It didn’t matter if they had two or two hundred jet cars on the property, it was very apparent what the crowd that had filtered into Rocky Mountain Raceway had come to see: jet cars. We had heard numbers as high as thirty-four, which was plenty astounding, but due to scheduling, transport issues and the fact that half of Utah was burning up, fourteen jet cars made their way onto the property, which is still a staggering number when you think about it. How many do you normally see at a show…four, maybe? Not here, not this time. If Rocky Mountain Raceways was going to live up to the “Night of Fire” billing for the last major event before the track gets shut down and razed, there had better be plenty of flame-throwers on wheels for the crowd to enjoy, and they had better put on a hell of a show since it seemed like half of the city was descending upon the track. The parking lot had long filled up and people were parking freaking everywhere as the first pair of cars rolled into the burnout box and the slave cables were run to the dragsters to wake up the turbines.
There were two jet car passes scheduled, one at six in the evening, the other at nine at night. So it would make sense to maybe go only partly into insanity and save some for later, right? Not even close. If they held back, then I haven’t heard anything about a jet car burning to the ground, and I didn’t see a hole burned through the asphalt. As it was, they were scorching the area just behind the burnout boxes dry, leaving heat scars on the approach to the starting line. The only noise that could override the screaming crowd was the thumping of the burner pops and the scream when the green lights lit and the flames went from show-style licking to F-14 Tomcat on takeoff. I’m grateful I still have arm hair, because I got close…as close as I dared. Having heat blast radiate around you when the dragsters pass by is an awesome feeling.
This is part one of two parts of fire and flames, so if you crave more, be patient, it’s coming! Meanwhile, click on a photo below to see plenty of the action from Rocky Mountain Raceways:
