Another NHRA driver killed....SEATTLE

Just got a text stating Mark Niver was killed in an incident after running off the end of the track and into the safety nets in Seattle.

Not only was Niver a supremely nice guy, but he was a complete freak of talent all of you would greatly appreciate. He used to compete in the TAD class with his injected nitro dragster made entirely in his garage. He was running strong and crashed in the semi's and taking the win. A huge loss. Having to tell my dad sucked balls.....as I knew they were really good friends.

RIP Mark Niver.

 

Thats sad to hear. I offer a prayer for his family and freinds.

What the heck is going on now? I cant remember this many fatalities in the NHRA since, well I dont know when. I am sure there is nothing that is similar to the other situations, but dang, they already cut the 1/4 mile down for nitro, what the heck are they to do.

I realize this game has a certain amount of danger to it, but you just hate to hear about it.

 

Mark was a gentlemen of his class like you said he was able to do things other wished for and always spent time helping others. I remember Mark back in the 70's running as hard. I got a call also about his passing ....

He will be missed but will be in good AZ Dragracing Company up there with Loper, Shumake and Southerland

 

That's absolutely horrible news to hear, my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. I've been watching the live feed on espn3.com all day and watched the crash. The parachutes ripped off the car and then he went off the end of the track and into the first safety net. The safety net stopped the car but in doing so, the front end of the dragster curled up and back into a "C" shape, landing very near or even on the driver's compartment, a scary looking crash once you saw how the front end folded back towards the driver.

 

Sorry to hear the news. If there's any good to be found here, it's that he went out doing something he loved. RIP

 

Mark Niver Sportsman Track Fact 2008 ..RIP

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Mark was one of the REALLY good guys.....sad, R.I.P. Mark

 

Mark is a fine fellow. RIP.

 

This was a great guy ! RIP Mark! You will be missed!

 

Godspeed Mark.


Unfortunately, NHRA does NOT give a damn.

 

sad

 

A sad loss......... thoughts are with his friends and family.

 

Rip

 

RIP, Mark.

 

SLOW THEM DOWN!!!!

RIP Mark. Sad news.

 

gods speed

 

I was watching it on ESPN3 on the computer eariler...didn't look that serious, but the car folded over in half in the nets at the end of the track. We didn't get all the details because of bad streaming - didn't hear he died until I read this.god bless all.

 

Hate to hear this, rip mark

 

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Tragedy puts spotlight back on safety

<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> jQuery.getScriptCache('http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/c/?js=espn.tools.r3.js', function() { espn.core.init.tools('5372434','http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry%26id=5372434'); });</SCRIPT><CITE class=source> By Terry Blount
ESPN.com
Archive </CITE>

<!-- end mod-article-title --><!-- begin story body -->

KENT, Wash. -- Another death and another day when safety issues plagued an NHRA event.


Two drivers and one spectator have been killed at NHRA races this season, and it's only mid-July. Something has to change, but what can be done?


Top Alcohol Dragster driver Mark Niver was killed Sunday during the Northwest Nationals when his car buckled after slamming into the netting at the end of the runoff area.


But questions about the safety of the Pacific Raceways track started long before Niver's tragic run.


Pro Stock drivers threatened not to race over track conditions in the opening round, but they continued later in the day.

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Niver
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Niver's accident and the Pro Stock issues were completely unrelated, but it still doesn't look good for the NHRA.


The event was delayed for close to two hours after the accident. The race eventually went on.


"When we heard the news, you're whole focus is just to leave," said Tim Wilkerson, who won in Funny Car for the second consecutive year at Seattle. "You're so upset. You get to the line and try to take your mind off it, but you really can't. Your heart's in your stomach and you just want to get out of town."


Veteran Cory McClenathan won in Top Fuel, defeating teammate Antron Brown in the final. But the victory wasn't the most important thing for Cory Mac.


"I raced Mark Niver 20 years ago," McClenathan said. "I know we're supposed to thank our sponsors now, but this is about family and what we do. Mark was a great guy and great machinist with a great family. My heart goes out to all of them. Sometimes we just have to remember who we are."


No victory ceremonies were held Sunday. No one felt like celebrating.


