Diesel Thunder Drag Racing Season Storms the Sunshine State

April 7, 2017
Story By
Mike McGlothlin

Spring is here! Time to break out the drag trucks and head south to Florida. At least, that was the mindset for countless northerners as they migrated down to the Sunshine State for the first Diesel Thunder race of 2017. As any auto enthusiast knows, by March, most of the updates and engine changes that took place during the winter months have been implemented and tested on the dyno, and racers are itching to see how these tweaks play out in the real world.

The host venue would be Emerald Coast Dragway in Holt, Florida, an eighth-mile facility located just 35 miles northeast of Pensacola (the greater L.A., “Lower Alabama” area, as a lot of folks know it). By the end of the day’s festivities, a slew of full-size trucks would blaze the 660 in 5-second intervals, the lightning-quick Scheid Diesel dragster captured a 4.44 at 167 mph on its first outing of the year, and a nasty, LBZ Duramax-powered second-generation Chevy Colorado would grace us with its presence. If this is any indication of the kind of action we’ll see from the diesel industry this year, we can’t wait ‘til summer!

Moonlight Racing

The night before the race, Emerald Coast Dragway was open for business in the form of a test ‘n tune, and a lot of racers showed up to dial things in prior to the big day. Here, several attendees scope out the 12-valve 5.9L Cummins under the hood of Susan Stump’s ’34 Chevy rat rod. Even though it’s equipped with the fuel limited, rotary-style Bosch VE injection pump, at just over 3,000 pounds, it takes less than 400-rwhp for Susan’s Chevy to run a high 10 in the quarter-mile. The next day, she would lay claim to First Place in the Pro Mod class.

Fresh Build

Just a week before the event, Michael Dalton’s regular cab Ram wasn’t even running — but thanks to being given a bay to work out of at nearby Hardway Performance (along with some helping hands) he was able to make the call on race day. And despite having virtually zero seat time in a brand new truck, Michael pulled off a best E.T. of 6.11 seconds and made it to the semi finals in the Pro Street/Super Street class. His fourth-gen Ram benefits from a 5.9L common-rail Cummins put together by Donalson Diesel Performance, sports a chassis built by Wide Open Design, a Sun Coast 48RE transmission, Fleece Performance Engineering CP3s and injectors, custom FASS lift pump and ECU tuning from Hardway Performance.

Always on the Hunt

For years, Matt Maier’s old body style Ford has served as a beacon for what it takes to make a 7.3L Power Stroke competitive in diesel drag racing. Matt is always a tough contender in the 7.70 Index class, and his ’97 F-250 would lay claim to the number 1 qualifier at Diesel Thunder. Unfortunately, he would lose by a 0.003-second margin later on in the day, during the semi finals.

New Owner, Same Mini-Wheat

You might remember when we featured this truck in our “5 of the Fastest Cummins-Powered Rams in Existence” piece. Well, now the lightweight, Pro Street ’14 Ram 1500 belongs to Andrew Tovornik of Midgets Diesel Performance, and it got in on the action at Emerald Coast Dragway. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this truck go deep into the 8’s before the 2017 season concludes.

’66 Nova…With a Cummins

This is what happens when a diesel nut gets ahold of a proven rolling chassis: a ’66 Chevy Nova with a 6.8L common-rail Cummins under the hood. You might’ve seen Ryan Milliken’s now infamous car on some of the highlight reels from Lights Out 8, where the car ran a low 5-second eighth-mile — with its parachute deployed. With 1,500 hp on tap on fuel alone, we suspect that Ryan’s Nova will eventually click off 4’s in the eighth and 7’s in the quarter. Unfortunately, he would red light in the final round of the Pro-Mod class, giving the win to Susan Stump and her ’34 rat rod.

Quickest Diesel on Earth

Scheid Diesel hauled its 300-inch Spitzer chassis, Cummins-powered dragster down to Florida for its first test hit of 2017. The 2,500 hp rail would go 4.44 at 167 mph on a soft launch. While the dragster has been 4.12 at 182 (and 6.31 at 226 mph in the quarter-mile) and is capable of cutting 1.0-second 60-foots, its 4.44 is a good start to what will no doubt be a very busy race season for the Scheid crew. When they aren’t running all Outlaw Diesel Super Series events and select NHRDA races, they can be found mixing it up in the NHRA’s Top Dragster Class.

Where There’s Thunder…

There’s Dustin Jackson’s Lightning. Freshly wrapped and making its first appearance since receiving a major chassis overhaul at Fleece Performance Engineering, Dustin’s triple-turbo, Cummins-powered ’94 F-150 didn’t disappoint. The old Lightning (coined “Old Hustle, New Flow”) would put up a 5.40 at 132 mph in the final round of Pro Street/Super Street to take the win.

Race-Ready Colorado

The Internet sensation that is Enrique Gonzalez’s 6.6L Duramax-powered Chevy Colorado came up from Miami to get in on the action and — as is the case here — everyone wanted a video of it blazing down the track. Originally powered by a 2.8L Duramax, the second-generation Colorado was fitted with an LBZ-code 6.6L Duramax V8 with 15-percent over injectors, a water-to-air intercooler and an 82 mm Garrett GTX4202R turbo, courtesy of The Diesel Shop Miami. The truck is tubbed and back-halved, sports a 9-inch rear axle from Strange Engineering and is shifted via an Allison A1000 automatic. To date, Enrique’s mini-terror has clocked 6.70’s in the eighth (mid-10’s in the quarter).

Reality Check

Diesel Doctor’s Portable Dyno was on hand for anyone looking to find out how much horsepower and torque their ride sends to the ground. The 15,000 series Dynocom unit used in the company’s mobile setup is a popular choice for hot rod, diesel and tuner car shops alike due to its accuracy, repeatability and affordability.

Dialed In

Believe it or not, the flat-bed Dodge in the far lane belongs to one of the best diesel bracket racers in the country: Larry Brown. But not only is Larry’s Ram ultra-consistent at the track, we’re told it’s his daily means of transportation, along with being a full-time farm truck. What’s more is that he ran a 7.33-second dial-in at Diesel Thunder, which equates to 11.50’s in the quarter-mile… His regular cab sleeper would take the win in the Sportsman E.T. Class, running a 7.34 on his aforementioned 7.33 dial-in.

Zombie Killer

Making the trek over from Louisiana was longtime diesel head Danny Elmore and his 6.0L Power Stroke. Nicknamed the “Zombie Killer,” his Super Duty did work in the 7.70 Index category, eventually taking the win due to a breakout in the opposing lane.

1,300-RWHP Second-Gen

One of the nastier four-wheel-drive trucks at the event was Taylor Manning’s common-rail Cummins-powered second-gen. The 6,000-pound Pro Street Dodge — graced with Industrial Injection injectors and triple CP3s, along with a 104 mm Holset turbo from Keating Machine — put up a best pass of 5.97 at 120 mph. With a 9.15-second quarter-mile pass under his belt in the past, Taylor plans to dip into the 8’s this season.