Respected, life-long NHRA drag racer, Mark Nivers, died on Sunday following a crash when his parachutes detached from the race car. Nivers was competing in the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, near Seattle, WA.

The Top Alcohol dragster continued along the track and into the first catch fence at the end. The dragster appeared to suffer significant structural failure as the rear portion folded over the the front.

The Medical Examiner for King County has found that Nivers died of severe injuries to the head, neck and torso. The death has been ruled accidental, although NHRA oficials and the King Country Sheriff’s Office continue their investigations.

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NHRA Media Release

Accident claims life of Top Alcohol Dragster competitor in Seattle
Sunday, July 11, 2010

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 His talent on the racetrack and in the machine shop was superseded only by his kindness and willingness to help other racers.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.