(The following story by Steve Kaminski appeared on The Grand Rapids Press website on June 10.)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — K.C. Jones has a photograph of himself sitting in a pedal car when he was 3 years old, and Cannonball Express was written on the side.
Don’t we all have toys that you just never want to throw out?
Jones, of Van Nuys, Calif., is still tooling around in Cannonball Express, only these days, he’s pedaling down dragstrips at more than 240 miles per hour. Jones, 45, is all grown up — and so is his car. Cannonball Express is modeled after an 1890 steam locomotive, and it’s powered by a 13,000-horsepower jet engine.
“I was named after the famous railroad engineer,” said Jones, referring to the legendary Casey Jones. “I’ve loved trains all my life. When I was a kid, all my birthday cakes had railroad themes.”
Jones is making his way to U.S. 131 Raceway Park in Martin for this weekend’s annual AutoZone Super Chevy Show. Jones also will be bringing along a second jet-powered car, Super Chief, which was introduced earlier this season.
Jones will be racing Cannonball Express, and he will be squaring off against Super Chief in a series of match races throughout the weekend. Super Chief, driven by Scott Holdridge of Chicago, is designed after a 1950s diesel locomotive.
Want to keep up with this Jones? Good luck. The jet engine in Cannonball Express was built in the late 1940s, just after World War II, and it’s still humming along perfectly.
Happy with the gas mileage in your SUV? Cannonball Express gets about 105 gallons to the mile. Jones burns nearly 26 gallons of jet fuel every time he makes a trip down the quartermile. Jones will be bring over 200 gallons of fuel with him to the dragstrip.
“It’s a thrill,” Jones said. “We also have an afterburner. We took some of the more modern day technology and have applied it here. We have 40 feet of flames shooting out of the back. All you see is a bunch of fire and bunch of smoke.”
Jones worked for Funny Car legend John Force in 1982 before he started his own jet car team. Jones admitted he always has had a passion for drag racing, and driving was his No. 1 goal.
“I was fortunate because my older brother started taking me to the races when I was 4 or 5 years old, and I loved it,” Jones said. “We had a professional drag racer who lived across the street from us when I was 12 years old. I was a shy kid, and my mom would have to push me out of the door to go see him. I ended up working with him for 10 years.”
The Super Chevy circuit certainly keeps him busy. Super Chevy is a 19-race national schedule, and this weekend’s program will offer Nitro Coupes along with the jet dragsters. In addition, car shows will be held on Saturday and Sunday, and there will be a swap meet and car corral.
Racers will have an opportunity to test and tune their cars Friday from noon to 5 p.m. Professional racing is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m.
“We travel. We are on the road eight or nine months a year,” Jones said. “It’s just me and my wife, Linda, and our two dogs. We travel the country and do it together. My wife is willing to put up with this nonsense.”