Blazing The Eighth: Topnotch Diesel Drag Racing From The Scheid Diesel Extravaganza

• September 3, 2021
• Story By
  Mike McGlothlin

It isn’t just diesel truck pulling that lures thousands of spectators out to the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. While the ground-pounding action is commencing out on the clay, the fastest diesel vehicles in the country are busy obliterating the eighth-mile drag strip just a few hundred feet away. The Pro Dragster category, spearheaded by Scheid Diesel’s own lightning-quick, Cummins-powered rail gave the crowd a glimpse of what low-4-second trips through the ‘660 look like, and Firepunk’s S10 did the same in Pro Mod. In Pro Street, Stainless Diesel threw down nothing but high 4’s and set a new class record for trap speed.

As for 5.90 Index, 11 trucks showed up to compete and one driver set a new elapsed time high mark for a 4x4/Allison transmission application. Close side-by-side racing was prevalent in 6.70 (these are still 10-second quarter-mile trucks!) and was especially the case in the 7.70 Index class. Then came perhaps the closest competition of the weekend, in the often-overlooked ET Bracket category. It wasn’t a bunch of slow tow-rigs running 10’s and 11’s in the eighth this year, plenty of 7.70 Index racers double-dipped by competing here and sticking with the same dial-in. Below, we’re recapping some of the most memorable moments from SDX 25’s drag racing festivities. Enjoy.

As Close As It Gets In ET Bracket

Don’t let the factory wheels and Terra Grappler G2 all terrains fool you, Ken Phillips’ ’06 Dodge Ram 2500 is much more than a stock-appearing truck. In fact, it’s capable of more than 600rwhp, but Ken detunes things to roughly 500rwhp on race day. As a result, his daily-driven crew cab Dodge is about as consistent as it gets in bracket racing. When he met former ET Bracket and 7.70 Index champion Ryan Riddle in the finals, Ken did his best work. The silver bullet four-door went 9.58 on a 9.58 dial-in to Riddle’s 7.71 on his 7.70 dial.

New Pro Street Diesel Trap Speed Record

The world’s fastest Pro Street diesel truck was on hand at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza—and now it’s even faster. During qualifying, Stainless Diesel’s common-rail Cummins-powered second-gen Dodge jumped off the line with a 1.23-second 60-foot and was off to the races. Then, feeling comfortable in the middle of the pass, driver Johnny Gilbert hit the “big button” on the steering wheel. The healthy shot of nitrous was good for knocking a tenth off the truck’s previous ET (a 4.98), added more than 200rwhp to the mix and led to a new record, 158.02 mph trap speed. A 4.86-second elapsed time on the pass wasn’t very far off the pace of the truck’s record ET of 4.82, either.

Competing On All Seasons

When track temps crest 140 degrees, there isn’t a whole lot of hope for any type of tire finding traction at the drag strip other than slicks. But judging by the performance Nick Morris turned in with his Nitto NT420V-equipped Duramax, many would think differently. Morris put the all season tread through its paces all weekend, making multiple passes spread out across two racing classes, 7.70 Index and ET Bracket. He would finish runner-up in 7.70 and third in ET Bracket, running closer to his 7.70 dial-in than almost everyone else at the event.

UCC Champ Enters 5.90

This year’s Ultimate Callout Challenge champ, Justin Zeigler (right), showed up at Scheid’s looking to compete in the 5.90 Index field. Turns out, slowing the truck down from its typical 5.3-second passes wasn’t exactly easy. Zeigler fought the truck for what seemed like all weekend before finally putting it all together in time for eliminations. In the first round, he took a nail-biter of a win against class veteran Austin Doidge. When the scoreboard lit up, Zeigler went 5.93 to Doidge’s 5.91, but the race was won on the tree.

From Last To First

It was Cummins vs. Duramax in the 5.90 Index class final, and the Duramax took the victory. After David Large battled breakage on his bright red third-gen Dodge and Dustin Sterling struggled to find traction in his classic body Silverado, the two faced off in a nail-biter to end the weekend. Perhaps the craziest part was that Dustin qualified 11^th and David qualified number 1. Dustin definitely had to work for this one, but he left Indiana all smiles—and Third Place in the ODSS points standings.

Quickest Pass Of The Weekend (4.23 E.T)

The diesel world is still waiting for the Scheid Diesel dragster to break into the 3’s, but its low 4-second thrills aren’t exactly getting old. At the Extravaganza, the rail’s fearless pilot, Jared Jones, sent the compound turbocharged, billet-block Cummins, Spitzer chassis machine through the traps as quickly as 4.23 seconds. The dragster’s trap speed also exceeded 175 mph on more than one occasion. For well over a decade, Scheid’s rail has represented one of the rawest forms of diesel power on the planet. A diesel race just doesn’t feel right without this vehicle in attendance.

Fastest Pass Of The Weekend (176 MPH)

Firepunk Diesel’s 3-second S10 was a heavy favorite to win the Pro Mod category—and that’s exactly what happened. With passes in the 4.30s and trap speed tapping 176 mph, no one else could quite hang with the Hot Shot’s Secret-backed machine from Ohio. On small tires, driver Larson Miller and the Firepunk team broke into the 3’s with a 3.99 at 182 mph back at Lights Out 12. And while they haven’t yet been that fast on big tires, the truck is getting more consistent on them, and may soon be knocking on the door.

Setting A New Record, By Accident!

Justin Duffy rolled into the Extravaganza the owner of the quickest Allison-shifted 4x4 GM truck in the world and the left the same way—but only after moving the record a whole tenth deeper into the 5’s. Perhaps the best part is that it wasn’t even intentional. As a 5.90 Index racer, the last thing on Duffy’s mind was trying to break out. But when he accidentally ran a 5.76 at 126 mph, he accepted it as both good and bad news. At 5,820 pounds (even with the fiberglass bedsides), that pass means Duffy’s single turbo’d, ¾-ton Silverado is applying more than 1,600 hp to the track.