Jet & Truck Nationals 2004

Moroso Motorsports Park
April 3 & 4, 2004

Jets thrill fans at Moroso Nationals
Story and Photos by Annie Lindstrom
Jetwebb Correspondent

Jupiter, Fla. – Jet fans got their second dose of fun in less than a month at Moroso Motorsports Park on the first weekend in April. The sun shined brightly on the drivers and crews as they packed the chutes of the seven jet vehicles preparing to take the line at 7 p.m. for the first pass on Saturday night.

Getting things started on Saturday were Pepi Urban in the Showdown J-85 dragster vs. Joe Douthit behind the wheel of California Smokey, also a J-85 dragster. Joe and Pepi both appeared at Moroso’s Chevy Show on March 13&14. At that meeting, however, Pepi drove his new Xtreme Machine Freightliner Classic GE J-79 jet truck. He then took the truck to Puerto Rico for an event. The truck was still on its way back by boat as Pepi and Joe squared off in their dragsters on Saturday night.

Unlike Pepi, Joe and his wife Carol took some time off and vacationed in central Florida between events.

In their first race, Joe slid past the line and was unable to stage his car. Pepi had an RT of .461, time of 5.732 and a speed of 262.77. Joe, who had a red light, turned in a 5:505 at a speed of 288.83. In their second race, Joe beat with an RT of .537, time of 5:436 at 289.29 mph. Pepi, who red lighted and shut down early, clocked in with a 5:74 racing at 222.38.

On Sunday in their first race, both cars had a red light. Pepi posted a time of 5.818 at a speed of 250.76. Joe didn’t show a time. In the second race, Pepi went off the line alone as Joe’s car wasn’t giving him any RPMs as he attempted to stage the car. He shut down and track starters sent Pepi off alone. Joe says he’s going to fix the problem and put a new tailpipe on California Smokey before his next appearance at Kansas City Raceway April 25.

Following the dragsters were Pat Davidson, who flew in from Boston to drive Mario Carranca’s Phantom J-85 jet funny car against Mario in his SuperMario J-34 jet funny car. Davidson who said he was glad to be at Moroso also said he was reluctant to leave his garage where he’s putting the finishing touches on his J-79 UnderPressure Fire & Rescue Ambulance. He says he and hopes to be racing the new truck soon.
   
Eric Lavelle fueling "Phantom"                                                     Pat Davidson putting on the wax
On crew for Pat this trip was colleague Eric Lavelle, who’s helped him build the ambulance. A student at Providence, R.I.’s Johnson & Wales University, Lavalle is interested in applying the advertising and marketing degree he is working on to promoting motorsports such as drag racing and jet cars. In addition to crewing for Pat, he came to the show to research promotion in the jet car industry.

In their first race, Pat, driving his first race of the year, and Mario, a hometown favorite-- especially with the little kids, put on a whopper of a fire show for the crowd packing the stands at Moroso just after sunset. Pat beat Mario with an RT of .445, a time of 6.02 and speed of 211.66 vs. Mario’s RT of .537, time of 6.209 and speed of 245.76. He took Mario again in the second race with a .463 RT, 5.898 time and 261.70 mph vs. Mario’s .498 RT, time of 6.142 and speed of 263.08.

On Sunday, the two were just as much fun to watch in the sunlight as they were under Saturday’s full moon. In the first race, Pat beat Mario off the line with a .474 RT, 5:904 time and 245.16 speed. Mario posted an RT of .521, time of 6:207 and speed of 248.27. Pat kept his time below 6 sec. in the second race with a .490 RT, 5:854 time and 261.24 speed. Mario, in his heavier car, had an RT o f .497 and crossed the line at 6:201 at a speed of 264.31 mph.

Following the funny cars were the small trucks. Speed-loving Dick Rosburg, who drove the Coors funny car at Moroso in March, was back to pilot Bob VanSciver’s sleek and sexy Extreme Warrior J-60 Ford Ranger, which he pitted against Neal Darnell and his ultra-fun FlashFire Chevy S-10 truck.


Neal, who bought the truck from Mario in 2002, continues to add fun and flash to the vehicle, which his lovely wife Marylin pulls to the line with a silver Spyder convertible. A huge hit with the kids, FlashFire has strobes galore, a siren, a chrome shield over the afterburner, chromed wing, and hot orange and yellow flame paint job. While all the bling-bling slows the truck down, Darnell says his ride is all about the show and the way the car looks, especially with all the air shows he has on his schedule. The truck is the first jet that Darnell has owned, and driven.

Marylin n' taco the jet dog
As expected, Dick beat Neal in all the races they ran against each other. On Saturday Neal had a .665 with a time of 6:941 and speed of 242.71 mph vs. Rosburg’s .861 RT, 6:657 and 209.30 mph speed. In the second race, it was Neal who took his time getting off the line as he lit off several roman candles from the rear deck of his car at the start line. The crowd just went nuts for the pyrotechnics, for which Neal has an ATF license. He had a .968 RT, time of 6:868 and speed of 242.71 mph. Rosburg’s track hugging ride shot out of the box with a .684 RT and 6:619 time and a 239.55 mph speed.

On Sunday, the two squared off in a race that would be Neal’s last for the weekend. With a spooky RT of .666, Neal posted a 6.860 at 241.02 mph. Rosburg had a .558 RT, 6:573 time and speed of 229.88. Neal’s car started shooting sparks at the end of the track and he had to leave it parked for the second run. Wife Marilyn said it was the first time they’ve not been able to complete all their runs at an event, but the Darnells were able to take it all in stride and enjoy the rest of the show. They kept the car out on display until everyone else packed up to go home. Rosburg finished the event on his own with an RT of .690, time of 6:555 and speed of 235.84 mph.

The Moroso show was the first of the 2004 season for Kent Shockley and crewman Casey with the always awesome Shockwave triple J-34 equipped Peterbilt semi-truck.
                
Casey and Kent Shockley packing the chutes                                                   Casey keeping the chutes out of the dirt for packing
Casey and Kent started the truck behind the tower all weekend long, as the truck they use to start it is too big to fit comfortably along side the jet truck in the staging area. Shockwave hummed to life and the crowd was as jazzed as Kent was to be back in the cab of his awesome fire breathing machine. How the tower stays intact after his fire shows is truly a mystery.

I watched the truck from as close to ground zero as I ever want to get, behind the second safety wall on the near side of the track. People on the fence scrambled for cover as Kent put out wall of fire after wall of fire from the screaming jet engines. On Saturday, the truck ran 7:69 at 208.91 mph and 7:698 at 208.55 mph. On Sunday, Kent posted a 7:832 at 207.32 mph in the first run and a 7:806 at what the Moroso time board said was 425.87 mph! Joking with Kent about the speed register screw up after the race, Kent said he called his dad, Les, after the race to let him know they broke a new speed record – not!

Moroso’s next jet event will take place in the fall. Until then, I’ll be doing stories on big events taking place all over the country and abroad.
 Got an interesting story to tell while I wait for the jets to come back to Florida in the fall? Drop me a line at jetwebbannie@jetwebb.com.

See you at the track!