Hot Rod Magazine's Drag Week event is simple: non-stop drag racing for five straight days, on five different racetracks. Here's the catch: you have to drive your vehicle the whole way, then blast down the track in record time. Each day brings a 200 to 300-mile drive, along with as many dragstrip passes as you need. This is Diesel Power's third year in a row at Drag Week, and we had quite an interesting group.
Starting off the diesel entries from slowest to fastest, Kenny Laughlin and the Dr. Performance team brought a brand-new '08 Dodge Ram dubbed Project 6.7. Their goal was to show that a nearly stock truck could be made to run some pretty impressive numbers. With a programmer, water-methanol injection, nitrous, and the DPF and EGR systems removed (track use only of course) the truck was capable of running low 13s, with a best of 13.18 seconds in Monday's test-'n'-tune session. Not bad for a nearly stock Dodge.
On the top of the heap was Mike Woods, who built one of the first true street-and-strip diesel conversions we have seen, by shoehorning a 6.6L Duramax into his '94 Mustang. With testing in the low 10s, we were expecting big things during the week for this car.
Next on the ladder was Greg Hogue in Project X, an '03 Dodge that ran a 12.1-second elapsed time at 122 mph in the test session. Craig Colburn and Dennis Perry of TS Performance brought along their 11.80-second truck, which looked to be a threat in the bracket race at the end of the week.
Day One:
Bowling Green, Kentucky
For Project X, it would be the beginning of a very rough week. Its 4.33 axle gears had a chipped tooth and Project X had to rely on a set of 2.70 land speed racing axle gears. With only one tire spinning, a low 13-second time (at almost 120 mph) was the best that the truck could muster up. Mike's turbodiesel Mustang on the other hand, blasted off numerous low 10s without any issues, while Craig and company made two 11-second runs then headed to the next track. Dr. Performance was hard at work fighting a computer that refused their attempts at increasing power, and mid-13s was all they could manage. Still, the entire group was having a fun time, and everyone was looking forward to day two.
 Per the rules, you had to...  Per the rules, you had to drive to, and race at, five dragstrips in five days without any type of outside help. This meant spare tools and supplies had to be carried or trailered. For the diesel trucks, this was no problem at all. |  On the dragstrip, the BF Goodrich...  On the dragstrip, the BF Goodrich All-Terrains on Project 6.7 were swapped out for a set of Mickey Thompson drag radials. Since it was a much shorter tire, not only did they save weight, they also added gearing. The proof was in the timeslips, which were 3 tenths to a half-second faster with the smaller tires. |  Greg Hogue showed up to the...  Greg Hogue showed up to the fight with Project X, along with co-driver Zach McVey. In the background is the bling of Dennis Perry and Craig Colburn, who run consistent high 11s in their red, white, and blue '06 Dodge Ram 2500. |