By Mike Perry | IHRA.com

The IHRA Night of Fire always highlights big power and flame-throwing action. In Rockingham, during the Udderly SMOOth World Finals, it will also feature a jet-propelled luge that will take your breath away.

Bob Swartz has been involved in “gravity sports” for nine years, and his newest creation just might be his craziest yet. His Jet Luge is a lay-down skateboard with a P200 Gas Turbine jet engine, an engine that was originally designed for aerospace and military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The engine is capable of up to 52 lbs. of thrust and its RPM range is 35,000-112,000.

At the Night of Fire, you just might see Swartz hit speeds in excess of 100 mph. The 100 mph speed is his goal, and the closest he has come thus far in the two months since he built the Jet Luge was 89.5 mph. This is even more amazing when you consider Swartz rides a mere one inch above the track surface.

“I am a professional street luge competitor, and where I live in southern Maryland it is very flat,” Swartz said of why he built the Jet Luge. “I have to travel over two hours to practice at the higher speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour. I wanted to see if a jet engine could be used in a somewhat practical manner to practice at these speeds on local flat roads. The experiment has been successful.”

Swartz dazzled the crowd at the Torco President’s Cup Nationals when he hit 74.83 mph driving for the first time on a track prepped with VHT traction compound. He said getting “un-stuck” from the VHT was the most difficult thing he has faced so far. However, he vows to put on a great show for the fans at Rockingham Dragway.

“The fans will see a 46 year-old guy laying on a modified skateboard, one inch from the ground, with a real jet engine just five inches behind his head,” Swartz said. “They will hear the full sound of a jet engine and expect to see a much larger vehicle. It will seem like I am starting in third gear because of the VHT, but once I get past that they will be amazed at how fast I will go. And at the end of the run they can look for a cloud of blue smoke from my feet as I brake ‘Fred Flintstone’ style.”

That’s right, Swartz has to stop the luge with his feet. He uses motorcycle tires glued to the bottom of wrestling shoes to accomplish this difficult task.

“This thing is very cool to watch,” IHRA President Aaron Polburn said of the Jet Luge. “It is amazing to see Bob flying down the track on his back with smoke pouring out. When you think about how fast he is actually going it totally boggles the mind.”

The Udderly SMOOth World Finals are scheduled for this weekend at Rockingham Dragway, with Night of Fires taking place Friday and Saturday night.