After spending more than half a day tearing apart the top end of a ’13 6.7L Power Stroke in Part 1, we’re ready to install the Quick Spool budget turbo kit from Maryland Performance Diesel. As we mentioned in the first installment, the pathway to reliability on ’11-’14 model year Super Dutys begins by ridding the engine of its troublesome factory variable geometry turbocharger. Maryland’s all-inclusive turbo system allows you to do that, and then some. With a BorgWarner S364.5 SX-E in place of the restrictive stock turbo, vastly more airflow enters the engine. The extra air volume results in substantial horsepower gains (50 to 80rwhp depending on tuning).

To get the most out of the new turbo, and since the folks at Flynn’s Shop had ample access to it with the intake plenums and cold-side intercooler pipe removed, a newer (‘15+) high-pressure fuel pump was bolted in place of the stocker. When Ford raised horsepower output of the 6.7L Power Stroke from 400hp to 440hp in 2015, a higher-flowing Bosch CP4.2 was the primary means of making the power increase possible. Naturally, the aftermarket discovered that considerable gains could be had by adding a newer pump to an early (’11-’14) engine. Just like the turbo upgrade, swapping out an early CP4.2 for a new one is a direct, drop-in proposition—another easy sell for anyone looking to make their early 6.7L Ford run with the new breed.

After they’d wrapped up the install, the guys at Flynn’s released yet another 640rwhp late-model Super Duty back into the wild. Keep in mind that the stock long-block, transmission, injectors and lift pump remain—and are expected to last at this power level.

$3,000: The Cost of Long-Term Peace of Mind

In the photo above, Maryland Performance Diesel’s Quick Spool budget turbo system and its 6.7L intercooler pipe fix kit are on display. The contents of both systems include everything you need to address the ’11-’14 6.7L Power Stroke’s most notorious problems. The turbo kit includes a MPD-modified BorgWarner S364.5 SX-E, billet turbo pedestal, stainless steel up-pipes and T4 collector, all new intercooler boots, lower intake plenum plug, a No Limit Fabrication cold air intake and an overall cost of $2,725.95. The intercooler pipe fix kit replaces the failure-prone, plastic cold-side charge pipe with a mandrel-bent, stainless steel version, along with a billet throttle body adapter and the corresponding boots. It retails for $279.

Stainless Plumbing

Because the S364.5 turbo employs a T4 divided turbine outlet flange, MPD fabricates the T4 exhaust collector that bolts to the turbo (center). The up-pipes (right and left) link the exhaust manifolds to the collector. All piping is made from 0.120-inch wall, 304 stainless steel and heavy-duty bellows are incorporated into the driver side up-pipe and passenger side collector tube.

First Things First

To rule out accessibility issues later on, it pays to install the driver side up-pipe before the turbocharger is dropped in place. For ample access to the factory up-pipe studs in the exhaust manifold, the exhaust manifold heat shield can be removed. MPD supplies new up-pipe gaskets with its Quick Spool budget turbo system, but the factory up-pipe nuts are reused.

Less Work Later

Prior to installing the turbo, the exhaust collector can be bolted to the turbine housing. MPD includes a T4 divided gasket for the turbine outlet flange as well as mounting hardware.

A True “Drop-In” Turbo

One-hundred percent bolt-in ready, MPD ships the turbocharger assembly as one pre-assembled unit. That means the turbo is attached to the pedestal, the oil feed line is installed and tight, the downpipe adapter is bolted up and the exhaust housing is correctly clocked. There is no need to adjust anything before, during or after the turbo assembly is set in place.

Tightening Sequence

While the MPD turbo kit is well-engineered, no aftermarket parts are going to simply fall into place. Some finagling is always in store and this was the case in our install. However, a valuable tip the guys at Flynn’s Shop shared with us was to make sure you leave everything (pedestal bolts, exhaust collector bolts, up-pipe nuts at the exhaust manifolds, V-band for downpipe, etc.) a tad loose until it appears like everything will bolt together flush. Then tighten each component up slowly, all the while making sure no one part is being placed in a bind.

Downpipe, Passenger Up-Pipe, Turbo Maneuvering

Though it wouldn’t be completely tightened yet, the top section of the factory downpipe was connected to the turbocharger before the passenger side up-pipe went on. In the image above you’ll notice that the up-pipe and exhaust collector flanges don’t align flush. This would change once the turbo assembly was positioned slightly toward the firewall before its pedestal bolts were fully tightened.

Other Necessary Alterations

Due to the fact that the S364.5 SX-E turbo is cooled solely with engine oil, the coolant lines for the factory turbo are abandoned. This is done by simply capping off the line installed on the coolant crossover via the MPD-supplied plug shown above. Other abandonments would include capping off the main vacuum supply line that feeds the factory wastegate solenoid (as it's no longer wastegated) and taping up the VGT solenoid pigtail that’s no longer needed.

Accessing the CP4.2

With nothing in the lifter valley stopping Flynn’s techs from accessing it, it was time to tackle the high-pressure fuel pump swap. Because the vacuum pump has to come off to access the CP4’s drive gear nut, the fan clutch has to be removed first. Once the fan is loose you can simply slide it forward and leave it in the fan shroud until it’s time to reinstall it.