Niver's death was the second in a month at an NHRA event. Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Neal Parker, 58, was killed in Englishtown, N.J., on June 11 when his parachutes did not deploy after his run and he crashed beyond the shutdown area.


Pro Stock drivers boycotted the final round at Phoenix earlier this year, feeling the track was unsafe. The Pro Stockers completed the round one week later at Gainesville, Fla.


But tragedy happened in the Phoenix race when a female spectator was killed after a tire from the car of Top Fuel driver Antron Brown came off his dragster and bounced into the grandstands.


Racing cars is dangerous and everyone involved realizes it. It doesn't change that the NHRA has a growing perception problem about the safety of its events. Something has to change because a dark cloud is hanging over professional drag racing.


"You can't help but think that," McClenathan said. "We've had some strange things happen. It is part of racing, but this has been a tough year for everybody and we're feeling the impact of that. Sometimes we don't know God's plan, but these things have overshadowed the year."


Serious injury has become almost nonexistent in NASCAR events because of numerous advances since Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001. No driver has lost his life since that horrible day at Daytona.


But the NHRA continues to have safety-related issues far too frequently in this era of racing. Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed at Englishtown in a similar accident to Parker's in 2008.


Funny Car driver Eric Medlen lost his life in a testing accident at Gainesville in 2007. And NHRA legend John Force was seriously injured in an accident at Ennis, Texas six months later. Force recovered and is still racing at age 61.

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“ I raced Mark Niver 20 years ago. I know we're supposed to thank our sponsors now, but this is about family and what we do. Mark was a great guy and great machinist with a great family. My heart goes out to all of them. Sometimes we just have to remember who we are.
” <CITE>-- Cory McClenathan</CITE>
​

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The NHRA hasn't stood still. The series took the bold step of shortening the racing distance from a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) to 1,000 feet after Kalitta's death.


Tethers were added to some cars after the incident that killed the spectator at Phoenix. But the safety-related incidents continue far too often.


Why is it happening?


Niver, 60, was a popular guy among most of the NHRA competitors, racing a bare-bones operation for over 30 years.


"Mark Niver was a friend of mine that I've known forever," said Greg Anderson, who won Sunday in Pro Stock. "When I heard, it was like, 'My God, not again.' There's been too much of that happening lately.


"Mark was a true racer, building everything himself. If you don't like a racer like that, something is wrong with you. I can't believe it happened."


Sunday's problems started early when cloudy skies put a slight mist in the air. After the first two runs on the opening Pro Stock round, the drivers said the track was too slippery at the top end.


NHRA officials checked the asphalt and said it was fine. That wasn't good enough for the drivers. The teams pushed the cars back to the pits.


"It's an absolute miracle we didn't crash a car in those first two pairs," Anderson said after the drivers walked away. "I don't want to point fingers, but it's a dangerous situation that has a simple fix."


Anderson said the fix is an adhesive spray used on the track, but not on the final 320 feet used by the Pro Stock cars.


"Keep in mind that the nitro teams run 1,000 feet," he said. "We run a quarter-mile.


"We need the glue all the way to a quarter mile. We preach it every week, but they don't do it.


"There is a huge discrepancy between what the Pro Stock drivers need in a racing surface and what the NHRA feels we need. If we don't have the glue, we won't go out there. There's nothing else we can do. It's a standoff."


NHRA officials feel it isn't always in the best interest of safety for all the professional classes to spray the top end of the track during a round.


The Pro Stock drivers did return when the weather conditions changed to sunny skies and warmer temperatures, but this is a continuing issue that's bound to come up again.


So what can be done?


First, Pro Stock also should switch to 1,000 feet, as should Pro Stock Motorcycle, so all the pro classes race the same distance.


Second, the NHRA must look again at ways to improve the runoff areas at every facility. It's an inadequate safety solution at too many tracks.


Third, parachute deployment needs a complete overhaul with advanced techniques to ensure chutes open and have backup systems in case of a malfunction. If we can use chutes to stop the Space Shuttle without incident, it shouldn't be a problem in dragsters.


Something more must be done.


"We go out here to put on a good show for the fans and be as safe as possible," McClenathan said. "That should always be our goal."


Terry Blount is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He is the author of "The Blount Report: NASCAR's Most Overrated and Underrated Drivers, Cars, Teams, and Tracks." He can be reached at

 

The Pro Stock guys said someone would get killed if the NHRA didn't stop the race.
When will the powers that be at NHRA pull their heads out of their asses?

 

I just saw this on ESPN, car appeared to be slowing down but the net didn't seem to give at all -looked like he hit a wall....Very sad.

 

I knew something happened this afternoon. I live close enough to hear the track and there was a long break and I thought I heard a helicopter drop in?

 

all this BS about slowin them down is outa place,IF you watch the accident ( I watched it 4 times) the chutes CAME OFF THE CAR,he was runng a TAD not a nitro car so he wasnt that fast,still fast enough to cause this problem,when the car hits the net it folded above the tub which is where it shoulda bent below the tub not up by the driver,sad either way but dont try to put this with the crap about the 1000 ft cars,this looks to be a problem with the chutes and maybe the car its self~~ JMO..either way my prayers and respects to the family friends and crew

 

Only when it starts costing them real money,
in paid attendance and corporate sponsorships.

 

The safety nets should work like the cables on a carrier, not just fixed

 

This is sad, I just got the news from my brother. We knew Mark, we raced against him several times. He was a real talanted and friendly guy. He made most of his own stuff, and that's why I have always been a HUGE Niver fan. This news really sucks. Godspeed Mark.

 

Terrible news. Prayers go out to his family.

 

Thats very sad indeed.... just hope the NHRA doesnt over react and shorten the distance to 1/8th mile or something like that.Theres always going to be a certain amount of danger involved...Thats Racing

 

Hindsight is always 20/20. If track conditions were the factor thats on the NHRA. I haven't seen the video on this, so I am taking the words listed here. If there was a failure on the mechanical safety systems on the car, there is a seperate issue.

I know the Nitro cars have many advancements for chute deyployment thanks the John Force and his crew. Sure there may have been a few races where chutes deployed early, but thats one of those things. Some of the newer "driver not needed" to deploy in an emergency systems seem to have merrit.

Not all tracks will be able to accomodate longer cool down areas due to physical land restrictions (Columbus for example) That would mean a giant shift for NHRA, only go to the bigger tracks.

However....

And this is no means designed to start a firestorm of what is right and not right to do. This is something I have been wondering for sometime, and what would this look like in the future, and does it still qualify as the racing we are all looking for. Competitors and fans alike.

I know that NHRA has looked at smaller cubes, smaller blowers, and smaller tanks/fuel ratio for Nitro. Does NHRA become Nascar in the fact that everyone will have basically the same car for safety and speed restrictions? Does the "racing" part of the equation leave the sport and make it less interesting for the casual or hard core fan?

Does the NHRA become High Dollar "Bracket Racing"?

I dont think limiting size of engine and such will slow these cars down to the point where its competitive, and entertaining and totally safe. Over time, they find a way to make them go faster. Wether its air races, stock car or fill in the blank. Speed is always the goal. The natural progression of motorsports in general. Heck, look at computer technology, always faster, smaller, etc.

Some of these times at the half mark are pretty impressive. If the idea is still to get to the line faster than the other guy, even if that line is closer than before, its still about speed and raw power off the line.

Not saying I have a ton of answers, its just one of those, well what do you do rants.

I was at Portland International Raceway two weeks ago. The motorcycle class was up. Guy in a snowmobile went 125 on the 1/4 mile. Sure, he is trying to get the most out of his entry to win. Is 125 to fast for a bike of any sort?

I enjoy NHRA racing. Do I want to see anyone else loose there life over this, NO WAY!

 

This is sad.
The NHRA should step up to the plate and make the tracks safer. Slowing down the cars is not an option, shortening the track in not an option, making the tracks safer is the only option.
There is plenty of ways to make them safer. Longer shut downs and better net system are top on the list. Lets get rid of the stupid stuff, like having a concrete barracade at the end of the sut down area (Kalitta), fixed nets (Niver's), not prepping the track properly.
The idea of racing is not to restrict the racers ability to perform, but to be able to perform to the best of their ability in their class (within the class rules).
The corporate version of NHRA is really failing the racers and spectators for the sake of what?
Stop the band-aide 'fixes' and require a proper raceway.
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