Diesel World – October 2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1
A fieldof 24 truckswould
hitthedragstripfirst.There
theywouldbescoredontheir
qualifyingtimesandhowthey
finishedineliminations.Derek
Rose(whodidwellatthedrags
lastyear)tooka bunchofweight
outofhistruckandqualifiedNo.
1 witha 5.44-secondrun.Racing
wasshortenedtoeighth-milethis
yearbecauseofsafetyconcerns.

ULTIMATECALLOUTCHALLENGE 2019


this year. Competitors would still get points for qualifying,
but after qualifying there would also be eliminations where
trucks would go heads-up down the track. This would
reward not only a quick single shot down the track but also
the ability to go rounds.


Qualifying got off to a slow start after rain, but following
an excellent job of prepping the track, the initial qualifiers
went right into the five-second zone. After a missed shift
on his first run, perennial podium finisher Derek Rose in
his Dodge stormed right to the top with a 5.44-second run.
Right behind Derek was the 4,500-pound Ford from Rudy’s
Diesel, which hooked and booked to a 5.50-second elapsed
time. Rudy’s Ford would run pass after pass at 130 mph and
looked like a bracket truck after qualifying. While Derek and
Rudy might have had about a tenth on the field, the rest of
the Top 8 trucks would be extremely tight. We hadn’t heard
much about him drag racing, but Trevor Peterson stormed
to a 5.58, followed by Chris Buhidar’s Fummins, which was
a single hundredth behind with a 5.59. The 5.60 and 5.70s
would be crowded, as Donovan Harris, Shawn Baca, and
Josh Scruggs would run the number. The quickest Duramax-


powered truck of the group belonged to Tony Burkhard who
ran a 5.62, followed by Wade Minter and Kody Koch. By the
end of qualifying, a full 10 trucks were in the 5.50s-5.80s,
which meant eliminations looked like it was going to be tight.

By the time racers were ready to go rounds, it was cool,
dense horsepower weather. Power Driven Diesel’s P-pumped
Dodge didn’t make a qualifying hit, so they had to go up
against Rudy in Round 1 (Derek Rose got a bye run) and
made a valiant 6.1-second pass to another run in the
5.50s from Rudy. Eliminations shuffled the order a bit, as
Eric Merchant went out early and dropped points, while
other racers like Travis Trent made it a few rounds and
gained points past their qualifying status. The big news
was Derek Rose going out in Round 2, which dropped him
all the way to ninth. In the end, most who made qualifying
passes were in the quarter and semifinals. After the smoke
settled, a Duramax and a Power Stroke waded through the
sea of Cummins-powered Rams, and Wade Minter in the
Trippplemax Chevy took on Aaron Rudolf in the Rudy’s Diesel
entry. It was close off the line, but Rudy had the power down
track, pulling off the overall win by about 1.5 truck-lengths.

http://www.dieselworldmag.com OCTOBER I 2019 • DIESEL WORLD 93

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