Timing Is (Still) Everything

Once the vacuum pump is out of the way, you gain access to the CP4.2 pump’s drive gear. On a 6.7L Power Stroke, the CP4.2 is timed to both the crank and the cam (and is driven by the cam thanks to this gear). Notice the two timing marks on the bottom of the CP4.2 drive gear and the single timing mark at the top of the cam gear. To keep the engine in time, these marks must align in this fashion. The pump can be pulled before or after you line up the timing marks, just make sure they’re correct before you button everything back up.

Early CP4.2 vs. Late CP4.2

Although you could never tell by looking at them, the ’15-newer Bosch CP4.2 pump on the right outflows the stock one on the left by nine percent. A longer stroke on the ’15-newer pump’s camshaft provides the increase in displacement and flow, which was the main ingredient in Ford’s higher, 440hp rating that became available on ’15 Super Dutys. When a late-model CP4.2 is combined with a BorgWarner S364.5 turbo and revised PCM tuning on an ’11-’14 truck, it’s not uncommon to clear more than 640rwhp on the chassis dyno.

Mounting the New Injection Pump

After lubricating the CP4.2’s O-ring, the new pump was installed on the three mounting studs present in the engine’s front cover. The 13mm pump mounting nuts call for 18 lb-ft of torque. Once the pump is secure in the valley, the pump’s drive gear nut can be installed and tightened to its 59 lb-ft spec.

New High-Pressure Fuel Lines

Any time you break loose the high-pressure fuel lines in the common-rail system, Ford recommends replacing them completely. With as much as 29,000 psi traveling through them, the last thing you want is a leak. The high-pressure lines are torqued to 30 lb-ft at the pump and 26 lb-ft on the fuel rails.

Piecing Her Back Together

Notice the two notches (one up top, one on the bottom) in the vacuum pump. These legs ride in the CP4.2 pump drive gear. You might also notice that the vacuum pump has been fitted with a fresh gasket (a must). When fastening the vacuum pump in place, make sure you coat the bolts with Loctite and torque them to the recommended torque spec of 89 in-lb. After that, the fan hub can be reinstalled, followed by the fan and serpentine belt.

Factory Intake Plenums Reinstalled

Now the factory lower intake plenum can be reinstalled, and the new CP4.2 begins to disappear again. MPD supplies a new plenum-to-turbo inlet boot with its Quick Spool turbo kit but you may have to cut it down in order to get the intake plenum aligned over its mounting points. After that, the upper intake plenum can be reinstalled, followed by the factory hot-side and cold-side intercooler pipes.

Stealth Mode

Thanks to the MPD Quick Spool budget turbo system’s retention of the factory intake plenums and hot-side intercooler pipe, there’s really no way to tell the turbo has even been upgraded. The finishing touch on MPD’s budget turbo kit comes in the form of a cold air intake from No Limit Fabrications. These five-inch diameter intakes are extremely popular in the 6.7L Ford segment and the 5.5x9-inch air filter they come with offers plenty of airflow for aftermarket turbochargers.

Power Stroke fanatic? Here are a few 6.7 Power Stroke upgrades for every budget.

If you've ever been to Tokyo or even researched things to see while visiting, chances are you are familiar with the Akihabra area of the city. Originally known for its electronics stores, it has more recently become the global epicenter of otaku culture with its endless maid cafes and anime and game shops. Today it's one of Tokyo's most popular areas among both locals and tourists alike.

But it's not just the nerdy stuff that draws us to the brightly lit, crowded streets of Akihabra. It's the cars of course, and in recent years the area has become a prime gathering spot for car enthusiasts of all types, and not just the ones who drive the character-covered cars known as Itasha.

Whether you are walking along the busy Chuo Dori or wandering the many sidestreets, on weekends and evenings Akihabara comes alive with interesting cars, and you never quite know what you'll find.

Sure, you'll see plenty of the high performance Japanese domestic machines that won us over back in the day while playing Gran Turismo, but you'll also find a lot of other stuff, from lovingly restored aircooled VWs to a thumping Camaro ZL1 drop top.

You can also expect to see plenty of oddities and perhaps a car you never even knew existed, like this Mitsubishi Eterna VR4, essentially a hatchback version of the already rare sixth generation Galant VR4.

Despite being a city known for its narrow streets and extremely tight parking spots, there is no shortage of Tokyo residents who prefer to get around in big and rugged SUVs: Defenders, Land Cruisers, Jeeps and more. It's a ton of fun to see.

During our last visit to Tokyo we visited Akihabara on a few different occasions and documented some of the interesting vehicles we found. Go ahead and click through the gallery, as it might be the next best thing to actually being there.

Find more Tokyo car culture in our Tokyo cars and coffee article.

For the last fifteen years, Formula Drift has ended the season at the iconic Irwindale Speedway, lovingly dubbed the “House of Drift” by many, and 2018 was no different. After seven rounds of competition, James Deane held a 49 point lead over Fredric Aasbo, as well as an 87 point lead over his Worthouse Drift Team teammate Piotr Wiecek in the overall points race. Although all other drivers were statistically eliminated, finishing the season on a good note with a strong result at Irwindale is always a priority for drivers. Southern California is known for the lack of variation in weather, but Mother Nature decided to throw a curveball into the equation with some rain and thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday. Thankfully, Saturday’s competition was dry throughout, and the drivers were able to push their cars to the limits (and in some cases beyond).

