Sometimes you end up buying something even when you weren’t actually shopping. That’s what happened to Finnegan. We’ll let him tell the story.
Video Description:
It’s been six years since I’ve attended a drag boat race and 10 years since I drove a jet boat at a National Jet Boat Association event. Episode 219 of Mike Finnegan’s Garage is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series about my first weekend back behind the wheel of a real drag boat. Over the next three days I’ll drop the complete series of videos on this channel. It’s my Thanksgiving holiday gift to you guys; three videos in three days about the highs and lows and the ups and downs about racing my latest purchase, a carbon fiber jet boat.
This is a 2016 Ralls Precision Machine Cheyenne jet boat and what makes this thing unique is that Andy Ralls, cnc-machined all of the aluminum hardware on this boat to be as light as possible. He also had E-Ticket Boats in Lake Havasu, Arizona, laminated the hull entirely from carbon fiber. KMG Boats painted the red, black and gray hues, while Marine Performance Design blueprinted the Dominator jet drive. The boat is powered by a naturally aspirated 632ci, 10.5 liter aluminum Big Block Chevy engine that produces 1,300hp without nitrous, or turbos or a supercharger. It was originally built by Jim Guthrie and recently freshened up by Mike Miller Racing Engines. The engine features CP Pistons, Carrillo connecting rods, Total Seal piston rings, Dart Big Chief cylinder heads, a Dart tall deck aluminum block, a Hogan’s tunnel ram with billet runners, and Gen 3 Holley Dominator carburetors. The electronics consist of an MSD Digital 7 ignition box and a Jesel front drive distributor. The boat was wired by Zack Rauscher. This boat has ran 132mph with an ET of 5.8 seconds on a 1,000ft drag boat track.
Stay tuned because tomorrow I’ll drop Part 2 of this adventure, which will show you what went right and wrong during qualifying at the National Jet Boat Association Final event of 2022!
