LONG POND, Pa. — This truck with a jet engine dryer is used to dry the track at Pocono Raceway near Long Pond.
But instead of helping race cars cross the finish line, the truck headed down Philadelphia with a police escort so crews can cross the finish line here and reopen Interstate 95.
This stretch of highway collapsed early on Sunday, June 11, after a tanker truck hauling gasoline crashed near I-95 and caught fire.
"I don't think this was on our bingo card, but we're ready, whatever the ask is we're ready," said Ricky Durst, Senior Director of marketing for the Raceway.
He says they got a call on Wednesday from Governor Shapiro's office to assist them with the temporary fix to reopen the section of the highway.
Governor Shapiro tweeted Thursday morning, "To rebuild I-95 on time, we need 12 hours of dry weather to complete the paving and striping process. With rain in the forecast, we reached out to Pocono Raceway for help..." Shapiro added that they're bringing their jet dryer, "to help dry this section of I-95 and keep us on schedule."
If it rains, the raceways jet dryer will dry the asphalt so new lines can be painted.
"If it turned on right now I think you and I would probably end up over in that tree line over there. It's about 3,000 pounds of thrust," Durst said. "It's a jet engine, buckled into a Chevy 3500 heavy-duty silver road. It's going to get the job done."
Not only is this request to bring this piece of equipment down to Philly to help reopen the roadway really unique but so is this piece of equipment, with less than 10 of them on the east coast.
"I think we're honored to be able to be a part of this project. It's just smart business. We're about to host one of the largest sporting events of the summer here in Pennsylvania," Durst said. "We're going to have fans coming from all 50 states, all 67 counties here in Pennsylvania so we need these roadways open."
Raceway officials say they're prepared to stay at the site as long as they are needed.
Governor Shapiro says the damaged section of I-95 will reopen with the temporary fix Saturday or Sunday.