Irwindale Speedway Course Layout

The course layout at Formula Drift Irwindale has stayed relatively unchanged for the past few seasons, but in case you’re unfamiliar with it, we’ll take you for a spin around the half mile banked oval. Drivers start on the back straight, with the lead driver taking a small chicane before entering the traditional turn three corner at speeds nearing 80 mph. The first banked turn has an outside clipping point near the exit of the bank at the exit of turn four in the traditional layout.

Coming across the traditional start/finish line, drivers transition to face the crowd midway down the front straight to hit a front clipping point on the finish line, then transition back towards the middle of the track to brush their back bumpers along an outside clipping zone on the inner quarter mile bank. There’s a second outside zone near the end of the inner bank, an inside clipping point on the flat bottom of the inner bank, then a final outside clipping zone at the finish line on the flat bottom.

Qualifying

Since the track layout hasn’t changed much over the years, drivers have figured out how run this track very well, and the qualifying scores reflected that experience. Fifteen of the 27 drivers who put a qualifying score on the board had scores in the 90s, with the top seven drivers only separated by only five points. At the top, James Deane put down an insane qualifying score of 99 points to earn the top qualifying position, and many drivers felt that the run was worthy of a perfect 100 point score. Not to be outdone, Piotr Wiecek piloted his Nissan S15 to Q2 with a score of 98 in another run that several people felt was just as worthy of a perfect 100 point score.

Rounding out the top five, Daijiro Yoshiahra (Q3), Fredric Aasbo (Q4) and Ryan Tuerck (Q5) earned scores of 97, 96 and 96 points respectively, with Aasbo earning the tiebreaker over Tureck by means of a higher style score. Nitto Tire drivers Vaughn Gittin Jr. (Q10), Chelsea DeNofa (Q11) and Federico Sceriffo (Q24) earned scores of 92, 92, and 79 points respectively, with Gittin Jr. also earning the tiebreaker from a higher style score. This marks only the second time all season that Gittin Jr. has outqualified his teammate, but the team was happy to have both drivers on the top half of the qualifying ladder. With only 27 drivers earning qualifying scores, the top five qualifiers each had a bye into the Top 16.

Tandem Battles

Entering the tandem battles, Deane had extended his championship lead by another three points thanks to the top qualifying position. With both drivers earning a bye into the Top 16 round, the first Top 32 tandems wouldn’t have an effect on the final championship, but still lead to some strong battles. As we’ve seen through the rest of the season, the higher qualified drivers dominated the Top 32 round save for a few battles. Jhonnattan Castro (Q20) eliminated Justin Pawlak (Q13), and Matt Coffman (Q26) earned the win over defending champion Chris Forsberg (Q7) when Forsberg spun while chasing Coffman, which surprised many. Nitto Tire drivers Gittin Jr. and DeNofa defeated Matt Vankirk and Taylor Hull respectively, while Sceriffo was eliminated by Alec Hohnadell in his Top 32 battle.

Top 16 Opening Ceremonies were a mix of emotions for many reasons. Several young men and women took the Oath of Enlistment for the US Air Force in front of the main grandstands. Unfortunately, former umbrella girl Kelsey Quayle passed away in the week leading up to the Irwindale event, and Formula Drift played a recorded version of Quayle singing the National Anthem to honor her.

Each of the remaining 16 drivers were introduced in front of the sold out grandstands, and a fireworks show to commemorate the final event of the 15th season of Formula Drift ensured that the fans got the full value from the price of admission. After some donuts and burnouts, the drivers staged up for the Top 16 battles, and fans got rowdy in anticipation of a championship that was still to be decided.

The first battle of the Ford Top 16 ensured that the remaining battles would keep the fans excited. In a Nissan S15 vs. S15 battle, Forrest Wang laid down a pair of near-perfect runs against Deane. That, combined with a lackluster chase run from Deane, ended Deane's weekend and opened the door for Aasbo. While Aasbo now had a path to the championship, he needed to win the event in order to overtake Deane and win the title.

Aasbo did his part in the Top 16, eliminating his Papadakis Racing teammate Jhonnattan Castro, while Nitto Tire drivers Gittin Jr. and DeNofa also won their battles against Coffman and Michael Essa. The biggest upset in Top 16 came when Odi Bakchis (Q15) eliminated Wiecek (Q2), keeping both Worthouse teammates off the podium just one event after they swept the top two positions in Texas and making this the first time this season no Worthouse driver finished in the top four.

Moving into the NOS Energy Drink Great 8, Wang continued his improbable run by eliminating Ken Gushi in the first tandem battle, Aasbo eliminated fellow European Dean Kearney to continue his championship hopes, and Nitto Tire drivers Gittin Jr. and DeNofa setup a battle among teammates in the Final 4 by winning their battles against Bakchis and Yoshihara. DeNofa needed a “One More Time” battle before eliminating Yoshihara, one of the first of the day, but definitely far from the last one.

The Permatex Final 4 produced some of the most exciting runs of the entire season, and with the championship still hanging in the balance, fans stayed in their seats until the very end. Wang continued his aggressive driving against Aasbo in the first battle, but judges felt that Aasbo had enough to earn the win and keep his championship hopes alive. Unfortunately, as the lowest qualified driver in the Final 4, Wang needed the win to earn a podium finish, and thus finished fourth.

