Power outages during summer are a fairly common occurrence, but at the August Blackout there were no shortages at all. Massive amounts of torque and horsepower were in abundance as hundreds of oil-burners gathered in Edmonton, Alberta, for an event hosted by NADP (North American Diesel Power). This company provides diesel and drivetrain upgrades for every domestic make of pickup, both north and south of our common border. But Canada seems to be made for diesels. Especially Alberta, where the plains roll endlessly to the horizon and the tar sands hold more crude oil than Saudi Arabia. The huge size of those reserves is no exaggeration and helps to explain, in part, why Canadians are such big fans of diesel power. They rely on hard-working, dependable diesel trucks to get them to the oil fields and back in harsh weather, not to mention to aid in cultivating the enormous expanses of farmland. All of which helps to explain the sudden popularity of this diesel truck event, now in its second year.
Dawn Livesay took home the...
Dawn Livesay took home the Miss NADP sash and a check for $5,000.
Judging from NADP's performance machines that roared down the dragstrip, there's clearly a bias toward Cummins-powered Dodges. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it did throw down the gauntlet to Ford and Chevy owners, who gamely jumped into the fray. At the end of the day, though, the winner of the Drag Wars was Mike Drever's champagne-colored '04 Ram 2500. An oil-driller by trade, he came all the way from Medicine Hat--about a six-hour drive--to show just how quick a street-driven Ram can be: 11.52 seconds at 118 mph in the quarter-mile, to be exact. A number of changes have taken place since we attended the first outing last year. The track is now called Castrol Raceway and NADP added a second day for dyno testing at the company's new, expanded headquarters on the other side of town from the track. The dyno day's top figure was nailed by Matt Adams' nitrous-fed, twin-turbo Ram, which posted a mind-boggling 810 hp.
The day prior had more than just drag racing. For the fastest speed achieved by each individual make, the trophy went to a lifted orange and blue Ram owned by Chad Accettura and Seija Lawkkanen. And they looked good doing it, too, taking home the Show-n-Shine award as well. The fastest Ford was from Ron Graakas, and Collin Lloyd won the Chevy award. At the burnout contest, the big rig Anger Management got all steamed up once again and took first place for a full minute of tire-smoking torque. It was a close contest, though, because NADP's Barry Voltner really choked the crowd, as did a number of other trucks.Speaking of heating things up, some of Canada's finest swimsuit models sauntered down the catwalk for a bikini contest, with judging done by Diesel Performance Products, manufacturers of the FASS (Fuel Air Separator System). Obviously, they know how to separate out more than just fuel and air because they picked lovely Dawn Livesay to be NADP's new spokesmodel, good for $5,000. Who says Canada doesn't get hot?
 NADP rolled out a number of...  NADP rolled out a number of high-caliber Rams for the event, which consistently ran in the low 12s and even quicker. |  This specially prepped "Bubba...  This specially prepped "Bubba Bee" was fitted with drag slicks and other race gear, while most of the other trucks ran street tires. |  |