Jet dragsters run at Mile High Nationals - #lakewoodnews

Not all the July 22 events at the Mile High Nationals were time trials: John Bandimere III was at the wheel of one car so that fans could watch the side-by-side flame-breathing jet dragster roar down the quarter-mile trackThe two jet dragsters capped the evening's racing, which included sportsman classes and featured time trials for the 10,000-horsepower top-fuel dragsters and top-fuel funny cars battling for spots to race for the Mile High Nationals championships July 24 at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison."We ran the jet dragsters as a little something extra for our fans here at the Mile High Nationals," said Bandimere, also the speedway's general manager. "It is just our way to thank the fans for coming out."Drag racing is in the blood of the Lakewood resident.His grandfather established the drag strip in 1958. His dad, John Bandimere Jr., took over and, under his leadership, brought the Mile High Nationals to Colorado, the only National Hot Rod Association stop on the national tour."I had done some drag racing in other cars and loved it," Bandimere III said. "Then I expressed an interest in driving jet dragsters. So, a couple jet car drivers helped me get my license ..."He has been driving a jet dragster for Tony Franco of Oxnard, California, for three years."I do two or three events here at our track and I also make a few trips to other tracks," he said. "Overall, I guess I drive at eight or nine events during the year."He smiled, saying it is a different feel to step on the accelerator knowing you have all that power pushing the car down the track.Most jet dragsters are powered by J-85 engines, the same engines used in the Talon fighter plane. The two-stage turbine jet engines produce about 9,000 pounds of thrust, pressing the driver back into the seat with a force about 4.5 times the force of gravity."We don't fly off the starting line but we do accelerate quickly," Bandimere III said. "We cover the first 60 feet on the track in about .9 seconds. That is about the 60-foot time of a pro stock car. These jet dragsters go from a standing start to traveling 280 to 300 miles an hour when they cross the finish line a quarter mile away."Driving a jet dragster is always exciting, Bandimere III said, and it was exciting when he hit speeds of 303 miles an hour during an event at Bakersfield, California.Jet dragsters put on a special show for the fans.Usually drivers prepare to make the side-by-side run by pulling to the staging and firing up their engines. The engine of each car sends out a huge plume of white smoke from the tail pipe. Cars pull up to the starting line, drivers rev up the engines and light off the afterburner, so when the green light comes on the car rockets down the track with flames shooting out of the tailpipe."When you watch a pair of jet dragsters make a run you can only imagine what it is like to be at the wheel," Bandimere III said. "I have been driving the jet dragsters for three years, love it and I always look forward to the next time I get into the cockpit to go racing."

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