In the other Final 4 battle, Gittin Jr. and DeNofa faced each other for the first time this season and the third time overall, with each driver earning a victory over the other in 2017. DeNofa tapped Gittin Jr. during transition across the traditional start/finish line, but both drivers powered through the contact and finished the run just inches from each other as if nothing happened. DeNofa then laid down one of the most aggressive lead runs we'd seen, rubbing the wall at the top of the bank multiple times and the wall on the inner bank several more times. He did everything he could to sway the judges in his favor, but Gittin Jr. was too much, eliminating his teammate DeNofa.

A Final Battle for the Ages

The Black Magic finals were for all the marbles, both in the event and the championship. Gittin Jr. was looking for his first win since New Jersey 2016, a drought of 19 events that was his longest victory drought since his first win back at Irwindale in 2008. By making the final round, Gittin Jr. ended his podium drought of the same length. This was also the longest podium drought of his career, which was especially heartbreaking since he has seen three fourth place finishes in that same timespan. For Aasbo, the event win would be his 13th overall, most all-time among all Formula Drift drivers, and guarantee his second championship in three seasons.

The first pair of battles between Aasbo and Gittin Jr. was inconclusive, with all three judges unanimously voting for a “One More Time” battle. In the second pair of tandem runs, there was still so little separation that it resulted in a split decision: one judge voted for Aasbo, another judge voted for Gittin Jr. and the third judge felt the run needed to go “One More Time.” Tires were changed, cars and drivers were re-fueled and the pair of former champions lined up again. Finally, after another equally difficult-to-judge pair of runs, a winner was decided. All three podium drivers were called in front of the crowd to announce the decision, along with James Deane, who was still waiting to find out if he had claimed back-to-back championships. After some tension, announcer Jarod Deanda announced Vaughn Gittin Jr. as the event champion, which gave Deane the season championship.

The win is Gittin Jr.’s tenth of his career and his 22nd career podium finish. His Nitto Tire teammate Chelsea DeNofa earned his second podium of the season and the first double podium for the Ford Mustang RTR team since they expanded to two cars at the start of the 2017 season. Deane claimed the championship by just four points and became the first back-to-back champion since Tanner Foust in 2007 and 2008. Gittin Jr. was joined in the Winners’ Circle by his wife, who was pregnant with their first child that is due during the coming off-season.

Aasbo finished the season in second place with his sixth podium of the season and 24th podium of his career. Wiecek finished the season in third place, 88 points behind his champion teammate Deane, and a huge improvement over his eighth place finish last season in his Rookie-of-the-Year worthy campaign. The Nitto Tire team finished eighth (DeNofa), 13th (Gittin Jr.), and 25th overall (Sceriffo). The off-season starts immediately, while announcements for the 2019 Formula Drift season will begin with the annual Formula Drift Press Conference at SEMA, which occurs October 30 to November 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Can't wait until next season for more drifting? We'll have all the off-season drift news right here on Driving Line!

Tucked off a windy country road in rural Clayton, North Carolina, there’s a shop of a different kind. It’s called Village Customs, and owner Joshua Joyce will be the first to tell you that it isn’t a shop—it’s a friend group. Well known in the hot rod community for his Turbo Willys and Double Cab Deuce builds, Joyce has a knack for creating visually exciting vehicles and works of art. We say art because there’s more than just vehicles lining the Village Customs garage.

In fact, there’s a good half-dozen robot sculptures comprised of old scrap metal, many towering over the ground-dragging rat rod collection. We stopped by just as the annual Berniefest event was coming to a close. This was the fourth official Berniefest, which resulted in two roadsters and a flatbed hauler being constructed in just four days. Here, we got a chance to sit down with Joyce to learn more about the shop, Berniefest and what the future has in store for the builder.

Digging these unique rides? Check out what happens when Rat Rod meets Trophy Truck.

This race was why we watch Formula Drift. Check that. This race was why we watch motorsports. When it came down to the end, Fredric Aasbo and Vaughn Gittin Jr. battled for the championship and the win, needing two One More Time battles to find a victor. For Aasbo, a win meant his second championship in three seasons and setting the record for most Formula Drift victories at 13. For Gittin Jr., a win meant finally breaking the longest victory drought of his career, a span of 19 events. They battled door-to-door again and again, with barely any separation. Everyone in attendance got the show of a lifetime.

When the smoke finally settled, Gittin Jr. had claimed victory and denied Aasbo the championship. It was not only the tenth win of his career, but his 22nd career podium finish—yet another exciting chapter to a storied career. Rounding out the podium was Gittin Jr.’s Nitto Tire teammate Chelsea DeNofa, who took third by virtue of qualifying higher than Forrest Wang, the other driver eliminated in the Final 4.

Also, with Fredric Aasbo coming in second, James Deane was crowed the Formula Drift champion for 2018 by only four points, his second championship in a row. Congratulations are in order for both Gittin Jr. and Deane on the great race and season.

Want to read about the moment-to-moment action? We have a full article on everything that went down at Irwindale!

Horizon has always been the fun one in the Forza family. From gallivanting through the hills to drifting in between traffic, Horizon is more interested in creating those emergent moments than pure on-track accuracy. The latest entry in the series, Forza Horizon 4, continues in that vein, creating the best, most immersive open-world racer to date, despite a few missteps.

We have all of our thoughts on Horizon 4 in the video above, and in our written review, so be sure to look at those if you’re still on the fence about whether or not to pick it up. Even though the car-specific perks system needs some work, this is not only the best Forza game, but the best open-world racing game we’ve played.

