One year after the tragic death of NHRA Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, a concerted effort on behalf of the NHRA and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park officials has resulted in the Englishtown, N.J. facility implementing a run-off area similar to those in Pomona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.

A wider and more elevated safety net spans from one side of the track to the other and is clearly visible from 2,243 feet away. That is just one of the more noticeable improvements to a part of the track that has been relentlessly criticized over the last year.

“It was a combination of our efforts, Wayne McMurtry (NHRA) and the University of Nebraska,” said Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Operations. “They have done a phenomenal job here and did exactly what we asked of them. We’re very happy with what we see.”

One year after the tragic death of NHRA Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, a concerted effort on behalf of the NHRA and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park officials has resulted in the Englishtown, N.J. facility implementing a run-off area similar to those in Pomona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.

A wider and more elevated safety net spans from one side of the track to the other and is clearly visible from 2,243 feet away. That is just one of the more noticeable improvements to a part of the track that has been relentlessly criticized over the last year.

“It was a combination of our efforts, Wayne McMurtry (NHRA) and the University of Nebraska,” said Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Operations. “They have done a phenomenal job here and did exactly what we asked of them. We’re very happy with what we see.”

Kalitta’s death occurred during the final session of qualifying when his Funny Car exploded an engine. The parachute failed to deploy and when the car hit the sand trap at a high rate of speed it vaulted into the air striking a pole securing a catch net and then struck an ESPN boom truck parked on the other side of the sand trap. According to the New Jersey State Police, blunt force trauma was the cause of death.

Light believes that not only was it important to create a safer shutdown area in Englishtown, but at all tracks on the tour. He knew that in the year following Kalitta’s accident, Raceway Park's efforts to improve the shutdown area would be scrutinized under a microscope.

“I stood before a group of team owners, drivers and crew chiefs [in Norwalk] with a list of short-term and some long-term plans,” Light said.

The first item on the list of the short term was in containing the explosion of the car. Second on the list was addressing the parachute failure and the ineffectiveness of the brakes.

Third, but certainly not the least important, was in improving the run-off area.

“We addressed, analyzed and implemented new rules with the short-term items,” Light said. “We also constructed new run-off areas at almost everywhere we go.”

Light understood the programs which have been implemented couldn’t be done overnight but a year later he’s proud of the progress everyone involved has made in the name of safety.

“I’m very proud of our track operators, our people internally that work very hard, manufacturers, as well as the race teams who were willing to test cars … I think collectively the whole community banded together and got to the point we are at,” Light said.

“Is there more to do?” Light continued. “Sure there is. As new technology comes along, new things we experience that we haven’t seen before, it’s going to [continue to] be a work in progress. It always will be.”