At the beginning of every August, diesel owners from all over the West flock to Denver, Colorado, for ATS Diesel’s three-day Diesels on the Mountain event. The action begins with a Friday-night sled pull hosted by the NSPA. Then the party moves to ATS’ headquarters in Arvada, Colorado, where participants can test their trucks on one of two dynos throughout the day on Saturday. Then on Sunday, the heavy hitters head over to Bandimere Speedway to drag race during Cummins Rocky Mountain’s annual Truck Fest. Diesel Power attends every year to cover the action, and the event has taken on a homecoming feel. This year, we ran into 10 former Diesel Power Challenge competitors, and a whole bunch of readers and advertisers we’ve met over the years. Will we see you there in 2012? Work Stock pulling results SLED pulling results ATS Diesel’s diesel weekend began on a Friday night with an NSPA-sanctioned sled pull. More than 40 diesels pulled, including Brittney Heintz, who finished Eighth in Work Stock with her 7.3L-powered OBS Ford.ATS Diesel’s diesel weekend began on a Friday night with an NSPA-sanctioned sled pull. Mor Without question, the most popular dyno truck in the country is Dmitri Millard’s ’02 Duramax. Just look at all the people using their cell phones to video the truck. Just three months after our Diesel Power Challenge, he was back on the rollers at ATS to take First Place and laid down 1,388 hp and 2,497 lb-ft of torque using a totally different engine than he competed with in our event. He’s also gone back to running an Allison 1000.Without question, the most popular dyno truck in the country is Dmitri Millard’s ’02 Duram ATS Diesel’s facility features the largest single-room shop in the industry, so there’s always cool stuff to see there. We caught a glimpse of Fusion Bumpers’ new rear bumper on Johnny Ramirez’s ’11 Super Duty. The multi-faceted bumper features slick Rigid Industries LED lights frenched-in between the factory backup sensors.ATS Diesel’s facility features the largest single-room shop in the industry, so there’s al On Sunday, we headed to Bandimere Speedway for the Cummins Rocky Mountain Truck Fest. Sponsored by Cummins Rocky Mountain, the event draws drag racers and big rigs from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.On Sunday, we headed to Bandimere Speedway for the Cummins Rocky Mountain Truck Fest. Spon Roy Robbs of Wellington, Colorado, showed us under the hood of his ’94 Ram that made 711 hp at 4,000 rpm thanks to the Aurora 4000 and S480 turbos, a heavily modified 215hp P-pump, 5x0.018-inch injectors, and a Raptor 150-gph lift pump. The head has been studded and fire-ringed, and the valvetrain features Haisley Machine springs and titanium keepers. The truck was originally built with a six-speed but now runs a 47RE four-speed automatic with a full-manual valvebody. Roy told us, “It better run 12s, or it’s going to be on Craigslist tomorrow.”Roy Robbs of Wellington, Colorado, showed us under the hood of his ’94 Ram that made 711 h Roy’s buddy Dusty Ehrlich then showed us his 24-valve ’00 Ram that’s been retrofitted with a 215hp P-pump. Dusty’s Cummins uses a pair of Aurora turbos (a 3000 over a 6000) to feed a set of 250hp injectors. From there, the engine sends power back to an Allison 1000 that Dusty built using a Precision Industries torque converter. The five-speed automatic was sandwiched between the Cummins engine and an ’05 Dodge NV271 transfer case using Destroked adapters. It shifts via Destroked’s standalone transmission controller.Roy’s buddy Dusty Ehrlich then showed us his 24-valve ’00 Ram that’s been retrofitted with Rocketbilly Racing rolled out this jet-powered ’82 International Transtar 4300 that’s known as Pyro. The truck literally rolls on a custom-built tube chassis that houses a Westinghouse J34 turbine engine that burns 60 gallons of diesel fuel during each pass.Rocketbilly Racing rolled out this jet-powered ’82 International Transtar 4300 that’s know Pyro’s interior is now more cockpit than day cab. Westinghouse originally rated its J34 turbine at around 3,000 hp, but with a T-2 Buckeye afterburner fitted to it, this engine is now reported to make 12,000 hp!Westinghouse originally rated its J34 turbine at around 3,000 hp, but with a T-2 Buckeye a True to its name, Pryo also puts on a heck of a flame show. You need to see this truck in action at rocketbillyracing.com.True to its name, Pryo also puts on a heck of a flame show. You need to see this truck in Just back from a 4,100-mile run on this year’s Hot Rod Power Tour, this ’72 Suburban from Carroll, Iowa, features a 435hp ’06 LBZ Duramax and an Allison 1000 six-speed. The original 12-bolt rear axle was replaced with a 35-spline Moser Dana 60 rearend before Truck Fest, where the super-clean, family hauling machine clicked off a 13.50-second pass at 102.7 mph.Just back from a 4,100-mile run on this year’s Hot Rod Power Tour, this ’72 Suburban from Another 2011 Diesel Power Challenge competitor, Joel Saunders, came out from New Hampshire to bracket race with Alan Cook’s (brother of Robert Cook, a 2006 Diesel Power Challenge competitor) 6.4L-powered snowplow truck. Joel won this round with a 13.38-second pass by forcing the blue Dodge to run faster (12.74 seconds) than his dial-in (12.85 seconds).Another 2011 Diesel Power Challenge competitor, Joel Saunders, came out from New Hampshire Jeremiah’s ’03 GMC, Misery, knocked out a 10.46-second pass at 132.93 mph. That was half a second quicker than Dmitri’s truck could manage, but both trucks had nearly identical 132-mph trap speeds.Jeremiah’s ’03 GMC, Misery, knocked out a 10.46-second pass at 132.93 mph. That was half a By David Kennedy Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
