A time for reflection

Veteran racer Scott Kalitta, who died from injuries suffered in a qualifying crash, will be missed.

It's been two days since veteran Scott Kalitta lost his life doing what he loved to do - driving a nitromethane-powered racing machine down the quartermile. But the shock and pain hasn't subsided much.
Most of the drag racing message boards have begun to ask questions of why this happened, and what can do to prevent it.
Of course, we all want that. But my suggestion would be to give it time. NHRA will figure something out. They've always had in the past
So my reflections are just to remember Scott Kalitta for what he was - a racer. And he was a good one, winning back-to-back Top Fuel titles in 1994 and '95.
I wasn't as close to Scott as some of the other drivers on the circuit. I had only talked to him a handful of times over the years. But the shock and pain is still there.
I've always told myself what separates racers from baseball, basketball or football players is that the former put their life at stake whenever they compete. In a blink of an eye, they could be gone. You say that, but you don't ever believe its going to happen and when it does...well, you're shocked; you're in disbelief, especially when it happens to a racer who was as talented as Scott.
My best memory of Scott was at the World Finals in 1994 when I was in my second year covering NHRA drag racing. I still had the cub reporter mentality; wondering that I was kind of out of my league covering these guys.
He quickly let me feel at ease, treating this 'cub reporter' as if I were Shav Glick, the famed motor sports guru of the L.A. Times, or Louis Brewster, my well-respected writer from our sister paper, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
He answered all my questions and I left thinking this was guy who had passion for what he did. My thoughts on that would be what Tony Pedregon said Sunday:
"We're a lot like Scott, in that we were born and raised in this sport," Pedregon said. "There was something that really drew us and lured us. I think there is a lot of parallel in our up bringing. It was something that our fathers did, and it was instilled in us at a young age.
"This is what we wanted to do. I had all the respect for Scott. When I see him, I saw a champion."