Jeff Dean had a good game...
Jeff Dean had a good game plan from the start. He ran a 12.37 with more left in it, but he knew he couldn't catch Ron's 11.62, so he waited the rest of the event to see if anyone beat his time. Since nobody did, he just saved his truck for the trailer tow.
Trailer TowWelcome to opposite-land, and one of the closest competitions of the weekend. First up was Nick D'Amico, who had a drive pressure leak, turning his turbo on and off like a light switch. Nick chose "on," and spun all four tires for about 300 feet as he tried to make the engine speed up. Once he shifted, the turbo went out so he then downshifted. Despite all the wheelspin and shifting, Nick still pulled off a mid-12-second eighth-mile and made all competitors pretty nervous about the trailer tow. It turns out that a lot of the trucks that finished mid-pack at the drags were really good at towing a trailer.
Tyler Scheers, who had nitrous problems at the drags, was on one heck of a pass until the truck started to bounce. The bouncing got worse, as you could see air under the front tires, and Tyler had to lift. When he got back in it, he still managed an 11.89-second tow at 64 mph, even with all his issues. Al Babneau, who finished in Ninth Place at the drags, was one of our most nervous competitors when it came to the trailer tow. It seemed as though his truck liked the extra load, and he finished with a quick 11.79 pass.
Ron Gaalaas was a major player...
Ron Gaalaas was a major player with big horsepower in a medium-weight truck. Unfortunately, he was sidelined with low compression in one cylinder after his first dragstrip pass. Even though he was only using one stage of nitrous and running on five cylinders toward the end of the run, Ron still ran an 11.62, which was good for third.
The middle of the field was tight, with almost all the competitors running between 12.1 and 12.5 seconds. Chris Werner, Scott Countryman, and Jerimiah Montgomery all fell into this group, and it became clear that the trailer tow might shake things up a bit. With the tow test coming to a close, something unexpected was seen in the pits-Charr Drever and her Gold Dodge were back in the staging lanes! Since the team worked so hard and unbelievably swapped a head gasket in a compound-turbo common rail in about three hours, the decision was made to allow Charr to run in the trailer tow. In order to save parts, the truck was detuned and not given nitrous. She ran a 12.31, which jumbled her in with the 12.1-12.5 group. Unfortunately, she was near the bottom of the group and ended up in Eighth Place.
After placing mid-pack in the drags, Al and Tyler had taken the trailer tow, with Chris Werner ending up on the happy end of the 12-second club in Third Place. With a First Place finish in the drags, he was certainly the favorite so far.
 Nick D'Amico hurt the up-pipe...  Nick D'Amico hurt the up-pipe of his truck in the drag race, and the wounded turbo was either "on" or "off" for the trailer tow. Nick chose "on" and roasted his tires for a good 300 feet on his way to Ninth Place. |  One of the wildest events...  One of the wildest events was the trailer tow, and one of the wildest moments of that event came when Tyler's truck began hopping with the 12,000-pound trailer behind him. Even with the three-wheel action, Tyler still finished second, and ran a better mph than anyone else. |  Even with a 12,000-pound trailer...  Even with a 12,000-pound trailer in tow, "Idaho" Rob's truck burned pretty clean. With a single CP3 pump and twin turbos, he was making full use of all the fuel available to him. |
 Ernest's twin-turbo 7.3L yanked...  Ernest's twin-turbo 7.3L yanked the 12,000-pound trailer to Fifth Place. |  Jeff Dean left the line a...  Jeff Dean left the line a little soft, but made up for it on the big end with 12.22, good for Sixth Place. |  Al Babneau was upset after...  Al Babneau was upset after his tow. Why? He felt like he'd pulled a mid-pack finish at best. Surprise! An 11.79 was good for First Place. |
 |  | |