Chances are at some point in your life you have seen – or at least heard – the fiery, earth-shaking truck driven by the legendary Bob Motz.
Whether attending a race or simply driving by your local drag strip on a Saturday night, hundreds of thousands of people have witnessed the awesome spectacle that is the 20,000 horsepower purple and black jet Kenworth driven by the one and only “King of Quake” Bob Motz.
For nearly 30 years many have tried to recreate the “Motz Magic”, but none have been able to match the intensity and showmanship that Motz brings to the table during each and every one of his jaw dropping runs.
But for the past two years Motz and his truck – which has been known to actually bump the needle on the Richter scale – have been silenced.
Sitting on the sideline since a scary accident in 2007 where his truck actually caught fire on the starting line during a routine run, Motz has been recovering ever since.
Suffering burns that covered over 40 percent of his body, the past two years have been some of the hardest of Motz’s life. But with every storm there comes a rainbow and that is exactly how Motz looks at what happened on that balmy night in June.
Now, two years after the accident, the world’s first geriatric jet driver is back in the saddle and once again thrilling crowds across the country.
“Physically it is still a challenge, but it is getting better,” said Motz, who shies away from admitting his actual age. “I don’t have the energy that I had before, but I am getting it back slowly.”
Motz actually made his return to the stage in March at the Mardi Gras Nationals in Baton Rouge and has since done roughly a dozen or so shows across the country. Now Motz plans on adding a few more dates to his schedule, including a Thunder Jam event at Carolina Dragway later this month and a Nitro Jam national event at New England Dragway in mid-September.
While Motz tries to get back up to speed and return to his weekly touring of the country, his mind is never too far from the accident.
But while he is more aware than ever of the awesome power that sits just underneath him, he said he never once thought about giving it all up – even lying in his hospital bed, Motz knew he had to get back in the truck.
“I really never gave much of a thought of giving it up. A broken fuel line is just part of the game,” Motz said. “It wasn’t the trucks fault and it wasn’t that the truck scared me or anything, I knew what happened. Now I am working everyday on getting that one fixed while we use our backup.
"I have got a ton of money and time invested in this thing and I wasn’t going to give all of that up.”
While time and money are an important part of his motivation to keep going, Motz will be quick to admit that his real passion is seeing the look on the fans faces – at least before he begins to make his run.
“I really can’t see them when I am on the line. When I am up on the line I am really concentrating on what I am doing and I can’t hear anything with the engine and everything going,” Motz said. “All I am doing is trying to do the best show that I can and that is what I concentrate on. Like any racecar you still have to be ready for anything.
“Before and after the run is when I really get to interact with the fans. Meeting the people is when I get my thrill.”
So what does Motz, who has been behind the wheel of jet vehicles for over 40 years, tell those fans when asked what it is like to have 20,000 horsepower strapped to your back?
“I tell them you just have to do it – and then you will want to do it more,” Motz said with a laugh. “The run is very short, but very good as far as I am concerned. It is not something that I can really explain to someone, but when you have got a hold of that much horsepower and you are playing with it you really have your hands full.
“What can I say, I like speed.”
And the “King of Quake” has plenty of that.
Motz’s trucks are powered by the famous General Electirc J79 Turbojet, developed in the early 1950s and used to push Cold War and Vietnam-era aircraft such as the B-58 Hustler and F-4 Phantom II to new levels of performance.
“I have always driven jet cars, but the truck, when we built that it was built because nobody else had done a truck,” Motz said. “It took about five or six years before anyone else got another truck. Our learning experience was great because we had all those years before we had any competition.
“Everybody still tells us that we are the best, though, so hopefully we can keep that up.”
Motz’s return to some of the upcoming IHRA and Thunder Jam events will without a doubt be emotional and thrilling, but with each passing year Motz realizes that his window to continue doing what he loves gets smaller and smaller with each pass.
So how long does Motz plan on continuing to wow crowds at drag strips across the nation?
Longer than you think.
“As long as I can do it and I feel comfortable in the seat. I have got my speeds back up to where they were and the truck is working well,” Motz said. “When you are out of the business for a couple of years you lose some of your business and we are trying to build that back up.
“Lets just said I am not ready to quit just yet.”
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