The parachutes immediately ripped off the dragster when deployed as Niver, 60, crossed the finish line. Niver couldn't get the car stopped before going into the sand pit at the end of the asphalt surface at Pacific Raceways.

When the dragster hit the catch netting, it buckled the chassis back into the driver cockpit.

Full story:
http://links.assetize.com/links/b36d81

 

We were there today and waiting to see which car would go to the finals in my friend Chris Demkes T/A Dragster... From what some people told me when they got back to the pits, when the car folded in 1/2 is when it ended his life. It was a sad day in the pits and the victory didnt feel like one.

R.I.P. Mark.

 

wow RIP

 

damn, that's terrible. RIP. 1 question.....why do they have nets? I haven't seen that before. get rid of that ****, the sand alone is good enough.

 

looking at the video, it didnt look like a bad crash, but at times those are the worst.

rip mark

 

Saw the vid this morning and couldnt believe how small of a crash it seemed like in comparison to others where drivers walk away. Either way a very very sad day. RIP Mark and my prayers go out to his crew, family, and friends.

 

thats terrible, RIP

I would think there was something wrong with the chassis for it to buckle like that...

 

So sad

RIP

 

Aww, man.

I was just watching this race on ESPN2 last night, and I fell asleep before the semis came on, then I see this. Man, what a tragedy.

R.I.P. to Mark.

 

those nets are absolutley ridiculous. Sand traps did a decent job. they really need big foam blocks like they have on some oval tracks/road courses.

Something was flawed in the chassis as well, there is no reason it should have folded up that easily

 

RIP Mark...I hope this and other tradgies that have happened this year make NHRA get off the a_ _ and make some much needed changes. Gates like those used in NASCAR could have prevented the lady getting killed from the tire on Antron's car...As well as taking these nets away and making longer sand traps make these owner by more property or don't race there its no worth losing drivers and having families impacted. I mean its 2010 why are they still using 1960 and 1970 technologies to slow down rocketships on wheeels!?!?!?!

 

When we were up racing IFO I saw this little tiny sand pit no bigger than a cat box with the death net. I was thinking to myself that this was gonna kill someone not stop them safely. Sorry to hear this, RIP

 

Guys... Let me tell you a little bit about who Mark Niver was. He was one of the few guys to go to back in the day before we had CNC machines. He use to make "One Off" parts for people in the Drag racing World from the Top Fuel racer to the weekend warrior. He made everything by hand. He built his own cars, engines , etc.. He was truly a Legend in the Sport. It was just a freak accident what happened yesterday.

He hit the Finish Line traps at 271mph. So the Chutes didnt do much. But it did look like he got it slowed down pretty good. When they showed him go into the sand trap and grab the net, it didnt look all that bad. I got out of my seat and ran into the pits of my friend Chris Demke (the guy he was to face in the finals) and asked if all was ok. Some of Demkes crew had already gone down to the end of the track to help. When they came back to the pits, you could tell by the looks on their faces that it wasnt good. But I would never think that it was as bad as what I had heard.

When the Dragster hit the net and folded, the front end folded back and hit Mark instantly in the chest. It was almost instant. It wasnt announced at the track until an investigation was over. But by then lots of people had found out.

It took 30 years for Mark Niver to win an event.

Chris Demke, the driver of the other Top Alcohol Dragster to have advanced to the Finals against Niver didnt come out for the Final round out of respect to the Niver Family. And the Demke Team gave their trophy to the Niver Family.

Every driver , annoucer , Safety Safari team , had known Niver for many years and had some kind of bond with him... It was a sad day throughout the entire pits.

We race on different levels. We race for the love of the sport. We wouldnt have it any other way. We know the risk that is involved but we do it anyway. Just like Mark. Please keep his family in your thoughts as we are all brothers and sisters when it comes to racing on any track...

 

RIP Mark

 

RIP

 

RIP TO MARK, BEST WISHES TO HIS FAMILY AND AT LEAST WE HAVE ANOTHER LEGEND TO WATCH OVER US AS WE RACE

 

Wow.... my prayers are with his family
R.i.P Mark

 

I couldnt have said it any better.

 

i have an idea that's going to be a breakthrough in drag racing safety, i thought of this, this morning after I read this post. 4 words: aircraft carrier landing mechanism. put a hook at the far back of the chassis, a specified distance off the ground. at the end of the track, just before the sand trap, put a steel rope from left wall to right wall. this rope will have some elasticity, it catches the hook in the event of a runaway car and stops it in a safe manner. after thinking about it, how do u prevent the rope from being run over by the front and rear tires? anyway, after reading what bud ice wrote, that's even more tragic.

 

We shouldnt be mourning Marks death. We need to celebrate his life and what he gave to so many people in his 60 years on this planet..

Hell!!! He died doing what he loved all of his life. I bet none of us will ever be lucky enough get to have that said about us.

 

Rest in peace to a man who was Helping the sport and racing Long before alot of us were alive.
Godspeed my friend

 

Those chassis are made to break away to save the drivers life. The main cockpit is suppose to detach because everything else around it becomes a weapon like the front did this time. Really bad luck and very sad to see. Well wishes to his friends and family.

 

The net shouldn't of did what it did to the car, RIP

Anderson was pretty unhappy about the 1000ft -1/4mile prep at Pacific... it just seems like one thing or another there...

 

They should use arresting gear just like aircraft carriers....or something like that........

 

rip champ