Jet cars have been and will forever remain the drag strip owner/promoter’s greatest ally in the war regarding butts in seats. Simply put, nothing draws the general public into a strip like seeing a couple of thrust powered monsters spitting fire, hammering burner pops, and thundering to high speeds down the strip. Kids? They love them. Girlfriends/wives? They love them too. Those are the two most important elements, because the guy that wants to hang out at the strip for a night needs a hook to get everyone else there and the jets are it. Some douche canoe “hard core” drag racing fans will poo-poo jets but I’ll tell you that I am as hardcore as anyone and probably about 50% more and I like jet cars. Especially the two shown in the video below.
Most elements of drag racing are about the GO. Importantly for strip operators, some parts of the equation are still influenced by the SHOW. That is where KC Jones and James Paul Kelley enter the equation. While the two jet dragsters are not the fastest or quickest in the land, they certainly put on the best show. There’s a theme in the fact that both are based on trains. (Hello..the dude’s name is KC friggin’ Jones). There’s the Canonball Express and the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The best part of their act is the staged burner pops that they time to sound like a steam locomotive chugging out of the station. It is beyond cool and the two have the act down to a T.
Yes, the inherent danger of a jet car is pretty low, but don’t tell the fairly uneducated (with respect to the intricacies of the sport) drag racing fan populace this. They pack the stands because brave men drive these missiles that belch fire and smoke and make the spectator’s guts shimmy and shake inside their bodies. Do they run 300 mph? No, but they entertain people in ways that no other drag strip vehicle can. That’s what puts butts in seats!
Press play below to see the best jet car video we’ve ever laid eyes on.
I remember years ago when my track did jets. This time they blew the windows out of the tower and tore the starting line up on one lane.
both the wife and the spawn came to the airshow for one reason jet schoolbus and jet outhouse.
Back in 1973 I and a friend took Romeo Palamides’ jet FC to Miami HW Speedway. What a learning experience. These are thrust driven vehicles. They go in the direction they are pointed. You don’t steer a bullet ! These cars have no business on a dragstrip. Imagine a plane taking off on a curved runway. Can’t be done. Ever seen a plane with a steering wheel? Oh, we blew out the front tires every round and finished the runs on the rims. Like all the FC at the time, there were no race type tires yet for Funny Cars or? available. I think they were Pirelli VW tires. FC guys were getting killed with regularity till Goodyear did the front runner tires. Thinking and desire was way ahead of technology. I think the rear tires were stock car tires. Take’m to Bonneville.
I raced For Team U.S.A. NHRA around the world Bazil,Japan,Austrailia,Canada.and Drove the High $takes Jet Funny car to many great speed numbers on was a a right hand front Nascar design intended for Super Speedways High banked ovals that tire was meant to take the tremendous heat generated in the turns due to scrubbing these where not sold new you had to have a source to obtain them they generally had to be takeoffs due to liability concerns from manufacture’s I have seen many styles and attenpts to run every thing possible from the tiny tires that Don Garlits ran on the Cobra looking nose Top Fuelers not good they lasted maybe a run on a Jet we had to have car set at a raked incline of at least 1% putting allot of downforce on front just to hold car to track and not launch like a Rocket 6-8,000 LBs of thrust we had afterburners design style similar to a SR-71 the engine I had was a JT 12 A Military Version or a J-60 Pratt & Whitney these where capable of Mach -2 without an afterburner and found on the Jets that Guided in from orbit the Shuttle’s on each side as they came in from a mission we are the only speed limited class in NHRA at the time 295mph any thing faster a big fine and suspension of our License I had also a Top Fuel FIA sanction to run in Country’s other than our and we packed them in all over the World thanks to the efforts of Carl Olson of Fueler fame and Wally Parks even the Force brother’s Louie and John had one Jim Diest bless his heart was the man that loved them and knew they could go fast but stopping them is harder and doing it SAFE was the goal! Thanks for the interest and support we are the track whores of exhibition racing we never got much out of it but Speed no recognition not much anyway Tony Schumacher of Fueler Fame Drove a Jet Dragster so allot of guys like The Train Conducters that run the Korean War J-34 engines but guys like Bill Carter could make those scream to huge speeds some day we will get some ink and history will tell the story of our efforts to support the fans and promoters of Drag Racing World wide!