Want to play Forza Horizon 4 with us? We host and livestream drift parties every Friday at 4 p.m. PT on Facebook!

Growing up, if it had a motor and wheels, I was interested. Like many kids of my era, my favorite toys were Lego and Hot Wheels. Lego because they are the ultimate customizable toy, and Hot Wheels because they were the closest thing to real cars that I was allowed to play with. When I wasn’t playing, I was required to “help” my parents fix whatever was broken around the house, whether it was a car or the garbage disposal. They encouraged me to disassemble things that were broken so I could see how they fit together and therefore learn about how they worked. Lucky for me, I enjoyed that kind of thing.

My First Love

Exposure to the innards of mechanical devices helped to build in me the confidence necessary to do the same thing with my future vehicles, like my first car, an ’88 Ford Bronco II. It was side-swiped driving home from high school one day­, which led me to replace a fender and repaint the car using the funds from the offending driver’s insurance company. A year later I sold the Bronco in order to purchase my first vehicular love: a 1973 Mustang Mach1.

To say the Mach1 was rough when it became mine was an understatement. It was living in truck junkyard pick-your-part and barely ran, but all I saw was its potential. The original light-blue exterior had developed a chalky texture, but the sheet metal was relatively unscathed.

The 351 ci Cleveland engine and C6 transmission were in decent shape and would quickly become road worthy. Unfortunately, the interior had become a multiple-family home for the local rodent population and the rat excrement had created holes in the floorboards. After scouring and disinfecting the interior and filling the holes in the floorboards with fiberglass (I had yet to learn how to weld), the Mustang became my daily driver through my years in college.

Any Excuse to Upgrade

The best part about a vehicle that needs a bunch of work is that it’s easy to justify upgrades, even when on a college-kid budget. The way I see it, if you’re going to spend the money on a replacement part, you might as well just spend a few more dollars to get a better, aftermarket part.

After driving it for awhile, I realized the car had a lot of potential to go much faster than it had off the showroom floor, and I started to get into street legal drag racing. So, of course, all my money and time went into upgrading and restoring my Mustang. I raced the car whenever I could, but soon my enthusiasm was focused in a slightly different direction.

On to Motorcycles

I knew that I didn’t want to become a teacher, but an English Lit degree didn’t give me many appealing career path options. I applied to custom car magazines with hopes that I could combine my love for literature with my passion for cars into a career. My automotive journalist aspirations took an unexpected turn when I was offered a position at a custom Harley-Davidson based magazine, Hot Bike.

I certainly didn’t plan to get into motorcycle mags. In fact, my parents hoped that because I was already into cars that I wouldn’t get into motorcycles. Instead, I jumped in with all the fervor I had for cars. I quickly obtained a motorcycle license, a motorcycle (my second love), and a camera and within a few years I was the editor of my very own magazine, Street Chopper. From that point forward, I lived in the custom Harley world through magazines and marketing for companies that make motorcycle parts.

Through those years I owned and sold a handful of cars, bikes and trucks but I kept the Mach1 in my garage while I pursued thrills of the two-wheeled variety. I learned a bunch of things during that time that I’ve found to be helpful within all motorsports, like the basics of welding, how custom/aftermarket parts are almost never actually “bolt-on” and an infinite number of ways to break zip-ties when I’m not trying to.

Back to the Start

And, like the reciprocating mass in a combustion-based engine, I’ve returned to some of the things that drew me to motorsports journalism in the first place. I dusted off the Mach1, am regularly driving it and excited to drag race it again. I’ve realized the benefit of focused energy on a limited number of vehicle projects and sloughed off the projects I don’t have time for. Additionally, I’ve realized how important it is for me to be creative in my work, which is exactly what attracted me to Driving Line. I love the vehicle variety, oddball articles and entertaining editorial and can’t wait to contribute.

Do you have a passion for Mustangs, too? Then you need to see this colorful GT500!

As Nitto Tire sets up for the annual Auto Enthusiast Day show they throw, an entire parking lot sits vacant, awaiting the professional driving demos that will take place on the blacktop. So they asked, “Why not do something awesome?” And when you’ve got the skills on hand of drivers like Vaughn Gittin Jr., Loren Healy, Chelsea DeNofa, Matt Powers and Cody Currie… WHY NOT DO SOMETHING AWESOME?!

While they treated the fans to a show during the big event, the day before we took things up an extra notch to give you “HANGTIME!” It's exactly what you’ve been waiting to see since the days you were jumping BMX bike ramps, but didn’t really know was possible. Watch above for the ultimate hangout among friends who just happen to have 800+ hp at the ready.

It’s hard to say who had the most thrills pulling this stunt off. Was it Vaughn Gittin Jr., Chelsea DeNofa and Matt Powers drifting underneath? They had to stay concentrated while drifting as not just one, but two Ultra4 cars launched over them. “It was crazy!” says Powers. “It happened really fast. I was in the back, so my view wasn’t as great since I was also watching JR and Chelsea drift and was focused on keeping stacked with them. Then I could see Loren jump JR and that was so rad. Then, LAUNCH and I get jumped over. It was definitely an interesting perspective from inside the car!”

