David Kennedy, the editor...
David Kennedy, the editor of Diesel Power, holds a meeting for the class of 2007 at Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah. He explained the only real rules are you must run the same tires in each event, and you must have fun. In addition to the NHRA dragstrip, RMR has a full UROC rockcrawling course, a Super Oval racetrack, a full motocross facility, and 35 acres of pit areas.
The '07 Diesel Power Challenge was the toughest one yet. Drivers faced off on a hot summer day at Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah, which is at an elevation of 4,215 feet above sea level. The thin air, 93-degree-F temperatures, and competitive drivers sent parts flying and made this the fastest and most exciting Diesel Power Challenge we've seen. Here's how it all happened.
Drag RaceThe bright-red dualie driven by Mike Hallas helped kick off the '07 Diesel Power Challenge with a shocking run down the dragstrip that left the crowd cheering. A haze began to form around all six tires as he approached the 60-foot mark, then they all broke loose at a speed that would earn you a ticket on any freeway. The vulgar display of power was accompanied by a technical problem that led Mike to a 13.94-second pass at 98 mph and Ninth Place. Smoke billowed out of his 24-valve Cummins with 5-inch stacks as Randy Hartman built up boost at the line with his HX40/HT3B dual-turbo setup. Even with 169,000 miles on the odometer, the '01 Dodge Ram was able to reach the quarter-mile mark in just 12.95 seconds at 110 mph, which put Randy in Eighth Place.
The Transformer-themed orange Ford driven by Danny Elmore altered itself on the track after the transfer-case chain snapped. The resulting bind-up caused the housing to explode, which sent parts flying all over the RMR track. Shock waves from the disintegration of the T-case ejected the front driveshaft then traveled up through the transmission to damage the torque converter. Before its unexpected transformation into a two-wheel-drive truck, the '02 Power Stroke grabbed Seventh Place with a 12.89-second pass at 107 mph. There were no serious mechanical problems, but traction and pressure became issues when Shawn Ellerton spun all four tires at the starting line. His blue, dual-turbo, 6.0L Ford kept popping its intercooler boot whenever the intake approached 80 psi, so a little bailing wire was used to keep it hooked to the radiator. That worked until the nitrous kicked in on the fastest pass of 12.82 seconds, forcing Shawn to coast across the finish line at 90 mph and into Sixth Place.
James Farnam and his teammate,...
James Farnam and his teammate, John Duncan, apply the official '07 Diesel Power Challenge graphic to the windshield of his '05 Ram 2500 that's packing dual injection pumps and an Aurora 5000 turbo.
Less than a year into the buildup of his blue '06 Chevy truck, Ric Scrimager used trick parts, such as ceramic-coated exhaust manifolds, to keep his single Aurora 5000 turbo spooled on the dragstrip. A fully built engine along with programming based on lots of data-logging helped Ric make a best pass of 12.39 seconds at 112 mph and take Fifth Place. With his emergency lights in place, firefighter Tony Burkhard used his pewter '05 Chevy to achieve a quick quarter-mile response time of just 12.31 seconds at 112 mph, which put him in Fourth Place.
The white Mega Cab driven by Jorge Alfonso spent lots of time on the dragstrip trying to chase down the other common-rail Dodge in the contest. After multiple passes, Jorge was finally satisfied with a run of 12.02 seconds at 114 mph that put him in Third Place. The next fastest truck was the gray '05 Dodge piloted by James Farnam, who built his rig specifically for drag racing. Using a single turbo, big injectors, and a unique intercooler setup, James clicked off an 11.93-second pass at 100 mph and grabbed Second Place. The familiar red '02 Chevy driven by Micheal Tomac keeps getting faster, and it had no trouble surpassing the First Place elapsed time achieved last year in Bowling Green, Kentucky. With an additional 3,500 feet of elevation in play at RMR, Micheal fine-tuned his Duramax and laid down an 11.55-second run at 122 mph-the quickest pass in Diesel Power Challenge history. Then he watched as the rest of the contestants tried (and failed) to knock him out of First Place.
 Jorge Alfonso photographs...  Jorge Alfonso photographs his son of the same name (Jorge Alfonso II) along with his teammate, Enrique Gonzalez, as they apply the DPC decal to their '06 Mega Cab Ram 2500. |  Christine "The Filter Girl"...  Christine "The Filter Girl" LeMaster of Filtration Solutions fame entices the drivers to approach the starting line and kick off the '07 Diesel Power Challenge with some good ol' fashioned drag racing. |  Tony Burkhard launches his...  Tony Burkhard launches his '05 Chevy and gets a jump over Danny Elmore in his orange '02 Ford Power Stroke. Drivers were racing against the clock, not each other, so it was more important to launch with full boost than to beat the truck in the other lane. |