmation. These questions are based on Ye Ed’s long-perception of the concern and understanding of drag racing’s dangers and the emphasis on safety long shown by the NHRA and its stress on driver protection in car design and construction as well as in the cockpit areas of the cars it licenses. Some drivers and others in the know believe the relatively short run-off area at the Englishtown strip may have contributed to the sad outcome.

The SCCA bucks a trend. While high gasoline prices have been blamed for the decline in entrants at auto- racing meets, it was a delight to learn that more than 450 cars, including ones driven by 32 former and defending SCCA national champions, crowded the paddock area at Wisconsin’s Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake over the weekend. It was the famed June Sprint event and marked the first leg of the SCCA’s Chicago Region’s Triple Crown. It also was the 53rd running of this annual event on one of this country’s oldest road-racing courses. Spec Racer, one of nine car classes taking part, attracted 87 entrants, more than the total car count at many other events.   

The remarkable announcement by Chrysler that it would cover the price of gasoline above $2.99 per gallon for three years for buyers of new cars and trucks is not being matched by General Motors, Toyota, Nissan and Ford. The generous Chrysler offer, announced in early May, expired on June 2. No indication yet as to how many buyers participated.

Our recent “Offy, where art thou” item brought many responses, the most interesting of which came from Australia, where Aussie midget fans in the 1960s and 1970s thrilled to likes of visiting Yankees, including Bob Tattersall, taking on the locals driving Offy-engined midgets brought from the U.S. Now, according to Dennis Newlyn of Parramatta City Raceway near Sydney, a plan is in the works for an Australian Vintage Speedway Festival to be conducted by David Lander at his Lismore Speedway in northern New South Wales next March 20-23. This vintage event has already attracted entrants of local Offy-engined cars like the 1960s versions owned by Harry Conklin and Mike Caruso (both driven in Australia by Tattersall) plus an ex-Johnny Pawl Offy driven by local favorite Barry Valentina, are already entered. In Australia, the word “speedway” means short-track racing, be it midget, stock car, bikes or hot-rod. Owners of midgets and racing bikes world wide dating back to the 1930s interested in participating should call Lander. His cell-phone number is international code + 0408 222908. Don’t wait, it could mean a trip to Australia.

Sports Car fans should be pleased with the news from Japan that Toyota, in unit with Subaru, is working on a new “affordable sports car.” This Toyota newcomer — to be built in a new plant under construction by Fuji Heavy Industries, parent of Subaru — will have a Boxer (horizontally opposed cylinder) engine developed by Subaru, which is due stateside in 2011. All of Japan’s previous sports cars, the Toyota MRS two seater; the Toyota mid-engined MR2 and MRS models; the Celica and Supra; have all been discontinued.

Another GM Ethanol deal. Recognizing the importance of biofuels, General Motors recently announced it has invested in Mascoma, a small company that says it can make ethanol from non-food products. This announcement follows by a few months GM’s purchase of an interest in Coskata, Inc., a similar company. Boston-based Mascoma says it is building a demonstration plant near Rome, N.Y., which will use paper-mill waste as feedstock. Concern that using corn to make ethanol is contributing to global food shortages and higher prices reportedly led GM to make these purchases.

Generosity at work. When the 2008 McDonald’s Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge was rained out in late May, its $100,000 in prize fund was donated by Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League to Belle Isle Park and Hole in the Wall Gang camps for seriously ill children. Belle Isle is a public park in Detroit on which an annual IRL race is held.

The highest rated and most viewed IRL IndyCar Series auto-racing telecast in the history of ESPN2 was the recent event at Texas Speedway won by Scott Dixon. That race generated a 1.0 cable rating representing 939,160 households, a 44 percent increase in viewers over the 2007 telecast.    

Down south, the folks at the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame are working on an Aug. 9 Lakewood Speedway reunion. This dangerous one-mile Atlanta-area dirt oval (a dozen drivers died in accidents there) hosted AAA big car races in the 1920s through the 1950s and early NASCAR races as well. The Aug. 9 reunion will be held in Dawsonville. In Douglas, Ga., all oval track events for the ’08 season at Douglas M/S Park have been canceled, however Friday night drag racing continues as do all scheduled go-kart, mud bog and mud drag events.

Joe Mattioli III, promoter at the Music City Motorplex at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, has announced a 50th anniversary of NASCAR racing at-the-track weekend there for July 18-20. Mattioli notes auto racing on the original one-mile state-fair dirt track there dates back to 1904. July 19 is his big day, with the likes of David Pearson, Harry Gant, Geoff Bodine, Dave Marcis and many of their racing contemporaries expected. Mattioli is concerned the fairgrounds property may be sold for development. His racing lease expires in December of 2009 and he recently assembled a group to develop the property into a first-class sports and entertainment destination. For specifics, call Joe at (570) 350-1900. Good luck, Joe.    
     
Saving the best for last. The newest “inside rumor” has Formula One returning to Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the ’09 Grand Prix calendar is published. Let’s all hope it’s a good rumor.

From The Staff

The United States Auto Club debuted its new Web site June 20. The difference between the organization’s old site and the new www.usacracing.com is night and day. Take a bow, gang.

 The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum officially dedicated its Jimmy Campbell Lobby on May 31.  The room is dedicated to Jimmy Cambell, the 1952 IMCA sprint-car champion and comes the result of a donation to the non-profit museum foundation by the James S. Campbell Estate. The Jimmy Campbell Lobby joins the previously named Donald Lamberti National Sprint Car Museum, Pella Corporation National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Marion County Fair Tower and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company Theatre as named portions of the complex.

Tom Johnson Camping Center and Featherlite Coaches have reached an agreement for Tom Johnson Camping Center to be the exclusive supplier of Featherlite luxury coaches valued at more than $1 million. Featherlite motor coaches sell for between $1.1 and $1.7 million, generating $100 million in sales each year.