Or was it Loren Healy and Cody Currie who had the bigger slice of excitement jumping over three of the world’s best drifters? “Please don’t come up short,” was all Healy was thinking. Stunt planning aside, there was a very specific speed window that both Healy and Currie’s cars had to be within to stay so close to one another during the jump and have a safe exit over and past the drifting cars below.

After watching "HANGTIME!" you may have your own opinions of which car you’d rather be driving. “Loren and Cody always blow me away with their ‘wheeling of those crazy vehicles and what outside the box things those Ultra4 cars can do,” says Powers. While we’d certainly all raise our hands to get behind the wheel of one of Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s Ford Mustang RTRs, Healy describes Ultra4 cars as the “Swiss Army knife of race cars.”

Watch the video one more time and decide for yourself which car you’d rather be in. Want to see more from behind-the-scenes? We’ve got that too.

Professionals make things look easy, like athletes in the Olympics, actors in movies and the drivers in our HANGTIME! video. Some might think that all these guys got together with a ramp in a parking lot and started jumping over cars. The reality is that it took about two months to plan, build the ramp, secure the location and coordinate the photographers, videographers, drifters and Ultra4 drivers.

It Started With a Crazy Idea...

It started with the idea of an Ultra4 rig jumping over a drift car. Quickly, that idea escalated into two Ultra4 vehicles clearing three drift cars simultaneously. Picking the location, drivers and vehicles was easy because all the drivers were already in town for Nitto Tire’s Auto Enthusiast Day that was to be held in the parking lot of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. What they didn’t have figured out was how they were actually going to execute the spectacle without crushing a drift car.

Putting the Pieces in Place

The Driving Line team sourced stunt coordinator Ron Stobaugh to plan the jump and manage the different vehicles and distinctive driving styles while keeping everyone safe. Stobaugh was another obvious choice for the team with his considerable knowledge of off-road stunts. “I’ve been racing since dirt was invented—I started way back in ’91,” Stobaugh said. “I stopped racing awhile back and now I run a desert race school (www.desertraceschool.com) where part of the curriculum is jumping.” After a few conversations with Driving Line and Loren Healey, Stobaugh worked out the math for the ramp, including his projections of how it would work and what the ramp dimensions should be. The next challenge was building the ramp.

Chris Begley of weldingsparks.com in Riverside, California utilized his 25 years of off-road fabrication experience to build the ramp to Stobaugh’s specs. “I’ve built off-road cars, and sand rail frames/cages, tons of display ramps and shock-tuning practice drive-up jump ramps, but this was only the second full-speed (100-110mph) jump ramp I’ve built,” Begley said. There were other specifications for the ramp as well—it had to be adjustable and it had to be mobile, meaning it would need to have the ability to separate into manageable pieces.

The two bottom corners of the apex side of the ramp can be adjusted almost 12 inches, and it can be divided in half to make transportation more manageable. “I used 2x.120-inch square tubing and a lot of triangulated supports for extra strength, unfortunately that adds a lot of weight. I had to keep the weight down where I could, so I used two layers of three-quarter inch plywood that can be replaced as it wears out. Each side of the ramp weighs approximately 750lbs and each section can be moved by four or five people,” Begley said. With the ramp built, Begley had to figure out how to transport the beast—and cannibalized a boat trailer for the heavy lifting. 

Jump Day

The morning of the jump day was the first time all the components came together. With the ramp assembled and anchored to the asphalt, the Ultra4 drivers started practicing jumps and warming up their Trail Grapplers. “With a jump like this, the landing can’t come up short. We had to adjust the speed of the rigs and take into consideration the different handling characteristics of each truck to get it right. It took us about a dozen tries before we were ready to jump over the drifters,” Stobaugh said. Once they had nailed the jump, it was time for the drifters to start spinning their NT05s.

"At first it was difficult to keep all three of the drifters door-to-door and well within the safe zone in close proximity to the ramp—the timing had to be perfect," Stobaugh said. “The first time we tried the jump with all of the players in action at the same time, it went perfect. Unfortunately, none of the cameras were rolling yet, and it took another dozen or so tries to synchronize everyone just right,” Stobaugh continued. “I knew the Ultra4 guys, but I’d never met the drifters until the day of the jump. It was a really long day, but everyone worked together like they had been friends their whole lives. I think that’s what made it all work so well.”

Overall, the video came together perfectly. Now, the only problem is how to top it next year.

If you haven't seen the video, watch it here (or watch it again).

After Rudy’s Performance Parts hosts the Outlaw Diesel Super Series’ season opener each spring, the Burlington, North Carolina-based company brings thousands of spectators and more than 100 competitors back to Piedmont Dragway for the year-end finale every fall. Coined Rudy’s Fall Truck Jam, the last ODSS race of the year brings with it an atmosphere that can only be described as electric. For competitors, a long season that’s entailed late-night wrench sessions, last-minute upgrades, on-the-spot fixes and hundreds of hours of travel time all comes to a close on this eighth-mile track. It’s where winners are determined, losers go back to the drawing board and everyone begins strategizing for next year. The conclusion of the 2018 racing season would be no different.

By the time the ODSS circuit rolls back into North Carolina, each competitor knows exactly where he or she stands in the points chase—and they know exactly how things have to play out in order to take over or hold onto the top spot. While there weren’t any crazy last-minute shake-ups in the standings at Rudy’s, there definitely were some exciting, even tense moments. Continuing to break new ground, the Firepunk Diesel crew set a new record in Pro Mod, while at least two other trucks topped their previous best passes. Carnage also came calling for two of diesel drag racing’s top competitors (Ben Shadday in Pro Mod and Paul Cato in 5.90 Index, respectively) and an 18-truck field made for an exciting 6.70 Index category.

