OUTLAW DIESEL REVENGE HIGH-FLYING ODSS

DHIGH-FLYING ODSS ACTION STORMS THROUGH INDY

BY MIKE MCGLOTHLIN

The diesel performance industry might have its share of struggles at the present time, but out on the track there is no question that this is the golden era for diesel drag racing. We have Pro Street trucks running consistent low 5’s and high 4’s. We have Pro Mods on the cusp of making 3-second passes (and one that already has), and we have 5.90 trucks providing some of the fastest and closest index racing you’ll fi nd anywhere. Then there are the ET Bracket, 7.70 Index, and 6.70 Index categories, which can bring more than 100 racers to any given Outlaw Diesel Super Series contest.

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All of the above was the case at the Outlaw Diesel Revenge event, presented by Firepunk Diesel in Indianapolis and hosted on June 3-4. The 2-day affair ran side-by-side with the Ultimate Callout Challenge, which provided the perfect atmosphere for showcasing how far organized diesel drag racing has come— and boy did it ever live up to the hype. The fastest 4x4 Duramax record moved into the 4’s, a brand-new Pro Mod was unveiled and (incredibly) won its class, three rails showed up to do battle in the Pro Dragster category, 5.90 once again came down to the wire, and a familiar face took top honors in ET Bracket while new blood invaded the winner’s circles in both 6.70 and 7.70 Index.

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Like Tyler Burkhard from DHD, DNR Customs’ Derek Rose pulled double duty the weekend of June 3-5. Not only was he competing in Pro Street in the ODSS Outlaw Diesel Revenge event, he was also in town for U.C.C. This iron-man type of weekend was exciting to watch, but it did take its toll on Rose’s equipment. After making a 4.73-second blast at 158 mph, it was apparent he’d hurt the billet-block Cummins under the hood, and following his trip onto the rollers for U.C.C. he had to hang up his chances of running eliminations with ODSS. That said, with his engine at full health—and a truck that’s capable of applying 3,000 hp to the track—Rose is going to be the man to beat in Pro Street for a long time to come.

In the fi nal round of Pro Street, Tyler Burkhard edged out Nathan

Wheeler’s Cummins-powered Crazy Horse Ford for the overall win. Even with the track cooling down, Burkhard’s nasty Wagler-built, Duramaxpropelled Silverado still went 5.08 at 148 mph. Wheeler’s 5.24-second pass at 136 mph would mark his quickest to date.

All 13 trucks signed up in ODSS 5.90 showed up in Indy, making for an awesome display of neck-and-neck index racing. Here, Dan Zelton and Harlan Clemons square off in a Duramax vs. Power Stroke duel. Clemons’ wife, Brittany, also competed at ODR, within the 7.70 Index class. Nearing the end of eliminations, she was piloting one of the remaining six trucks out of 46 total competitors.

As previously mentioned, Tyler Burkhard came to Indy to run dual events also: ODSS Pro Street and U.C.C. And just as he did in 2021, Burkhard would survive U.C.C. as well as earn the Outlaw Diesel Revenge trophy. However, there was something else this year. Burkhard broke into the 4’s for

the fi rst time, moving the 4x4 Duramax record to 4.96 at 151 mph. In case you were wondering (or if you didn’t know), DHD’s ’06 Silverado still sports

an all-steel body and a 100-percent factory frame from bumper to bumper.

The 5.90 Index class would come down to a shootout between Dan Zelten and Brett Marcum—and the Duramax vs. Cummins finale wouldn’t disappoint. In one of the closest races of the weekend, Zelten would get the win on the brakes with a 5.918 at 114 mph to Marcum’s 5.927 at 119 mph. Talk about a nail-biter!

It was only supposed to make a few burnouts and 60-foot hits to gather data. Then one thing led to another and Stainless Diesel’s brand-new Pro Mod Corvette was cruising through eliminations. With an all-aluminum Wagler CX400 Cummins nestled into the HammerTech Racecars chassis, a GT55, zoomies, plenty of S&S fuel, and a Rossler TH400, the new toy from the Stainless camp is the real deal.

