BEAVER SPRINGS— Bob Motz gave fans a reason to cheer Friday night as he returned to Beaver Springs Dragway after a two-year absence with his King of Quake jet engine-powered truck.

“We actually opened 39 years ago today,” said owner Robert DiBartolomeo. “This is traditionally one of the biggest shows of the year with Bob Motz’s jet truck. Wait until you see it. It looks like a space shuttle when it goes down the track.”

After a severe fire sidelined Motz, he decided to take some time away from racing to recover and rebuild his one-of-a-kind truck.

“We were hurt in an accident and I was laid up for awhile,” said Motz. “This is a sport you have to love like anything else. We spend a considerable amount of time, seven days a week, to do this. You have to want to do this. If you don’t like to work, it’s not something you should get into. The only doubt I faced was having enough money to get the truck going again. Fortunately, we had enough extra parts. It’s hard to explain how many hours it takes to do this.”

The jet truck’s best time clocked on a quarter mile is just under seven seconds, and it has hit speeds of 234.6 mph on its best run. The truck’s average speed sits well above the 200-mph mark. In order to achieve speeds like that, the truck burns 80-90 gallons of jet fuel per quarter-mile run.

“Everything with jet racing is individual,” Motz said. “There is nobody else that has a truck like ours. We build everything on the truck. It’s not something that you can call a shop and get parts for.”

The jet engine provides enough power to thrust the 7,000-pound truck down the dragway in about 7 seconds. This is accomplished with 17,500 pounds of thrust in the engine. The truck holds records for being the first truck to hit 150 and 200 mph, and in head-to-head competition in 2002, it won the only race ever held between two jet trucks.

“This thing accelerates from the time I leave the starting line to the time I shut it off at the finish line,” Motz said. “It’s a pretty quick ride at six or seven seconds. You can call it a thrill, but I enjoy handling the horsepower going that fast. My focus is always on the track when I’m going. It’s like riding in a car, just a little more exciting.”

“This is great,” said Carolyn Mull, 60, of the event. “All of our friends come out and it’s a really fun time. “

Mull has been competing at the track for nearly 20 years and never seems to tire of seeing the truck and spending the weekend racing down the track.

“This weekend is fun,” said Mull. “We’re excited to see the jet truck. It will be my eighth time seeing it.”