Betsy Jo Parker, the widow of former drag racer Neal Parker has filed a “product liability” lawsuit against New Jersey’s Old Bridge Raceway Park, citing faulty safety equipment for contributing to her husband’s death. Parker’s car ran off the end of the track and crashed at a reported 249mph. According to the suit, safety measures taken by the track and mandated by the NHRA failed when put to the test against Parker’s speeding car. 

Parker had a long career in the sport of drag racing, running a series of cars named, “The Excavator”, apparently citing his earth moving business. He won a couple of IHRA championships in the now defunct Pro Outlaw category running a truly bad ass, blown Hemi powered altered. It is our opinion that Neal Parker knew of the dangers he was facing every time he strapped into a car, just based on the fact he drove some of the wildest drag racing machinery on planet Earth.

The suit also names the NHRA, TrafFix Devices, and the James Walker Company in the suit. NHRA is obviously the sanctioning body that oversaw the implementation of the devices at the end of the track, TrafFix Devices provided the barrels or “attenuation devices” which Parker ultimately crashed into, and the James Walker Company is named as the company which provided the catch nets, but the weird part about that is the fact that the company claims it has never made nets for the track and all of their products are custom made. 

Finally, the race track itself is named in the suit and the legal documents say that the track is designed negligently, is too short, and the safety devices at the end of the track were not properly designed and placed. 

This is sure to be a big deal with respect to track safety and technology going forward. Many tracks installed this style of stopping system after the death of Scott Kalitta. If it is found to be insufficient, those facilities may be forced to dismantle a costly investment.

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

Thanks to Rob Martin for the news tip! 

(Mark Jo Parker sues Old Bridge Raceway Park)