Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mark Niver, 60, from Phoenix, was involved in a fatal incident today when his dragster crashed in the shutdown area during eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. NHRA officials are investigating the accident. 

Niver was a racer’s racer. For most of his career, he not only drove but also built his dragsters and machined his engines and components. His talent on the racetrack and in the machine shop was superseded only by his kindness and willingness to help other racers. Niver raced dragsters of all varieties dating back to the Pro Comp era in the 1970s. He raced blown alcohol and injected nitro engines, and he even dabbled in Top Fuel.

When Niver won the 2003 Division 7 event in Tucson, Ariz., he broke a drought that lasted since his victory at the 1983 divisional event at Orange County Int’l Raceway, which closed that year. Niver won two more Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events, the most recent of which was the Tucson event in 2006.

Niver waited until 2008 to earn the crowning achievement of his long career. He won the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka by defeating final-round opponent Chris Demke, who, coincidentally, singled in the final after Niver’s incident. (Demke’s team presented Niver’s family the Wally.) Niver won again in 2008 when he scored his second national event victory in Seattle.

NHRA and Pacific Raceways officials extend their deepest sympathies to the entire Niver family.