For the full highlight reel, keep scrolling—and mark your calendars now for Rudy’s Spring Opener in 2019…

The Hometown Win: Rawlings Barnes

Rawlings Barnes’ 2018 racing season definitely had its ups and downs, but being able to pilot the Rudy’s Performance Parts Super Duty to a win in front of the hometown crowd had to feel good. On top of collecting his second trophy for the year (he also won the season opener on the same track), Barnes put up a new personal best in the Power Stroke powered F-250: a 4.71 at 151 mph. With 4.90s and trap speeds in the 143 to 144 mph range being the norm at the beginning of the season to running more than two tenths quicker and almost 10 mph faster by the end of it, this truck, its driver and the whole Rudy’s team has come a long way. Barnes ended up third in points for the year in what ended up being one of the tighter points chases along the ODSS circuit.

2018 Pro Mod Champ: Ben Shadday

Heading into Rudy’s Fall Truck Jam, Ben Shadday and his 3,500-pound ’06 Dodge 1500 sat atop the points in the Pro Mod class. The biggest threat to his points lead lay in Larson Miller, driver of the hard-charging Save the Racks S10 that’s been parked under the Firepunk Diesel stable all season. Unfortunately for Shadday, he fought traction all day and ended up crossing lanes mid-track, making contact with the wall during the third round of qualifying. Fortunately for Shadday, Miller also struggled to find traction and went out in round one of eliminations.

Thankfully, Ben emerged from the wreck unscathed, the truck’s damage looked to be mostly cosmetic and even after the wild ride he still had the Pro Mod championship locked up.

New Pro Mod Record: Larson Miller

After running into a licensing issue following his 4.47-second pass at the previous event (Hardway Sunshine Showdown 2018), Larson Miller was determined to make things “official” at Piedmont Dragway. True to Firepunk Diesel form, Miller made it look easy when he turned in a 4.48-second pass at 169 mph behind the wheel of the Save the Racks S10. Unfortunately, Miller kicked the tires and was eliminated in the first round, but he still held onto second place in points for 2018.

Pro Street Winner: Dustin Jackson

There isn’t much else we can say about Dustin Jackson other than that he’s a natural-born drag racer, drives one of the oldest yet most proven trucks in the Pro Street field and is simply unbeatable most of the time. In 2018, he won all but one ODSS race and even stole a win at an NHRDA event. His back-to-back Pro Street titles are impressive to say the least. Look for more of the same from Jackson in 2019.

Lavon Miller’s Pro Street Dodge Dips Into the 4s

A year in progress, Firepunk Diesel’s Lavon Miller was finally able to pull off something he’s been working on since the 2017 Rudy’s Fall Diesel Jam: get his Pro Street Dodge into the 4s. Already having set the ODSS record at 5.00 and 145 mph just 12 months prior, he achieved his goal by going 4.97 at a blazing 151 mph. In recent years, Pro Street racers have pushed chassis certifications to (and in this case, beyond) their limit and Miller has been at the forefront of this movement.

New Personal Best: Jared Delekta

Being based in Utah and running the ODSS race schedule can’t be easy (as all races are held east of the Mississippi), but it doesn’t phase the guys at Industrial Injection. Jared Delekta, driver of the Cummins-swapped ’01 Silverado, certainly doesn’t seem to mind. In North Carolina, he sent the Pro Street Chevy through the ‘660 in 5.09 seconds at 146 mph, blowing past his previous personal best of 5.2 at 138 mph.

Rudy’s Winner/Runner-Up in Points: Jared Jones

Despite fighting their fair share of gremlins in 2018, the Scheid Diesel team’s Spitzer chassis dragster, piloted by the fearless Jared Jones, ended up with the win at Piedmont. After the KingSpeed Race & Repair rail unfortunately couldn’t make it to the line for the final, the 12-valve Cummins-powered dragster from Terre Haute took the win without a fight. But despite Jones and Scheid taking the win, Wade Moody (who went out in the first round of eliminations) had already wrapped up the season championship in diesel’s fastest category.

5.90 Index Winner: Josh Scruggs

After a 6.04-second pass earned him the number one qualifier, Josh Scruggs noticed a hanging shift. Rather than leave anything to chance during eliminations, he and his team swapped in a spare transmission in the pits. The move paid off, as Scruggs went 5.91 in the first round, won against a red-lighting McCoy Black in round two and took out points leader Rick Fox in the final round thanks to a quicker reaction time. It was Scruggs’ first win along the circuit.

Rick Fox Wins the 5.90 Points Chase

Despite his second place finish in North Carolina, Rick Fox still brought home the 2018 ODSS season trophy in 5.90. His Firepunk-built, D&J Precision Machine engine’d ’00 Dodge made a big statement this year, with two wins and two second place finishes in the four races it was able to attend. Without a doubt, the new 5.90 ‘tweener class (a category that bridges the gap between Pro Street and 6.70 Index) is a hit with fans and competitors alike.

