At Bristol Dragway’s Night of
Fire on Friday, May 30, folks of all ages will be astounded by a rather unusual
match race between two “jet trains,” the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and the
Cannonball Express.
So who is the brain trust behind the
jet trains? It’s none other than K.C.
Jones himself… that’s Kenneth Charles Jones for those keeping track.
K.C. Jones will send his Chattanooga
Choo-Choo jet dragster down the quarter-mile at Bristol Dragway with the same
courage and gusto as his heroic railroading counterpart, the legendary Casey
Jones, who hailed from Tennessee.
“My father’s nickname was R.R.,
which looked like railroad,” explained Jones.
“When my parents named me, they wanted a Casey Jones. They named me Kenneth Charles so that my
initials would be K.C.”
At Bristol Dragway’s Night of
Fire on Friday, May 30, folks of all ages will be astounded by a rather unusual
match race between two “jet trains,” the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and the
Cannonball Express.
So who is the brain trust behind the
jet trains? It’s none other than K.C.
Jones himself… that’s Kenneth Charles Jones for those keeping track.
K.C. Jones will send his Chattanooga
Choo-Choo jet dragster down the quarter-mile at Bristol Dragway with the same
courage and gusto as his heroic railroading counterpart, the legendary Casey
Jones, who hailed from Tennessee.
“My father’s nickname was R.R.,
which looked like railroad,” explained Jones.
“When my parents named me, they wanted a Casey Jones. They named me Kenneth Charles so that my
initials would be K.C.”
Jones and his wife, Linda, own
several exhibition vehicles but the unique theme of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo
and the Cannonball Express jet dragsters set them apart. Jones pilots the Choo-Choo, while Paul Kelley
sits in the cockpit of the Express.
“Jet dragsters are entertaining,”
said Jones, “and I like to entertain. We
wanted something unique. With my name,
it was only natural to theme our dragsters after famous trains. The smoke from the jet reminds people of the
steam from a train. We have bells,
whistles and even a working smokestack to complete the look on our jet
trains.”
Jones grew up in California during
the heyday of match racing in the 60’s and 70’s. By the time he was 12, he was working on drag
cars. In 1982, he toured with an
up-and-coming John Force, wrenching on the team’s Mountain Dew Chevy
Citation. Although nitro-burning funny
cars are his first love, jet racing worked its way into Jones’ blood and he
hasn’t been able to shake it.
“The one-on-one contact with people
is my favorite part of the job,” admitted Jones. “I love racing the car, but when we come back
to the pit and there is a crowd around the trailer and the people want to share
what they felt, it’s great. I feel
blessed to entertain and put on a show for everyone.”
To help his youngest fans feel
connected with his dragsters, Jones themed the Chattanooga Choo-Choo after a
popular children’s character.
“I purposely tied into the Thomas
the Train scheme,” said Jones of his dragster that sports a blue and red paint
scheme. “I’ve had a lot of little ones
come over and look at the car, and then almost shed a tear because they had to
leave Thomas.”
The cars aren’t the only part of the
show, however. Jones and his crew have
created an interesting routine to excite the crowd.
“We try to focus on theatrics,” he
said. “We blow train whistles when we
come out to the line. No one knows what
is going on the first time they hear those whistles. But, when we come back for the second run,
they start screaming the second they hear them.
It gives you goosebumps.
“We pride ourselves on our fire show
with big fire and big smoke. Then, we do
our burner pops really slow back and forth between both cars. We start doing it faster and faster like a
real steam engine. A lot of people tell
us our show makes the cars sound like a real steam train.”
After 38 years in the business,
Jones is ready to bring his show to Bristol Dragway’s Night of Fire.
“I’ve never been to Bristol,” says
Jones, “and I’m really thrilled, quite frankly.
It is somewhere I’ve always looked to run at. Thunder Valley, with its history, is
awesome. I’ve heard it’s a first-rate
operation. It is a Bruton Smith
track. What else do I need to say? All of his tracks are first-rate. We’re excited to come.
“The Night of Fire sounds like a
great lineup. To watch nitro cars under
the lights is amazing, and I think our cars will be a big hit with the Bristol
fans. It looks to be a great
show.”
The modern day version of Casey
Jones takes to the track on a night featuring fire-breathing nitro funny cars,
car-crushing monster trucks, a hair-raising wheelstander, and legendary
stuntman, Benny the Bomb. Megasaurus, a
50,000 pound, three-story tall monster, will dine on junk cars before a
fireworks spectacular lights up the Bristol sky.
Gates open at 6 p.m. Spectator admission is $15 for adults and $5
for kids ages 6-15. Children five and
under are free. Discount coupons are available at
Appco convenience stores while supplies last.
For more information about Bristol
Dragway’s Night of Fire, please call (423) 764-DRAG or visit www.bristoldragway.com
