RIP.

Buddy at work was there when it happened.. He said that word around the track that he had a stroke during his run. :(

First off, R.I.P. Neal.

I was there Friday(after it happened) and Sunday and there were some rumors that he may have had a heart attack. Which would explain why the chutes didnt open and the car did not attempt to slow with the brakes. It was a car issue, what exactly happened is yet to be determined.
It is hard to say what a proper shut down area should be. Many of you have been to Island I'm sure and although they dont hold any National events like that, they do have cars that can run as fast as 200mph with much less of a shut down area. I am not knocking Island what so ever, Im simply saying that all tracks have a limited amount of room to work with. Most of these tracks were built back in the day, although the idea is to go as fast as you can in a 1/4 mile(or 1000ft) I'm sure when they built the track they werent thinking of 3,4,5 or even 6 second cars making it down the track.

I agree. Back in the 70's, running 6.xx was top of the line. Now people run 3's. That's a big difference.

yea heard about it and went sunday. unfortunate event for sure r.i.p.

That seems to be the common excuse used every time. I'm waiting to hear the medical examiners report.