Without a doubt, this year's Redneck Nationals kicked off a long list of must-attend diesel events for 2009. New to this event, Stuckey Racing combined its yearly drag race with Sun Coast Converters' annual open house, and thanks to Air Werks, TS Performance, Dynomite Diesel, and Competitiondiesel.com, the outlaw diesel eighth-mile event brought competitors and enthusiasts from all walks of life down to Holt, Florida. And, like all outlaw events, rules and complexities were kept to a minimum, allowing racers to just go out and do what they do best-race.
The day before diesels were set to tear up the track, Sun Coast held an open house at its shop in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where anything and everything transmission related was on display, including its bulletproof Duraflite transmission. In addition, the National Association of Diesel Motorsports brought its mobile dyno to the open house, as well as the track, so owners could see what kind of power they were making.
Eleven trucks showed up at the track to run in the Pro Street class, including four Duramax-powered HDs mixing it up with the Cummins boys. The Scheid diesel dragster was on hand and gave spectators a taste of blistering-fast speed, along with nearly a dozen 7.70-Second Index class entries, and more than 40 E.T. Bracket trucks, all going head to head throughout the day. With this kind of high competitor turnout, look for the Redneck Nationals to be even bigger next year with more outstanding side-by-side racing. Here's a look at some of the deep south action!
 The infamous Duraflite transmission--a...  The infamous Duraflite transmission--a bulletproof version of the Dodge 47RE--that allows Buck Spruill's 1,300hp Duramax to perform so well, was on display in Sun Coast's shop for all to see. |  This Duramax was one of many...  This Duramax was one of many trucks strapped to NADM's dyno at Sun Coast's open house. Another Duramax, owned by Diesel Power Challenge contender Jeff Dean, put down 885 hp on nitrous, and Jason Epling's twin-turbo'd common-rail Dodge graced the mobile dyno with nearly 1,500 lb-ft of torque. |  Also on display was Sun Coast's...  Also on display was Sun Coast's 47RE and 48RE Mega rebuild kits. As you can see, nearly every component in the rebuild kit is billet: the flywheel, valvebody, converter, input, output, and intermediate shafts, filter blocker, and even the shift linkage! |
 There was no shortage of competitor...  There was no shortage of competitor turnout. As trucks began to line up in the staging lanes, we counted 46 trucks signed up in E.T. Bracket, and 10 in the 7.70-Second Index class. |  Before the eighth-mile action...  Before the eighth-mile action began, a drivers' meeting was held for the Pro Street class. Earl Stuckey and Tim Turner of Competition Diesel went over track rules and how the racing would flow from class to class throughout the day. |  The TS Performance crew was...  The TS Performance crew was out in droves, including Tyler Upton's potent Duramax (pictured), and Joel Greathouse, who piloted both the 7.70 Index class winner, and the E.T. Bracket class-winning truck. The only truck TS Performance didn't haul down from Kentucky was its Pro Street ride, Caged Fury. |