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Shockwave was a family of jet-powered American trucks, including Shockwave, a 1984 Peterbilt 359 truck tractor, [1] and Super Shockwave, a 1957 Chevy truck.
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Shockwave was a family of jet-powered American trucks, including Shockwave, a 1984 Peterbilt 359 truck tractor, [1] and Super Shockwave, a 1957 Chevy truck.
Shockwave was the first of the Shockwave trucks. It currently holds the world record for jet-powered full-sized trucks at 376 miles per hour (605 km/h). [2] [3] The truck had three Westinghouse J34-48 jet engines, with a total output of 36,000 horsepower (26,845 kW; 36,499 PS), [4] which allowed the truck to complete the quarter-mile in 6.63 seconds. [5] Shockwave was driven by Chris Darnell, who used the truck to compete against planes going 300 miles per hour (480 km/h) in a rolling drag race at airshows, often winning. It consumed fuel at a rate equal to 400 gallons per mile, even more when the afterburners were activated. To slow the truck down at the end of a race it needed 2 aircraft parachutes [6]
On July 2, 2022, at 1:10 pm EDT at the Battle Creek Field of Flight and Balloon Festival at Battle Creek Executive Airport in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Shockwave Jet Truck experienced a catastrophic rollover event following a mechanical failure, killing the driver Chris Darnell and destroying the truck. The performance involved Darnell racing against two inverted aircraft from a standing start while driving by a large pyrotechnic display, and had been successfully demonstrated by Darnell numerous times in the past. [7] [8] Video of the performance showed Darnell's truck outpacing one of the airplanes overhead and about to overtake another when his truck caught fire and appeared to roll. Darnell Motorsports owner and co-driver Neal Darnell, also father of Chris, attributed his son's crash to a mechanical failure, he said in a Facebook post that evening. [9]
The Super Shockwave was the more recent of the two trucks. The truck has two Westinghouse J34-48 jet engines. The truck is built on a 1957 Chevy cab. In the full mile, the truck is able to reach 336 miles per hour (541 km/h). [10] The Super Shockwave was purchased from the Shockley family by Hayden Proffitt Racing and renamed “Hot Streak II”. Les Shockley had obtained his start in racing through crewing for Hayden Proffitt himself. Hayden Proffitt's first jet car was named “Hot Streak I”.
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
Donald Glenn Garlits is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field of drag racing, he perfected the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, an innovation motivated by the loss of part of his foot in a dragster accident. This design was notably safer since it put most of the fuel processing and rotating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver was placed in front of nearly all the mechanical components, thus protecting him and allowing him to activate a variety of safety equipment in the event of catastrophic mechanical failure or a fire. Garlits was an early promoter of the full-body, fire-resistant Nomex driving suit, complete with socks, gloves, and balaclava.
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Arthur Eugene Arfons was the world land speed record holder three times from 1964 to 1965 with his Green Monster series of jet-powered cars, after a series of Green Monster piston-engine and jet-engined dragsters. He subsequently went on to field a succession of Green Monster turbine-engined pulling tractors, before returning to land speed record racing. He was announced as a 2008 inductee in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame three days after his death.
Walter Charles Arfons was the half brother of Art Arfons, his former partner in drag racing, and his competitor in jet-powered land speed record racing. Along with Art, he was a pioneer in the use of aircraft jet engines for these types of competition.
The Wingfoot Express was Walt Arfons and Tom Green's jet-powered land speed record car, driven by Green to a record on October 2, 1964, after Walt suffered a heart attack just prior. The Express was powered by a Westinghouse J46 engine and hit the 413 mph record mark.
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Maple Grove Raceway (MGR) is a quarter-mile dragstrip located near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, just outside Reading. It opened in 1962 as a 1/5-mile dragstrip. It was eventually lengthened to its current quarter-mile length in 1964. The track has been sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association for most of its existence. It has hosted an NHRA national event since 1985. Uni-Select Auto Plus came aboard as the Nationals sponsor in 2011. Other key events include the American Drag Racing League, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Geezers Reunion at The Grove, the Super Chevy Show, Mopar Action, Fun Ford Weekend and the NHRA Pennsylvania Dutch Classic.
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Doug Thorley was an American Funny Car drag racer, hot rodder and businessman. In 1967, he won the NHRA Nationals' first Funny Car Eliminator title, and was given Car Craft's All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Driver of the Year Award in 1968. Hot Rod magazine describes him as "one of drag racing's most famous early era drivers."
The 2020 Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 was the 18th stock car race of the 2020 ARCA Menards Series, the tenth and final race of the 2020 Sioux Chief Showdown, and the fourth iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 26, 2020, in Memphis, Tennessee, at Memphis International Raceway, a 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) tri-oval short track. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing would hold off the field on the final restart with three to go to win his eighth career ARCA Menards Series win and his sixth and final win of the season. Meanwhile, second-place finisher, GMS Racing driver Sam Mayer, would narrowly hold off Gibbs by 5 points to win the inaugural Sioux Chief Showdown championship.
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