Day Four:
Memphis, Tennessee
On the fourth day, the Dr. Performance team started out by hot-lapping their new '08 Dodge. The truck had still been running mid-13s, although the Dr. Performance team had started trying to trick the computer, by disconnecting it, changing tires, and more. They said they were looking for a 12.99-second pass, and so far the new truck's computer just wasn't letting it happen. Mike put in two .110 jets in his Mustang's nitrous system-the biggest jets his .157 solenoid would flow. In going for broke, Mike's 6.6L Duramax-powered Mustang ran a 10.27-second pass, although he guessed that was more due to his outrageous 1.36-second 60-ft time than anything else. Greg Hogue and Project X had yet to show by 1:00 p.m. We were starting to get worried as 2:00 p.m. was the deadline to make a pass, and sure enough at 1:56 p.m. Greg and his co-driver Zach McVey came flying in, and pulled straight to the staging lanes. They had a horrific day that included replacing a starter and alternator in a parking lot, and they lined up with all the tools and gear in the back, and puttered down the track on street tires. With a 17-second pass, Greg was now out of the hunt and just looking to survive.
 We gave Craig and Dennis crap...  We gave Craig and Dennis crap about their packing. "Where are all the tools, jacks, spare turbos, and spare transmissions?" we asked. A backpack, small tool kit, and about six nitrous bottles seemed to be all they brought. "What packing?" Dennis retorted. "If this thing breaks, I've got a credit card that will send it back to Bowling Green on a wrecker!" |  Here Craig is seen hard at...  Here Craig is seen hard at work prepping the TS Performance truck to make a pass. A little polishing and a little VHT was all the truck needed to run 11.80s. |  Unfortunately, an 11.85-second...  Unfortunately, an 11.85-second pass was the last run the red truck got to make, as Craig's mother passed away. We're sorry for his loss and know he didn't want to drop out of the race, but as always, family comes first. |
 Smoke was light on Project...  Smoke was light on Project 6.7, even with the DPF off. The nitrous helped clean up the smoke quite a bit, as did the computer's fiddling with the tune. |  On the other side of the spectrum...  On the other side of the spectrum was Project X, which smoked hard until about half track. Once the turbo got under boost, watch out. The high trap speeds were an indication that the truck was making good power, it just wasn't accelerating well for the first few hundred feet. |  Mike Woods had the quickest...  Mike Woods had the quickest 60-foot times by a mile, with a best short time of 1.36 seconds. We were a little confused as to why the Mustang kept blowing black smoke down the entire track however, as Mike was thought to be pouring quite a bit of nitrous into the 6.6L motor. |