Drag Racer Neal Parker Killed During NHRA National Event he was 5

Drag racer Neal Parker, 58, of Millville N.J., died of injuries he sustained in an accident while qualifying his Top Alcohol Funny Car Friday afternoon in the National Hot Rod Association SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

According to a NHRA release, Parker "crashed at a high rate of speed in the shutdown area.''

"On behalf of everyone at NHRA and Raceway Park, we are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Parker family,'' the statement read.

This is the same facility where two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Scott Kalitta was killed in June of 2008 in a high speed crash also in the shutdown area at the end of the track. That accident prompted the NHRA to shorten the race tracks from the traditional quarter-mile length to 1,000-foot.

Parker's death while competing in the Top Alcohol class -- drag racing's version of a "triple-A" -- is the second fatality at an NHRA national event this season. A spectator was killed in February when a tire came off driver Antron Brown's Top Fuel dragster and struck a woman near the grandstands at Firebird Raceway outside Phoenix.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here