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Kim Kasye
Jones
NHRA Super
Comp Racer
Kim Kasye Jones was born into racing and has been around racing
all her life. From the time she was a little girl, she was either in
the garage, the shop, the pits or at the track. "My dad raced NASCAR
Modifieds on the Northeast Circuit, so I ate it, smelled it, drank
it, and lived it from the time I was a little girl. I am a true
believer that you are born a racer, that racing is in your blood.
You just don't decide one day your going to race cars, it has to be
within you and you have to feel it."
Kim took a break
from the racing scene to go to college, get married, and have a
daughter. "I tried to have a normal life, whatever your definition
of that is, and settle down. Guess what, that didn't work for me",
she recalls. "This goes back to the racing is in the blood thing
again. Don't get me wrong--racing was not forgotten about. While
trying to seek out what people will call a normal life, we still
went to races on occasion. It's not the same when you're not
involved with a car at the track. You can get kind of bored if
you're not participating."
That's when her husband decided to open their world to a
different kind of racing, drag racing. Kim was hooked immediately.
"It was so intense and the speeds were incredible. I'll never forget
that day, it was at Maple Grove Raceway and I just couldn't get
enough. I don't know till this day if he thinks that was a good
thing or a bad thing by taking me to the drag races, I personally
think it was a good thing. The racing blood was flowing very fast
from that time on, and I knew I wanted to drag race right then or in
the near future."
Within the next two years, Kim's interest
in drag racing led her to start a weekly magazine-format television
show about racing. Reaction Times Motorsports went on the air about
3 years ago, produced by Turner Productions, Inc. in Lake Park, Fl.
"I went to them with my show idea and they let me run with it. They
believed in me and believed I could be very successful. There have
been a lot of hard roads to travel down, but I have overcome them."
While producing the show, Kim met AMA Superbike Racer Joe Capicotti.
They hit it off right from the beginning, and Capicotti now co-hosts
with Kim. " The show is very unique; the hosts are both current
licensed racers that will go to extremes to make for good show
content. We interview racers and show highlights of the racing. Joe
and I have a great rapport together, we add a lot of humor to the
show and you'll never know what we will do next."
It was in May 1998 while filming "Reaction Times." that Kim met
NHRA Pro Stock Driver Kevin Sparks and his wife Debbie, who was
obtaining her Super Comp License in their dragster. "We talked for a
while and I said I would love to drive that dragster and get my
license. Kevin turned to me and said 'That can be arranged.' That
did it, I about had a heart attack, I was so excited. Kevin and
Debbie went through the whole car with me from controls to all
safety features, how to drive the car, what to do if something goes
wrong. It was a very thorough, one on one training experience and I
learned a lot. Since then we have become like family with Kevin and
Debbie and they have been there for us every step of the way.
Needless to say we went on to build our own dragster and the rest is
history, with more history to be made."
Currently Kim is
racing in the NHRA Super Comp class and also ET Bracket racing. Her
car is a 1999 235 inch wheelbase dragster, with a 427 cubic in, 600
HP big block Chevy, Ford 9 in rear with 4.57 gears, which weighs
with driver 1700 lbs. It runs ET's of 8.70 in 1/4 mile at 155 mph.
"The dragster has many safety features, which are mandatory by the
NHRA. We use all the safety precautions that we can and the ones
mandated by NHRA. SAFETY FIRST!! We need to have a parachute, full
fire suit, including driving boots and gloves, 5 point harness
(seatbelts), arm restraints, which get attached to your belts so
that your arms can't come out of the cockpit, Snell 95 full face
helmet, neck collar, full roll cage and chassis inspected and
approved by an NHRA tech inspector, fuel shut off switch, in case of
an incident you can turn off the fuel, and also at the back of the
car there is a battery disconnect switch that will automatically
shut down the car in case of an incident.
There are other safety features that are not mandated by the NHRA
to have, but we use some of them. We have what we call a diaper,
which is made by Stroud Safety. It is placed around the bottom of
the motor and mounted in place, if the engine were to blow up all
the oil and parts will be contained in this diaper, instead of all
over the track, causing for an accident and shut down time for the
race. Racing is a dangerous sport, but by taking the proper safety
precautions and remembering safety always comes first, it becomes a
lot of fun! "
Kim's schedule is always packed, and may become more so in the
future. Plans are to continue "Reaction Times Motorsports" working
with Turner Productions, which is a full-fledged production house
with all digital equipment. "We do everything from TV shows to
commercials to infomercials, we do it all. They have been like a
family to me, a great bunch of people to work for. I look forward to
many more years producing and hosting Reaction Times. It's a lot of
hard work and time, but worth every minute of it!"
As if that weren't enough, Kim is considering competing in the
Southern Fastruck Series this year. The Series will air on the
Sunshine Network throughout the state of Florida and throughout the
country on FOX Sports Net satellite. She's got her priorities firmly
established though. "I will only compete at selected events that
won't interfere with my drag racing schedule. Drag racing is where
my heart is, but I'm having a lot of fun gaining experience in other
areas of motor sports. More is never enough!"
Recently, Kim attended Skip Barber Racing School where she
completed the course and obtained her SCCA Road Racing license in an
Open Wheel Formula Dodge, and there has been talk that they would
like Kim to join them and compete in the SCCA Southern Series. "That
kind of racing keeps me on top of my game and makes me a much better
driver on and off the track. I think it's the busiest cockpit in all
motor sports, and I love it!!!" She has also completed the Skip
Barber Stock Car School.
Her future drag racing plans include running a NHRA Top Fuel
Dragster and she is in talks with some people to start on getting
her licensing done. "We have the car, the transporter, the team; we
have everything but sponsorship money," she reports. "We are
definitely making progress in that area, so I'm hoping it's only a
matter of time. I am so excited about this venture, it's a great
team and I feel once we are out there we will be very successful and
make some noise! Literally! "
The bottom line? "I can't wait to get in the seat of that car,
with 6000 HP right behind you and run over 300 mph in a quarter
mile; it's going to be incredible!!!"
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