On Wednesday afternoon, the National Hot Rod Association made a dramatic change to its Full Throttle Series, adding excitement and decreasing the danger factor.  In Top-nitro Funny Car (which is the class Scott Kalitta drove in) and Nitro Top Fuel Dragster, the distance for each pass down the track has been decreased from a quarter-mile to a thousand feet.  NHRA says this is an interim safety move for the remainder of the season, but experts inside the sport feel this will probably remain.  This was the first immediate step toward safety the National Hot Road Association sanctioning body made since the explosive crash that took the life of Scott Kalitta, and it follows another step taken by another sanctioning body to make the sport safer. 

GLENDORA, Calif. (July 2, 2008) -- As the investigation continues into the tragic accident that took the life of driver Scott Kalitta, NHRA announced today that beginning at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colorado, both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet or one-quarter mile.  This is an interim step that is being taken while NHRA continues to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport's long standing safety record, given the inherent risks and ever-present dangers associated with the sport.

(photos courtesy of NHRA)

A week after the tragic - and possibly preventable - death of Scott Kalitta, the best drag racers in the world were back to business.  Hoping for something special this weekend, Scott Kalitta's teammates are back after pulling out of competition at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.  With that, Hillary Will and Doug Kalitta have made the field in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk.  Hillary is 7th and Kalitta is 16th.