Jeff Prince has always been into diesels. Back in the day, long before diesels were considered fast, Jeff owned a '90 Dodge that he got to run high 14s, and that was with a 5-speed manual! Once his father bought a '97, Jeff knew he had to have a newer truck of his own. So he ordered himself a brand-new '97 Dodge-a regular cab, long-bed dualie. After all, he ran a 1,300-acre farm in Chapman Ranch, Texas, so a big dualie would be a useful tow rig.
If Jeff's truck looks low, that's because it is. After he switched to the automatic, he lowered the truck to help with the aerodynamics and handling.
Of course, Jeff couldn't leave things stock, so he tinkered a little bit with the injection pump and a few other things and soon had the Dodge running mid 13s in the quarter-mile. He knew the potential of the truck to be far greater than the times he was running and was looking for more. It was at that time that he made contact with Keating Shelly, who was also interested in helping Jeff make a fast street truck. Jeff was adamant that he didn't want a drag vehicle, but something that he could still drive on the street, so he and Keating came together with a turbo and injector combination they thought would work.
Jeff's friend Angie was nice enough to send photographic evidence of the 10.33 pass just in case there are any scoffers. Jeff is working on getting those last few tenths to dip into the 9s without cutting the truck up. We wish him luck!
With its newfound power from a set of twin turbos, Jeff's truck was solidly in the 12s with a 5-speed, running a best of 12.1 at 119 mph in the quarter-mile, which is a record that still stands (as far as we know) for a clutch-shifted manual transmission truck. His truck was having lots of reliability problems, however, blowing clutches and chewing up gears in the transmission. Finally, he bit the bullet and put in an automatic. The auto and a few more changes brought the truck up to its current state.
And what a state it is. Jeff's current best is an incredible 10.33 at 137 mph in the quarter-mile. He still drives the truck every week and even reports a decent 15 mpg for combined city and highway driving.