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Night of Fire is a sensory overload @ Palm Beach International Raceway!!!

By wljphotography | March 10, 2020
When I heard about an event called the Festival Of Fire I said cool, jet cars! But on March 6, 2020 upon arrival at Palm Beach Raceway I quickly noticed that it was much more than “just jet cars”. The crew in charge of this event put on a show that not only included 9 fire breathing monsters that blasted down the quarter mile in about 5 seconds, but also an interactive fan experience for the whole family.
As soon as you went through the main entrance to the pits you where greeted by the Miss Geico Power Boat. For someone like me that’s not that familiar with this sport, it is amazing to see something like this up close and personal, mostly because of how massive this boat is! The Riviera Beach Florida based team has accomplished 10 world titles to date.
Miss Geico was not the only fast boat in the property. John Hice’s 25 foot Catamaran was an eye catcher for sure. Powered by a 1,300hp turbine engine. Would love to see this thing in action.
One of the forms of entertainment that the event offered was the music along with choreographed lighting and fire jugglers, that provided an atmosphere that for a second I forget that I was at a drag strip. It just felt like a big party
The details, the lighting on it, everything looked so well put together, spent a good bit of time looking through it.
Then 7:00 pm came along….. the people in the pits started to move towards the stands, the drivers started suiting up, and the crews giving one last check on things. That only meant one thing, it was time for fire! And lots of it.
It was time for the main event. Master of the ceremony, Vulkanas, God of Fire himself proceeded the parade of jet cars down the strip, with flame thrower in hand.
He had the task of getting up on stage,  introduce the drivers as they paraded suited up and ready, inside their cars on their way to get lined up for the show. Music, smoke and fire where on hand to make this experience a sensory overload.
A Family that races together, stays together!
Racing began with our youngest driver, by a bunch! 6 year old Billy Lee in his “Inferno” Fire Truck, and folks do not be fooled, it spun the tires when Billy saw that green light. Talk about living the dream at a young age, being so young and already being part of a show like this. Can only imagine what is ahead for young Billy in his future in this sport.
Folks, seeing these beasts up close and personal, I must say it was almost scary. We are talking about 5,000 horse power of fire breathing power. Cars raced head to head to officially kick off the Festival Of Fire. Weather you have seen jet cars a thousand times, or this would be your first time, it is a sight to see, hear and feel. These cars literally shake the ground when they perform. Personally my favorite is when they pop the afterburner as they head to the staging line. Imagine to canons going off side by side repeatedly as they inch forward. That’s the best description that I can give you, you have to experience it for your self.
To close out the racing for the night, the Homewrecker made it’s way to the line. With three jet engines it really heated things up, and that is not a figure of speech. The heat that this fire breathing monster emits, would be enough to burn the tower down, so to try and help a little for that NOT to happen the tower was sprayed down with water just before the pass.
Think that a single jet engine can be loud and powerful ? well imagine two more at the same time. Props to the media and track staff that stood close to this monster, I know I didn’t!
After racing was done fans headed back to the pits just in time to check out Big Bee, a real life transformer robot, that went from car to robot, and back right before your eyes. It was also a great photo opportunity!
The festival of fire for sure provided a very unique experience, one that you could see, hear and feel. High powered, fire breathing jet cars, boats, even a real life transforming robot. But honestly for me, the most gratifying thing that I saw, was how the drivers took care of the fans, young and old. That to me was the highlight of the night, seeing the kids faces light up when the drivers went up to them to shake hands, sign autographs and show them around the cars and explain how they worked, and what it felt to drive them.
Those are the things that make this sport great, it gets a younger generation excited in to mechanics, lights that fire to start working on something. See that the people who are involved with these cars are people like you and me, and you could be there if you put the effort in to it.
In closing I would like to thank the crew behind the festival of fire, for their professionalism and for putting on a great show and for allowing WLJ Photography to be there and capture this images and be able to tell you what went on.
We are very excited to see what the team comes up with next.
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