Drag Racer Josette Roach Tests The Edges Of Motorsports Tech

Professional jet racer Josette Roach of Larsen Motorsports is part of the next generation of females … [+] breaking into motorsports.

Larsen Motorsports

If you’re tapped into motorsports, you’ve heard more about the women making strides in the sport.

Hailie Deegan has become a regular competitor in NASCAR’s Truck Series, while both Samantha Tan and Lindsay Brewer compete and own teams in America’s touring car circuits. And then there’s recent Harvard Graduate Aurora Straus, who’s opted not for graduate school but instead for the racetrack—winning her first professional podium last November at Sonoma Raceway.

And while the men of NASCAR and top racing teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing test and roll out automotive innovations developed within their own shops—all within the stock car racing authority’s rules, of course—there’s plenty of new tech being unveiled in other racing venues.

One such place is within the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)and IHRA Drag Racing circuit, where up-and-coming new driver Josette Roach is one of the women involved in both sides of racing, both in the car and as part of the development team.

Roach, a 28-year-old racing enthusiast from Saint Augustine, Florida is the sole driver for House of Kolor’s jet racing team. Since joining Larsen Motorsports in 2017, she has combined her love of speed with her background in STEM.

Roach came on-board full-time job in 2019, and as of 2022 became the primary driver for the House of Kolor Jet Racing Team.

“As a race car driver, (you) are always seeking sponsorships and partnerships to keep the team moving forward.”

Some of the partners Roach and Larsen Motorsports have enlisted sound like a tech nerd’s dream. For starters, there’s the Florida Institute of Technology (aka Florida Tech) and Siemens Digital Industries, a subsidiary of the engineering giant of the same name, that specializes in 3D product rendering software and the systems that help design some of the world’s most innovative tech products.

There’s also Markforged, maker of the Markforged X7 Industrial Carbon Fiber 3D printer. Roach said that the partnership with Florida Tech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design Center (CAMID) has let her and her racing team test and deploy some of the most important parts of their cars.

“Being able to customize a 3D-printed steering wheel is necessary to allow for parts that are safe, which is crucial in racing,” Roach said. “This ultra-customization ability for my team has allowed me to focus on my job of turning on win lights.”

But Roach’s foray into the literal nuts and bolts of building race cars isn’t just about turning out cool car parts and accessories. She indicates that innovation is a key to progress in racing.

“(T)here are challenges involved with being a female in a male-dominated sport. One is safety. Our anatomy is just different, and many times we are more petite than our male peers,” Roach said during our recent interview. “Because of this, we’ve leveraged the Markforged 3D printer and its simulation software to customize a steering wheel that perfectly fits my hands.”

A look at NHRA competitor Leah Pruett’s Top Fuel Dragster does a burnout during the NHRA Midwest … [+] Nationals on October 2, 2022, in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Roach, who hails from St. Augustine, Florida, first got into racing about the time she got her standard-issue driver’s license.

“It took me years of waiting, but at 16 years old I got my first race car, a junior dragster, and never looked back. I knew I wanted to be a drag racer from the moment I made my first pass,” Roach said.

Roach said that she’s driven a variety of cars—one of her favorites being her old 2004 yellow Ford Mustang—but that drag racing just seemed most natural for her. As for cars, she said that jet-powered dragsters are best.

“It’s the most fiery and fun vehicle I have ever driven down a race track. The fastest I have gone in a jet dragster is 281 mph in 5.72 seconds in a quarter-mile.”

This weekend Roach and House of Kolor take the track at No Problem Raceway Saturday, February 25, in Belle Rose, Louisiana. After that, she is scheduled to race in central Florida at the Orlando Speedworld Dragway Saturday, March 18.

Drag racing is very different from other forms of racing such as NASCAR and Formula 1, for obvious reasons. But Roach points out that it comes with its own rush.

“It requires being hyper-focused, and everything is sequential. It is like a dance, and you can’t miss a single step.”

Roach also points out—despite what you may have heard about racing being hypercompetitive—that there is a special camaraderie in drag racing.

“The racers and the fans you meet along the way are just amazing (and) really great and down-to-earth people and would give you the shirt off their backs. If you end up needing help working on your car, your competitors are usually the first to offer a helping hand.”

Generally, the drag racing in NHRA sees cars go from 0 to 100 mph within a second, with top speeds reaching up to 280 mph in just under seven seconds.

Hot rods like Roach’s jet dragsters have no brakes and slow down using only parachutes. Race tracks are around 1,000 feet and races last seven seconds or less.

Josette Roach with one of her finished drag racers.

Larsen Motorsports

Larsen Motorsports’ jet dragsters are powered by General Electric J-85 jet engines, originally used for fighter jets like the U.S. Navy’s Northrop F-5 and the Northrop T-38 Talon, used by both the Navy and U.S. Air Force.

“My car weighs about 1400 pounds with fuel and me in it. It produces about 5,000 lbs of thrust” while racing, she said.

Roach says her racers dragster uses two gallons of—not gasoline—but jet fuel per second under power.

“Drag racing was a natural choice. I grew up in a family where racing is life. Fun fact—my parents were at a drag strip the day before I was born. So you can say drag racing is in my blood.”

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