It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in Charlotte. I, like a lot of you, was listening to the audiocast from E-Town right here on NHRA dot com.

Then it seemed like the world stopped. Hearing Bob Frey describe what happened made my blood run cold. I was on my way to a party but couldn't pull myself away from the computer.

I immediately called our crew chief, Nicky. I knew he was at his shop working on the U.S. Male nostalgia Funny Car he's building for his dad and probably didn't hear about Scott. Nicky and Scott were best of friends since 1985 and I wanted him to know.

Nicky was stunned, said he'd call back, and hung up. Later we learned that Scott has passed and drag racing has lost another of one its champions.

Part of the mourning process is remembering that person and the good times you had with them. I asked Gilby and Nicky to type up a little about Scott for this blog and I've added my thoughts at the end.

Gilby: “I don't remember exactly what year it was, probably 2003. We were up in Seattle and our transporter was parked nose to nose with Scott's rig when he was running Top Fuel. Since I'm from nearby Portland there's always a lot of both my wife Sally's and my families who show up. They always bring all sorts of seafood and we eat good.

“I found out later that Scott really liked seafood and especially oysters. Well we had a stack of 'em and Scott wandered over to check it out. He walked into our pit, went up to Nicky and gave him a headbutt! I said to myself "WTF?" I really didn't know Scott too well back then and didn't realize that he and Nicky were buds so it really freaked me out. Scott hung with us that night and since then, every time we saw each other in the staging lanes, we always took the time to shoot the breeze.

“He was a great guy, a terrific driver and our hearts go out to his family.” 

Nicky: When me and my dad switched our U.S. Male Funny Car from alky to nitro in 1985 I didn't have too many friends in the nitro ranks out there. The nitro racing community was a pretty tight bunch and I met Scott at Maple Grove that year and we both realized that we had a lot in common. We both had dads that were pretty tough on us and we bonded right away. I went to work for the Kalittas in 1991 and was with their team until 1996. During that period of time Scott won the Top Fuel title in '94 and '95 and finished second in '93 and '96. It was the greatest time of my life and I'll never forget the times I spent with my brother Scott.

“Berserko wanted me to tell a funny story about Scott, so here you go.

“We were at Rockingham one year for the Winston Showdown. Sunday was rained out and the race was held over until Monday. Scott burst into the hotel room I was sharing with Doug Dragoo (RIP) Sunday night about midnight. He had to go to WalMart to get some clothes as he hadn't packed enough and wanted us to go with him. Regretfully we got up and hopped in the van.

“I don't know how he did it but somehow Scott talked me into getting into a shopping cart. He then proceeded to push me around the store as fast as he could and crashed me into every clothing display rack he could find, knocking them all over. It was a miracle we weren't arrested.”

“To explain the ‘Eddie Coletti’ reference. Everyone on the Kalitta team had a nick name. Scott had many, I always thought that Scott, after he had a few adult beverages, looked like Eddie Munster...LOL

“I'll miss him forever.”

Berserko: “I met Scott when he was literally a little kid. My favorite memory of him I can't publish here but there is one story I can tell. I don't know what year it was but I'd guess the early ‘70s. At the time I worked at Englishtown as the Assistant Manager to Vinnie Napp. During the Summernationals we leased the track to NHRA; they ran the event, we took care of everything else, including tickets, food, and parking.

“As you probably know, E-Town has an airport right next to the dragstrip. It's a 5,100-foot runway and is the minimal amount of runway for the super-deluxe Mitsubishi plane Conrad flew in there. To land on that short of a runway it takes a lot of skill and Connie came in really low, skimmed the trees, dropped it down, and pulled the parachute.

“I got a radio call from the airport base asking me if I could come over with my golf cart and pick up Connie and his passengers. I squirted over and found Connie and Scott (I'd guess he was about 11 or 12 years old) packing the chute on the plane and while I waited listened to them argue about any and everything.

“After they finished I loaded them and their luggage up and drove to the pit/airport gate. The gate crew knew me but didn't know the Kalittas, who didn't have tickets.

“I told them ‘Don't you know? This is Vinnie's Father and his illegitimate son.’ They didn't have a clue, they waved us in and I drove them right into their pit and dropped them off just in time for the first round of qualifying on Friday. Since then Scott always called me Bob Napp and we always bumped fists every time we saw each other. He was a rebel like me and I'll never forget him.

“RIP dude.”