Check Out The Insane Black Pearl Jet Funny Car on the Track in Bristol!

Last year, the NHRA added something to each tour stop that was designed just to enthrall the fans, as if side-by-side 11,000 horsepower racing and heart-stopping finishes wasn’t enough. The worlds largest motorsports sanctioning body decided to add jet cars at each tour stop, and these guys definitely know how to put on a show for the fans.

This particular car, a 1969 Nova-bodied jet funny car campaigned by David Douthit, carries a theme that made it a huge hit with fans young and old, tying in several touches from the global blockbuster series Pirates of the Caribbean and the infamous “Black Pearl”, the ship captained by none other than Jack Sparrow himself.

The car is powered by a 10,000 horsepower GE J-85 engine capable to pushing the car to speeds in excess of 250 MPH in the quarter mile. Douthit, a native of Colorado Springs, CO carries the distinction of being the youngest ever licensed jet car pilot in the world, earning his license just a few days after graduating high school back in 1993. Since then, David had developed a trademark routine that wows crowds without fail. He blasts the starting line with massive flames, huge walls of smoke, and a series of “burner pops”, quickly hitting the afterburner to make the massive turbine engine “pop” an intense flame out of the back while slowly bumping the car forward each time.

With the flashy part of the show concluded, time comes to get serious and drop the hammer on all 10,000 of those horsepower, with the engine pushing David and the Black Pearl down the quarter mile in just six and half seconds at well over 230 MPH, proving the car has just as much “GO!” on board as it does “Show”. Keep an eye out for David and the Black Pearl and drop by and say hello. I’ve met Douthit personally and I can assure you, he is absolutely one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.