After spinning a rod bearing at the Wagler Spring Nationals a month prior, Steve Royalty and the rest of the Climate Change crew showed up in Indy with an engine that was back together but otherwise untested. They would struggle during qualifying and the Pro Mod Dakota would even face steering issues before the weekend was through. Rest assured, they’ll likely have things lined out for the next race on the ODSS schedule: Rocky Top Diesel Shootout.

To say that Nathan Wheeler’s ’10 F-250 has come a long way in a few short years would be an understatement. Long gone are the days of campaigning a rowdy 6.4L Power Stroke and even the days when he planned to run 5.90. Without question, his common-rail Cumminspowered Super Duty has what it takes to go rounds in Pro Street, and a new personal best of 5.24 at Outlaw Diesel Revenge proves it. Look for Wheeler to continue to dig his way deeper into the 5’s as the 2022 racing calendar rolls along.

Some earth-shattering news regarding Firepunk Diesel’s Pro Mod

S10 was made public for the first time at Outlaw Diesel Revenge. Right before driver Larson Miller pulled into staging for the Pro Mod final it was

announced that the Hot Shot’s Secret-backed door-slammer would be retired that evening. But before the shock wore off, the folks at Firepunk revealed they had plans to rob the powertrain out of the S10 and stick it in a brand-new car, which they plan to unveil this fall. Rumor has it the new Pro Mod will be a ’70 Duster. We can’t wait to see it.

Any time the Pro Dragster field grows, it’s highly welcomed by fans and fellow racers alike. And thanks to Mattie Graves and Paul Vasko’s rails, the Scheid Diesel dragster now has two Duramax-powered machined to contend with. Vasko’s rail (shown) turned in a best effort of 4.96 at 143 mph, along with a 1.16-second 60-foot. The single turbo LBZ sports water-to-air intercooling, a stock ECM, and a 4L80E transmission.

Believing it was time to take things to the next level, Austin Denny bumped his 6.0L-powered ’06 F-250 up to Pro Street this year. Ditching a few more pounds over the winter also helped his cause. With the Super Duty now tipping the scales at a reasonable 4,500 pounds (just 100 pounds over the Pro Street class minimum), Denny put it through the eighth in 5.49 seconds during qualifying. Later on, a new personal best of 5.47 at 125 mph was displayed on the scoreboard, followed by a 5.46 at 127 mph in a loss to the eventual winner, Tyler Burkhard.

Notice the daylight under Robert Berry’s passenger side tire? His ’45 Chevy rat-rod, nick-named Burnie, was moving this year. Thanks to a potent compound turbo 5.9L common-rail Cummins and a 3,700-pound race weight, Berry’s old-school Chevy has mid-5-second potential. On the 5.70-second pass we saw the truck make, it coasted through the traps at 107 mph.

As sure as the world keeps turning, the Scheid dragster continues to show up at every ODSS race and put on a show. And after nearly 15 years of campaigning it, the Scheid team knows this beast inside and out, which is why after experiencing a broken sprag due to tire shake the small group of Dan Scheid, driver Jared Jones, and John Porterfield had the Lenco fixed and back on the track in a little over an hour. Team Scheid would go on to add to its points lead with a Pro Dragster win in Indy.

After getting past Mattie Graves, Paul Vasko found himself in the final against the Scheid rail—and he made a race out of it. Vasko got the jump on the tree against Jared Jones, but Jones was able to pour the Cummins’ power on quickly and smoothly enough to drive around Vasko’s Duramax by mid track. At the stripe, Jones went 4.48 at 187 mph to Vasko’s 4.97 at 143 mph.

Rodrigo (Rod) MacMaster is well-known for his positive and uplifting attitude no matter the situation in the pits, but he’s also one hell of a drag racer. And even though his short-bed ’07 Dodge looks like it could be one of the lighter vehicles in 5.90, it’s actually one of if not the heaviest vehicles

in the class. The former 5.90 Index champion made it to the semifi nals

before being eliminated by Brett Marcum, but he had a helping hand in several other team’s repairs throughout the weekend.

