CHRONICLES OF DRAG CHALLENGE #3 – CRAIG LUE (Part 1)

This will be a brief story. It will be consistent with the eye-popping elapsed times that, like confetti after a NASCAR race, rained on the concrete at Drag Challenge #3 in July! Craig Lue and the Lueboyz are icons in Jamaican drag racing. There is no room for debate. Craig has been reacting to start-signals for more than two decades! Craig and the Lueboyz have an enviable drag racing record and thanks to their dedication to ‘the fastest in a straight-line’ version of motorsports, we have had the pleasure of witnessing some real, ‘sick’, ‘head no good’, motor have too much power, driver-brainless, ‘maaadd’ type-of machines!

Janspeed

The notorious, 10 seconds-capable ‘Banana’ (in original trim) comes to mind. And when the Evo was King, they adopted Janspeed’s (RIP bro) C16-ingesting Terminator. A monstrous beast, with sonorous notes which would soothe the soul of even the most pugnacious being! But the Lueboyz were not satisfied with Janspeed’s interpretation of speed. Like a glutton, they wanted more!

The machine was dissected, packed with NASA type components and when it raided drag-strips we were allowed to see it for what it truly was – a genetically-enhanced panther, cloaked in blue, but utilising MIT designed algorithms to harness nuclear explosions inorder to provide the requisite firepower a machine of its caliber and origin dictated. It was a single-digit machine which when driven by Craig Lue in anger, (which means, all the time) was a visual, tangible interpretation of an all wheel drive machine erupting from a stationary, but frightened line!

That was then. The Lueboyz drove into circuit racing and for  a year or two (or maybe more) they have not been a dominant force in competitive drag racing. We are fully aware that their new machine will  be ‘released’ soon. Rumor has it that an 8 seconds ‘thing’ is in the liar being massaged for duty! If there was any doubt that they have genuine plans to return to their roots, Drag Challenge #3 gave us a few ‘spy-shots’ moments. Craig Lue rolled out to Drag Challenge #3. And in typical Craig Lue fashion, he was not only present, he overturned the d… boat! And he drove an innocuous machine!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer