Chris Werner has run in the...
Chris Werner has run in the 10s at sea level, but in the thin air of Rocky Mountain Raceway, it was not to be. An 11.41 with a whiff of nitrous (.080 jet) was all Werner could muster, which was still good enough for the overall dragstrip win.
Day One: Drag Race, Trailer Tow, And DynoAfter a quick drivers' meeting, it was on to the drag racing event. The first event of the day was also one of the most difficult, as the elevation made many trucks hard to spool at the line, and many were worried about parts breakage. The first race of the day was between "Idaho" Rob Coddens' twin-turbo Duramax and Jeff Dean's regular cab D-max. Rob cut a perfect .000 light on the tree and was off to a high 12-second elapsed time with Jeff in hot pursuit. It looked like it was going to be a good day. It wasn't long before we saw our first 11-second pass of the event, a blistering 11.62 at 121 mph by Ron Gaalaas. Amazingly, Ron still had another stage of nitrous left if anyone felt like bettering his time. As the truck pulled back into the pits, it was clear something was wrong. Ron was only running on five cylinders and was the first one out of the competition. It was an unfortunate early exit for one of the strongest trucks there.
Back on the strip, almost everyone seemed a half-second slower than they normally ran because of the elevation. Chris Werner couldn't get his turbos to spool so he hooked up some nitrous as a quick fix. Chris was still only running low 12s, not the 10s he had been expecting. Charr Drever was having trouble getting her gold Dodge to make a full pass and coasted to a high 12. Some of the heavier trucks, such as Al Babneau's Dodge and Ernest Schwartz's Ford, didn't like the dragstrip and were running 13s. Team Duramax was looking strong with Jerimiah and his red Chevy running mid-12s with no nitrous. Rob and Jeff were also both in the mid-12s by now, and Nick D'Amico had busted out a 11.47 at 121 mph for the lead, hurting his up-pipe in the process.
With time winding down, competitors were pushing even harder. Charr had popped a head gasket on a subsequent 12.47 pass, and it looked like her day was over. Not one to give up, her truck was loaded up on a trailer and taken to be repaired in an effort to make the dyno contest later in the day. Rob ran a 12.46 to take a place away from her. Scott Countryman and the Ford-Cummins ran reliably pass after pass, making us feel as though our earlier fears had been unfounded. The heavy truck also didn't scatter its Allison transmission on its way to a 12.61 pass at a blazing 113 mph.
Chris Werner ended up spraying nitrous the whole way down the track on his last pass, and ran an 11.41 to take the lead from Nick. He pulled right back around to the lanes in case Nick tried to make another run, but Nick was content with Second Place considering his truck was hurt. Time was up at the drags, with one truck out for good, three trucks in the 11s, and a Dodge in First Place.
 One of the most impressive...  One of the most impressive (and loudest) trucks in the drag racing event was Nick D'Amico, who ran a blazing 11.47 at 121 mph, which was good for Second Place. |  On his way to a Ninth Place...  On his way to a Ninth Place finish in the drags was Al Babneau, who broke into the 12s with a 12.89, but had trouble shifting into Overdrive, slowing his overall times. |  Derek Temple ran bracket-race...  Derek Temple ran bracket-race consistent 13.9s at the event. With a PPE programmer being one of his only modifications, he knew he'd brought a knife to a gun fight, but was a good sport about it. Since Derek is only 19, we suspect he has plenty of time to make his bad-in-black GMC even faster. |
 We were impressed with the...  We were impressed with the Ford/Cummins/Allison combination from the moment it hit the dragstrip. A 113-mph trap speed in a truck that huge showed big power, and the Allison didn't miss a shift. |  "Idaho" Rob Coddens was fresh...  "Idaho" Rob Coddens was fresh off of a win in the 12.0 class at the Bakersfield NADM race, but elevation slowed the twin-turbo truck to a 12.46 at Diesel Power Challenge. |  Charr Drever had problems...  Charr Drever had problems at the track, making her first pass a 12.47 at a coasting 97 mph. A blown head gasket was the result of her next run, which we thought put her out of the event. |
 With only an hour to make...  With only an hour to make runs, side-by-side races were the norm, which made for some interesting matchups. Here Nick's monster Duramax is seen starting to pull away from Derek Temple. |  |  |