One of the most exciting events we've been to was the '07 Norcal Diesel Rally sponsored by J&H Performance, which took place in Redding, California. While the event had the usual show-'n'-shine, drag racing, sled pulling, and dyno events, it also had a Tough Truck Challenge sponsored by BD Diesel Performance. In this competition, participants had to run three events, and the vehicle that placed best in all three was declared the winner. We won't tell you who won just yet (see sidebar on page 106), but it was a close one.
DynoSaturday morning started out with the chassis dyno contest, where Chris Werner took top honors in his '01 Ram with a newly rebuilt 12-valve engine that made 1,078 hp. Richard Brown took Second Place with 900 hp (out of a common-rail Dodge), while Nick D'Amico's Duramax put down 694 hp on #2 diesel only. Mike Dillehay was in the big-power Ford, getting 727 hp out of his 7.3L Power Stroke.
DragsNext, it was on to the track, where four 12-second Dodge Rams battled it out with Nick's Duramax until Chris Werner ran away with the competition with an 11.32-second quarter-mile run. In addition to the drags for the tough trucks, there was also a Bracket class, an 11.50 Dial class, and a Manual class for those who wanted to shift their own gears.
Sled PullThe last event was the sled pull, where a sticky track had even the stock trucks pulling in the 200-foot range. The pull had a class for almost everyone: Street, Super Street, Modified, and even a Powder Puff class for the ladies. In Street diesel, Brian Freeman's 245-foot pull was good enough for First Place, while Matt Lewis took the Super Street victory with a 251-foot pull. In the Modified class, almost 50 feet separated the top three: Lenny Reed pulled 246 feet, Joel Gooch pulled 307 feet, and Scott Vorhees and his Big Bad Diesel pulled the sled into the next county at 350 feet. For full results of all the classes along with dyno, drag, and pull figures for the Tough Truck competition, visit www.jandhperformance.com.