Diesels drag racing? A diesel truck is a work vehicle, designed to haul cargo or pull trailers, right? That perception is changed every year at Weekend on the Edge, an event sponsored by Edge Products in Ogden, Utah. Once a year, that company takes over the Rocky Mountain Speedway outside Salt Lake City and invites all comers with diesel pickups or SUVs to test their skills and horsepower on the track. Entrants come from all over the country.
Quarter-mile times translate to bragging rights. We've clocked a stock 2005 F-250 Harley-Davidson Power Stroke turbodiesel reaching 81.0 mph in 16.9 seconds. However, once you add a fuel chip, custom exhaust, locking differentials, and aftermarket air filters, times drop into the low 12-second range. Inject propane and/or nitrous oxide with bigger injectors, unrestricted exhaust systems, and twin turbochargers, and things can get very fast.
John Kennedy from Loyal, Wisconsin, brought his 2002 Duramax to race and won the $750 Single Turbo honors with a time of 15.01 seconds at 90.14 mph. Brett Williams of Salt Lake City, Utah, hammered his 2004 Cummins into the Open Class winner's circle, earning $750 for his run of 13.22 seconds at 104 mph. Jim Bigley from Montana took a sharp 1989 Silverado Sportside K1500 half-ton 4x4 (Project Diesel Hot Rod, seen in the November/December 2004 and March/April 2005 issues of Truck Trend) to a quick 12.94 seconds at 112.82 mph. And this is a daily driver. Auto Meter exhaust temperature and boost pressure gauges let him know how far he's pushing the mechanical envelope.
Quick and Fast
Some of the quickest in the 120-truck field arrived after the qualifying rounds and made exhibition-only passes. The fastest Duramax belonged to Weekend on the Edge dyno champion Clint Cannon from ATS Diesel in Arvada, Colorado. His 2002 Chevy 2500 4x4 posted a 12.6-second time at 110 mph. Its 6.6-liter Duramax develops 842 rear-wheel horsepower and 1460 pound-feet of rear-wheel torque on just diesel.
The only internal modifications to the engine are head studs in place of the factory head bolts. Clint uses his truck as a daily driver for towing and for fun things like sled pulling and drag racing.
Not to let a Chevy beat a Ford, Zane Koch in Salt Lake City clocked the fastest time of the day in his 1997 Ford 7.3 Power Stroke--12.21 seconds at 114 mph--and that's on regular pump diesel. We stopped by the Wide Open Performance shop in Sandy, Utah, to learn some of his secrets.