Between Super Shockwave’s incredible fire show and earth-shattering launch, to Grave Digger’s massive halftrack burnouts on six-foot tall tires and ear-piercing takeoff, Nitro Jam’s main event at the 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals will been nothing short of impressive and the fans aren’t the only ones that have been taken aback by the spectacle.
“It is an intense experience to say the least,” said former Monster Jam world champion and Grave Digger driver Randy Brown. “When you are used to launching this massive truck 30 feet in the air, it is a totally different experience lining up and trying to reach maximum speed all within the confines of a lane just wide enough to fit the truck. It has been a different experience that is for sure, but more than anything it has been fun.”
And when you ask Brown, it is safe to say that even the drivers themselves have been wowed by the popularity and shear insanity that ensues when you match a twin engine jet-powered truck against a towering 12-foot tall crushing machine.
Debuting four years ago at Rockingham Dragway, the “monster truck” showdown between two of the most recognizable race machines in motorsports today has been one of the most exciting additions to Nitro Jam in many years.
Joining a lineup that already includes Top Fuel Dragster, AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car, Fuel Altered and Nitro Harley, as well as the battle for the 2013 IHRA Summit World Championships, the unique main event will provide a unique atmosphere, even for someone like Brown who is used to performing in front of sold out arenas all across the nation.
“It has been overwhelming the response we have had being a part of Nitro Jam,” Brown said. “It is neat because people are enjoying seeing the truck out of its element, doing something beside what they are used to seeing every day. It is a refreshing change of pace for the fans.
“They also don’t expect it to run as good as it does. That thing is a lot faster than what many of them expect it to be. It is neat seeing their reaction.”
Just consider the stats.
In one lane you have the Super Shockwave jet truck. Producing 30,000 horsepower and 12,500 pounds of thrust from two J34-48 jet engines that eat nearly 80 gallons of diesel fuel per run, the Super Shockwave has been clocked at over 370 miles per hour from a standing start making it one of the fastest trucks in the world.
In the other lane is Grave Digger. Housed under a 1950-style Chevrolet body, Grave Digger weighs nearly 12,000 pounds and produces over 2,000 horsepower from its 575 cubic inch Chevrolet Big Block engine. Standing at nearly 12 feet tall with 66 inch tall, 43 inch wide tires, Digger makes its presence felt when it pulls onto any track.
And while the two machines have very few similarities and are designed for two totally different forms of racing, they both share one very common characteristic – when they pull onto the track, fans take notice.
Tickets to the IHRA Summit World Finals are available online at www.nitrojam.com or you can call MIR at (901) 969-7223. Don’t miss the return of Clay Millican and the crowning of IHRA’s 2013 World Champions October 11-12 at Memphis International Raceway.
