The story of Darrell Russell’s first run in a top fuel dragster has been talked about time and time again in drag-racing circles. Sadly the story of his final run now will be, too.

Russell’s death from injuries he suffered in a crash during Sunday’s eliminations in the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Illinois hit hard in the National Hot Rod Assn. garage.

Russell, 35, started drag racing when he was 17, running in an alcohol-powered car owned by his family. But an alcohol car is much, much slower than a top fuel dragster, which burns nitromethane and accelerates faster than a fighter jet, reaching 100 mph in less than a second and topping 300 mph by the end of a quarter-mile run.

When Joe Amato, a legend in NHRA annals, decided to give up driving, he hired Russell, who had just about given up his dream of moving to top fuel. After going down a track in Amato’s car the first time, though, the story goes that Russell was “stark white.”

Russell once told an interviewer that it took him about 40 trips down the strip for his mind to catch up with how fast the car was accelerating, but the Hockley, Texas, native was a quick study. He won the first professional top fuel race he ever started, the 2001 Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Two weeks ago, in Columbus, Ohio, Russell broke a two-year winless drought with his sixth career top fuel win.

The cover of the issue of National Dragster, the NHRA’s membership magazine, being distributed this past weekend showed Amato kissing the trophy Russell won as his car owner celebrated his 60th birthday. Standing beside Amato is Russell, smiling broadly. It was a smile his friends in the sport now will sorely miss.

“Darrell was absolutely salt of the earth, a fantastic kid,” fellow NHRA racer Greg Anderson said. “We all knew him and we all loved him. He was everything you need to be in a person and you don’t like to lose those kind.”

Russell died at St. Louis University Hospital after being cut from his mangled dragster following the crash in his second-round race against Scott Kalitta. A hospital spokesman said Monday he had no additional information about the nature of Russell’s injuries or an official cause of death.

He was the first NHRA competitor to be killed at a national event since Blaine Johnson died in 1996 in a crash at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Russell’s fellow drivers were told of his death just before going out for their semifinal runs.

“My wife came over and we had a moment, we said a little prayer,” said Gary Scelzi, who would go on to win the funny car division. “I felt like I had to win this race.”

Scelzi had recommended Russell to Amato before the 2001 season, in which Russell won twice and earned rookie of the year honors. Only three NHRA drivers have ever won the first race they started. K.C. Spurlock was the first to do it in 1990. The other two were Scelzi, in 1997, and Russell in 2001.

“There are no guarantees in life, and there are no guarantees you can make a living doing something you love every day,” Scelzi said. “It’s a shame, it’s a tragic shame. But Darrell touched a lot of people. And he died doing what he enjoyed.”