BUTTE — As part of a three-day Independence Day drag racing weekend, Alaska Raceway Park invited Edmonton, Alberta, driver Bruce Andrew back to the Butte quarter-mile drag strip for a few exhibition passes in his Northern F/X jet dragster.  Equipped with crowd-pleasing afterburners, Andrew’s car made several passes Friday, reaching 237 mph during one bone-rattling run.

Andrew’s car dazzled fans Friday, who covered their ears each time his rocket with wheels was fired up.

Andrew will return to the track today for more exhibition runs. He’ll be joined by Jamie Bodenstadt, whose Fairbanks-based nitro-powered “Alaskan Grizzly” funny car holds the track speed record of 279 mph.

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The two special guests will join drag racers from across Alaska in a full day of drag racing beginning at 10 a.m. today.

On Friday, the Frontiersman sat down with Bruce Andrew to find out just what it’s like to strap a 6,000-horsepower rocket to his back and hit the afterburners.

Frontiersman: So what’s it like behind the wheel of a jet car?

Andrew: Hard to explain unless you do it. It’s like going from zero to 200 in three seconds and then the car kinda flattens out.

Frontiersman: What got you into this kind of racing?

Andrew: A friend of mine, Brad Janishewski. I crew chiefed for him for three years and I wanted to drive the car. And he said, ‘you know what, buddy? It’s a hundred-thousand dollar toy, maybe you should go buy your own.’ So I went down to Washington, bought this car. It was sitting in a guy’s garage for about 10 years and we brought it back up to Canada and tore it right down to the frame, and rebuilt it from the ground up.

Frontiersman: How much maintenance is there on a car like this?

Andrew: We usually maintenance the hot section of the engine at least twice a year. Once I get done in Alaska I gotta go home and tear it apart. I’ll usually run ‘em about 10 rounds and then I’ll check ‘em and service it.

Frontiersman: So not as bad as the nitro cars?

Andrew: Really low maintenance. Jet engines are designed to run for thousands of hours. We run ‘em for seconds.

Frontiersman: It’s gotta be a bit scary.

Andrew: Everybody says that we’re like, psychotic or whatever. We’re not. For me, I don’t have a high-dollar sponsor, so I can’t afford to rebuild alcohol motors every six passes or whatever.

Frontiersman: So it’s more economical once you get the initial cost paid?

Andrew: Yeah. Which takes a long time. You never recoup it.

Frontiersman: What’s your ‘day job’?

Andrew: I do a lot of things. I’ve got a sandblasting company that I kind of subletted to another guy, and I also run mulchers. Down in Alberta there’s lots of pipeline maintenance and power line maintenance that we do.

Frontiersman: How many times do you run the car each year?

Andrew: I usually try to hit a dozen races a year?

Frontiersman: Why come to Alaska Raceway Park?

Andrew: This is probably the most picturesque track in the world. Not too hot, not too cold. The track’s flat, straight and fast.

Frontiersman: What’s the feeling like sitting in the car getting ready to run?

Andrew: I love it. I’ll never quit. [motions toward wife Berdina standing nearby] Well, I promised her I’d quit when I’m 50, so I still got a few years left.

Frontiersman: How much does your wife help you?

Andrew: She’s my crew chief, my wife and soul mate.

Frontiersman: When did you start driving jet cars?

Andrew: Actually, Alaska Raceway in 2003 was my very first race.

Frontiersman: So you’ve got some history here. Are you going to keep coming back?

Andrew: I hope so. I like it. It’s a cool place to come, the people are great up here.

Frontiersman: Have you gotten to do any sightseeing or fishing?

Andrew: I haven’t got any fishing done yet. I was hoping maybe I could slide away tomorrow. But if not, oh well. We got down to Seward, we’ve hung around all over. We stayed at Hatcher Pass Bed and Breakfast. Beautiful, quiet, peaceful.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265.