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Diesel Drags

Cummins-powered and Powerstroke pickups blow some super smoke

Who knew? Who'd have thought a diesel-powered pickup could also be a hot rod, and a fuel-efficient highway cruiser to boot? Well, a whole bunch of Canadians sure knew, and they emphatically demonstrated that fact at a recent event in Edmonton, Alberta. Just last summer, an oil-burning, Cummins-powered Dodge Ram smoked the quarter-mile in only 12.52 seconds @ 108.45 mph. That's a time slip you'd normally see on a musclecar, not a rig for hauling hay.

Annual August Blackout

Our Canadian cousins have an abiding affection for diesel engines. Since some of the key industries up there are farming, construction and oil drilling, they rely on hard-working diesel trucks to get the job done in remote and rugged environments. So when NADP (North American Diesel Power, a supplier of performance upgrades for diesel drivetrains) recently held its inaugural Annual August Blackout in Edmonton, Alberta, a whole fleet of trucks didn't wait for their turbos to spool up in deciding to attend. Several dozen diesels were already lined up at the gate well before opening time for the drag strip elimination, dyno runs and burnout contest.

"This event is basically a customer-appreciation day," explained NADP's Barry Voltner, who, along with partner Roger Lee, footed the rental of the track. "All entrants get to attend free of charge." By day's end, nearly 400 vehicles participated in the entire event. You couldn't have asked for better weather or a more ideal venue—the Budweiser Motorsports Park, just south of Edmonton.

During one long, sunny day, the drag strip saw some serious throttle stompin' mayhem of Maple Leaf machinery. Torquemeisters churned and burned tanker-loads of diesel fuel, leaving a thick, sticky coating of tire rubber on the track. On the burnout tray, billowing black clouds of belching exhaust quickly turned into white tire smoke pouring off of the furiously spinning wheels.

All About Power

The crew running the track had never seen anything quite like this gathering of oil burners. A somewhat bewildered tech inspector admitted that, "I'm not real familiar with these trucks. I'm used to racecars." Even though Ford's Powerstroke generally dominates the diesel market, at least half of the vehicles in attendance were Dodges. "This is Cummins country," noted one local attendee.

A lot of the trucks looked like sleepers, with the most obvious mods being bull bars, bed caps, or a large ready tank for extra fuel in the rear. Those conservative Canadians eschew flashy custom paint jobs in favor of practical performance parts. Rather than show off, they would rather show you up.

Indeed, NADP's Voltner put his money where his mouth is by besting all comers with the quickest time. While most of the hopped-up diesel rigs run 14 or 15-second quarter-mile times, he nailed a 12.5-second run by the end of the day in his 2003 Ram. His Quad Cab dually was armed with a B-1 Bomber turbo, stud kit, AFE custom intake, and ATS 3-piece manifold, plus a Banks High Ram intake and intercooler. It's injected with NOS, water-methanol and propane injection (although not all at the same time). Funneling this flood of power to the wheels is NADP's signature Heavy Hauler Race Series Automatic transmission.

"I just hit the nitrous right off the line," he said. "I was really mad about not having made the time I wanted, and just jammed the button right from the get-go. It takes a lot to launch a truck weighing 6,500 pounds." He said that was the quickest time ever seen for a commonrail diesel.

Purpose-built competition diesels can beat that figure, but it's exceptional to see a street truck do so well. A number of U.S.-based diesel performance enthusiasts will likely dispute Voltner's claim. Rather than bench race, though, they should just head north next summer to face off with these oilers in Edmonton. May the quickest diesel truck win.