Jet car gypsies are racers who live a very different lifestyle from that of the everyday racing community. Unlike most racers who race for class domination, record runs, or championship points, jet cars are actually exhibition vehicles. They are not competition machines created expressly to win every time they make thunder. On the contrary, they are WOW machines conceived to put on a show, and they get paid to show up. Winning anything is just a perk. Their bag is entertainment, not who gets to the finish line first.
They each will do their best to get to the stripe first every time, no matter who is in the lane next to them. They are all genuine racers at heart.
The professional exhibitionists who own and sometimes pilot their jet cars are a unique bunch who add greatly to the flavor of the sport known as drag racing. There are roughly thirty jet car teams in the continental United States in the year 2021. For close to 52 weeks a year, these ultimate mayhem machines crisscross continental America, earning their keep by entertaining throngs of racing fans everywhere. With enormous billowing smoke shows that can bury the largest house you can think of, and with their fire shows, they can make even the most seasoned firefighter cringe.
While smoke and fire is the main event, let’s not understate the entertainment value of the sound generated by jet cars. If you think living near an airport is loud, a jet car can and will be heard for many miles once they start popping the afterburners. Jet cars are infamous for blowing out the windows at various race tracks they perform at.
For example, at New England Dragway, in Epping, NH, the tower staff regularly man the windows during jet car performances. It’s not uncommon for the tower clock and other various items to vibrate off the walls of the tower when the afterburner thunder comes calling. The sound volume sends shockwaves through everything, making one easily feel it deep in your chest.
Because jet car teams are not being beholden to any points system or championship chase, they are free to roam the country at will. They bounce from track to track, sometimes doing Air Shows to exhibit how cool it is to run a land-locked jet truck vs., say, an acrobatic aircraft on an extremely long runway. Thousands of fans flock to see this annually. In zig-zagging the USA, these Jet Car Gypsies earn their living on the road, sometimes performing twice a week or more. Teams are beating the bushes weekly, looking for bookings, as things are not what they used to be in the exhibition business. Yet year after year, the Jet Car Gypsies are out there and will do it again next year.
Why, why do they do this? The reasons vary greatly. Earnie Bogue of CT, who’s been living the Jet Car life for over two decades, indicated, “There’s nothing else like it and nothing really to compare it to. We get to travel and see so much. My team has raced in Puerto Rico, Canada, and all across the USA. Waking up in truck stops in a different state almost every day – wow.”
The twinkle in his eye as he said this is unmistakable.
Chris Darnell, the owner/driver of the triple engine Shockwave Jet Truck sees things from a different perspective. He’s a premier showman in great demand and views exhibition racing more as a profession than an adventure. To be sure, Jet Car racing is both.
“I grew up around drag racing as a kid,” Darnelltenaid. “I was 10 days old when I was first brought to a racetrack, so this is in my blood. I’ve been involved with racing my whole life. As a full-time professional – this IS my job.
“I knew from a young age, motorsports is where I wanted to make my living. So even when I went to college, I studied Marketing, Advertising, and Promotions, and I received my Bachelor’s degree in that from Missouri State University.”
As a result of this, Darnell’s two racing rigs, The Shockwave” and the Flash Fire Jet Truck are in high demand.
“We not only do drag racing events, but we do Air Shows and the like all year while touring the country,” Darnell explained. “Our mix is probably 70-30, exhibition events and drag racing shows. So only 30% of our bookings are actually at drag racing venues.”
In practice, Jet car teams negotiate a fee for a performance with a race track or racing promoter well in advance of their performance. Teams vary greatly in their makeup. In some cases, the driver is the owner of the car or truck. In other instances, the racer may be a “hired shoe” to come and drive for an owner. More often than not, they become business partners. In another instance, a team owner may own more than one rig and lease them out to drivers who want to learn the ways of the Jet Car Gypsies.
Each performer must negotiate with a track or race event promoter the terms of the contract and payment. Normally things go well. But not always, as pointed out by 36-year-old Dawn Perdue.
“I learned the hard way; racers need to be careful and read the fine print when dealing with contracts,” Purdue confirmed.
Veteran Ernie Bogue also has been stung “Generally, tracks are really good about paying up after a race. But one time in Canada, a racetrack operator tried to pay me in American Express Checks – NO! So he paid me in Canadian cash. Which I know nothing about. When I got home and went to bank it: it was all counterfeit, all bogus cash! I lost $3,000 on that one.”
The commitment to live the Jet Car life is a big one. On average, the touring professionals are on the road anywhere from ten dates a year to two-three times that number which can be rough on family life and equipment. Teams traveling 35,000 miles or more a season are not uncommon. Considering the cost of diesel fuel, food, travel, and lodging on the road for teams – the numbers get large quickly, just as they do for touring NHRA pro teams. Tractor-trailer and racing machines maintenance, plus fuel costs, make up the bulk of the team’s major expenses AFTER the jet car is paid for.
The hardest part of being on the road for so many dates is the emotional toll on the team members and their families: missing birthdays, family outings, and the like.
Josh Graham, who drives the Eastern Raider car with Hanna Motorsports, put it in simple terms.
“I dislike the time away from my family,” Graham explained. “That and it’s a challenge sometimes trying to get time off from work to get to events.” Yet, nothing beats the thrill of going as fast or as quick as a jet engine can push you, Purdue believes. “I was shaking from the adrenalin, and all I could muster was WOW!” Purdue said of her first full pass. “It was amazing!” Prior to this, she had been bracket-racing for quite some time. Newcomer to jet car racing, George Whiteman added, “What really amazed me is how different it felt, being pushed by a jet engine, versus being driven by a set of pistons and rear wheel drive.” As the veterans and rookies see it, nothing compares to jet car racing; they exist in a league of their own. Is it the adrenalin, the money, or life on the road that keeps these unique entertainers away for half a year from their families? It’s a measure of everything, they say. But the intangible is really the most important part – the fans. Thousands of fans, year after year, season after season, keep coming back to see the jets at their favorite venue, be it racetrack or air show. Rich Hanna of Hanna Motorsports, a 28 year veteran of racing jets, summed it up the best. “Let’s face it when nitro cars warm up, some fans come running,” Hanna said. “When fans hear the whine of the jet engines turning over, everyone comes running for the fence line. The fans are #1; that’s the biggest reason we do this. Without the fans, we couldn’t do this.”
