Cobra Jets Rack Up Wins In Back To Back NMRA and NHRA Events

Right off the bat in each drag racing season the Cobra Jet crowd gets a workout in sunny Florida. It’s a whirlwind tour starting at the NMRA Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park March 5th-8th with the Cobra Jet Showdown, and heads-up classes. The very next weekend, the Cobra Jets get another chance at the NHRA Gatornationals in several classes, as well.

John Calvert and Chris Holbrook battled it out in the NMRA Cobra Jet Showdown, with Calvert taking the win. Holbrook won the Cobra Jet Showdown in 2014. Calvert image courtesy of Ford Racing.

The Cobra Jet Showdown at the NMRA Spring Break Shootout takes place on Friday and Saturday of the event, and features many of the top Cobra Jet teams from across the country. However, there are also a couple NMRA heads-up classes that are perfectly suited for Cobra Jet cars, as well. Coyote Modified and Renegade are perfect classes for Cobra Jets, and competitors did very well in those categories.

In an old school match race, Roy Hill and Bob Tasca squared off in their respective 'Outlaw' Cobra Jets. Both are 7-second machines, but Tasca got the better of Hill at Bradenton. Hill struggled to get a handle on the car's suspension for most of the weekend, which enabled Tasca to take the best of 3 match race.

In the NMRA’s Cobra Jet Showdown it came down to 2014 class winner Chris Holbrook and John Calvert, but this time Calvert took the win. In Coyote Modified, Johnny Lightning took the win with an 8.28 over class newcomer Haley James. Lightning was the only competitor capable of beating a member of the Hellion Power Systems’ 3-car effort.

About 3 hours north of Bradenton at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, Jeff Hairrington had his Cobra Jet in the Stock Eliminator class as part of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Considered Division 2, Hairrington won the class, and is also competing as we type at the Gatornationals, also at Auto-Plus Raceway this weekend. Hairrington’s Cobra Jet is a Platt and Payne-tribute ’14 model. Of course, Hairrington is far from the only Cobra Jet competing in Gainesville this weekend so we’ll see how the guys fare in NHRA competition.