Of the 131 trucks that populated the ET Bracket, 7.70 Index, and 6.70 Index categories, this one might’ve been our favorite. Not only was the Inland Transmission second-gen sporting a VP44-fueled 24-valve, but it went 7.01 in the eighth. Trust us, a 10-second capable 24-valve Cummins isn’t something you see every day!

Once his transmission issues were resolved, Rick Fletes and his ’70 Chevelle were able to do what they do best out on the track, run the number and provide crowd-pleasing, wheels-up launches. Unfortunately, Dan Zelten was also right on the money at Outlaw Diesel Revenge, and he took the win over Fletes in one of the closest races of the weekend: a 5.941 at 118 mph to Fletes’ 5.949 at 119 mph.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Michael Dalton and the RLC Motorsports team struggle, but unfortunately that’s how their entire weekend of racing went at Outlaw Diesel Revenge. The Pro Street team from Tennessee fought spooling, shifting, and traction issues throughout qualifying. But despite their troubles, they still managed to leave Indy with Third Place points and remain second in the overall points standings.

It was refreshing to see Ben Shadday’s split-window Corvette dip into the 4.20s over the weekend, as his Wagler-built, Cummins-motivated Pro Mod

went 4.27 at 179 mph during Friday’s qualifying. However, Saturday afternoon he suffered what at fi rst appeared to only be a blown head gasket. Upon

further inspection back in the pits, debris was discovered on the tips of the injectors, ending Shadday’s weekend.

This is how we found Rick Fletes’ Duramax-powered Chevelle Friday morning at 8 a.m, up on the Portable Car Hoist with the transmission removed. With both of his 4L80E units having different issues, one usable version was pieced together in time to make the tail end of 5.90 Index qualifying. Fletes was swapping reverses over when we stopped by in the pits.

After trading 6.0L eighth-mile records with Austin Denny in Pro Street all weekend, KC Turbos’ Charlie Fish left Indy on top this time, having run a best of 5.39 at 127 mph on the weekend. His feisty, single turbo 6.0L Power Stroke sits in a 4,380-pound Super Duty that can now cut 1.2-second 60-foots.

Rudy’s Performance Parts brought its 4x4 Pro Mod Super Duty to Indianapolis, and driver and builder, Nathannial DeLong, drove it to a new personal best of 4.74 at 152 mph. As one of just two V-8’s in the class, the Rudy’s team continues to show that the 6.4L Power Stroke can hold its own in one of diesel drag racing’s fastest categories.

The last time we ran into Collin Edwards, he and his father, Paul, were just getting their feet wet in the ET Bracket class with their lightweight LLY. One year later, the truck was sporting a roll cage and entered in the 6.70 field. It responded by turning in a 6.77, 6.72, 6.71, and a 6.67 prior to eliminations. With more time spent working his reaction time, Collin will soon be running with the best of the best in 6.70.

Art Maupin made it to the final round of 6.70 Index in his BD-sponsored Ram. Unfortunately, after cutting a good light the 2-3 shift wouldn’t take on the last race of the night, and Zach Tucan drove around him for the win. In total, 31 trucks would make the call in 6.70 Index this year. That’s a big turnout for this ultracompetitive class.

No, it wasn’t Ryan Riddle or Nick Morris taking home the hardware in 7.70 Index. Instead it was Tommy Zinkhen, who took the win in a close final against Brad Helton (at the finish, there was only a 0.02-second difference between the two). It was Zinkhen’s first win, but judging by how talented he is behind the wheel, many more victories are likely on the way for this young man.

Firepunk Diesel’s quad cab vs. a Lamborghini Huracan? Why not? In what amounted to some awesome filler racing, the matchup between Lavon Miller (Dodge) and James Weaver (Lambo) pleased the crowd on hand Saturday night. Miller effectively destroyed the exotic from wire to wire, running a 6.72 at 107 mph to the Huracan’s 7.37 at 100 mph.