Another year, another Diesel Power Challenge gone by. We know it gets old, but once again, we can say this was our best event yet. This year, 11-second passes and 1,200-plus lb-ft of torque was commonplace. In the sled pull, three trucks made a full pull, and the finals were decided by a pull-off. And, as always, the trailer tow made for some of the most exciting action in the competition. Read on, and you'll get the best our 14 competitors had to offer during Diesel Power Challenge 2009.
Registration
Even though the event starts the following day, registration is always an attention-getter. Not many people had seen a highly modified 6.4L Ford before, so a crowd quickly gathered around Patrick Whitcomb's '08 Ford F-450. John Duncan and Ryan Flies (pronounced "fleece") had common-rail Cummins engines that were capable of 900 to 1,000 hp, so they drew a crowd, as did Robert Evans' 1,000-plus-hp common-rail. Twin 6.0L trucks showed up with strange-looking dual high-pressure oil pumps and mumbles of four-figure dyno numbers. The Duramax crowd was also well represented, with Chris Klar's 7.1L stroker motor being the talk of registration.
If all these killer diesels weren't enough drama, some people were having trouble even making it to the event. Chris Werner worked day and night for two weeks straight before finally throwing in the towel, while Brian Garey's 6.4L Ford F-350 made it all the way to the hotel parking lot-and then failed to start. Randy Overton got stuck for 13 hours at the Canadian border, held up by suspicious custom officials who wondered why he needed a trailer full of diesel parts. Matt Gainer was pulling an all-nighter, thrashing to replace a turbo that had blown up the night before during the TS Performance Outlaw pull. At that point, it was anyone's guess how many trucks would show up the next day for the event.
 After registration, the trucks...  After registration, the trucks were prepped and ready for the dragstrip. |  A drivers' meeting was held...  A drivers' meeting was held where competitors were informed they would have an hour's time to make a pass at the dragstrip. They could make as many passes as they wanted, and the quickest single pass would count toward their overall score. |  |