6.70 Index Winner: Mike Coleman

Having won the 6.70 Index class at the Hardway Diesel Showdown a few weeks prior, Mike Coleman came into Rudy’s with some pretty solid momentum. He wouldn’t disappoint. After qualifying number one for the second event in a row, Coleman proved to be locked in throughout eliminations and ultimately secured back-to-back wins, along with the 2018 6.70 points championship.

7.70 Index Winner: Ryan Riddle

When it comes to the 7.70 Index class, you have to give credit where credit is due, and Ryan Riddle flat out ran away from the rest of the field in 2018. He and his standard cab Ram nabbed four first place trophies in the six-race series and accumulated 533 total points (vs. 336 for second place)—an incredible feat for someone competing against more than 40 other 7.70 Index competitors.

Photography provided courtesy of Amy Gilbert of Stainless Diesel

Want more diesel truck racing? The records kept falling at the Hardway Sunshine Showdown!

Earlier this year when Chevrolet unveiled the refreshed 2019 Camaro, there was mixed reaction from the public—particularly regarding the car’s front end, which was updated to be more in line with the rest of Chevy lineup. With the SEMA Show less than a month away, Chevy has unveiled a customized 2019 Camaro that it will be bringing to Vegas, and it features not only a new body color but a new front end as well.

The first thing you probably notice is the color. It's a retina burning shade called “Shock” that will certainly attract a lot of eyeballs, but the striking neon green-yellow hue isn’t just for SEMA. It will be added to the 2019 Camaro lineup as a color choice next year.

We are always down with automakers offering bold color options, but the bigger story here is the car’s unique front end. It looks quite a bit different than the existing 2019 Camaro SS front fascia and a quite a bit sleeker than the large black opening that earned so much criticism after it was unveiled.

As for now, the new front end is just a concept for SEMA, but we wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the updated face on the production version, perhaps as soon as the 2020 model year—or maybe as a factory aftermarket part. What say you? Is the Camaro Shock front end an improvement over the regular 2019 Camaro nose, or should this only be kept as a concept?

Did you miss the reveal of the 2019 Camaro? Its front end proved quite divisive. 

For the fifth consecutive season, Formula Drift’s Pro 2 class allowed graduates from the regional Pro Am ranks to compete alongside similarly-skilled drivers as a stepping stone to getting to Formula Drift’s top “Pro” division of drivers. Prior to the creation of the Pro 2 class, drivers were expected to jump straight from a regional Pro Am series to an (at the time) seven event series traveling over 10,000 miles across the U.S. The Pro 2 class allows for an abbreviated, four-event schedule that travels fewer miles and allows for drivers to get more seat time against similarly-skilled drivers. Since the Pro 2 class was created in 2014, several Pro 2 drivers have gone on to compete in the Pro class including Jeff Jones, Matt Coffman, Geoff Stoneback, Juha Rintanen, Faruk Kugay, Kevin Lawrence, Dirk Stratton, “Rad” Dan Burkett, Alex Heilbrunn and Taylor Hull. With only eight drivers eligible to graduate to the Pro class, drivers in this class are truly driving to earn a license that could become a career.

Here’s a look at the drivers who finished in the Top 8 of the final season standings for Pro 2, and will be eligible to compete in the top Pro class in 2019.

8. Garrett Denton: Koruworks 2JZ-Powered Nissan S14

Hailing from Ohio, Denton has only been drifting for a few years but has found success early. After finishing second in the Midwest Drift Union ProAm series last season to earn his license, Denton was off to a slow start in Pro 2 when he failed to qualify at the first event in Atlanta due to some mechanical issues. Denton recovered by qualifying at St. Louis, and peaked this season with a second place finish in Texas. Denton capped the season off with a first overall qualifying effort in Irwindale, but lost his battle with Trenton Beechum in the Top 16. As one of only two rookies who finished in the Top 8 of the season, Denton should feel proud of his first season in Formula Drift Pro 2 as one of only eight unique drivers to take home a Carbon Fiber trophy for finishing on the podium at an event.

7. Brody Goble: Goble Motorsports Nissan S14.75

Competing for the third time in four seasons, Canadian Brody Goble completed the season with a career-high finish of seventh place overall. After finishing eighth in 2015, Goble took 2016 off to rebuild his car and returned in 2017 to finish in tenth overall. This season, Goble finished fourth in St. Louis and qualified as high as third overall on two separate occasions (Texas, Irwindale), and only lost in tandem to drivers who finished ahead of him in the final season standings. With his highest qualifying efforts in the final two events of the season, Goble seems to be figuring out exactly what the Formula Drift judges want to see and could be a much bigger threat to the championship in 2019.

6. Crick Filippi: Team “Burn the Most” Nissan S13

After initially competing in 2015 but failing to qualify, Fillipi earned his ticket back to the Pro 2 series in 2016 via the same Vegas Drift ProAm series that has spawned drivers like Odi Bakchis, Danny George and others. Fillipi finished the season with a third place result at Irwindale, knocking out championship hopeful Dylan Hughes in his first tandem battle of the day. Fillipi avenged a loss to Alec Robbins in the Top 8 in St. Louis by defeating Robbins in the Top 8 at Irwindale before losing in the Final 4 to Riley Sexsmith. Fillipi is one of only six drivers who qualified for the tandem battles at all four Pro 2 events, showing his consistency and attention to the judging criteria.

5. Riley Sexsmith: NV Auto Subaru BR-Z

Riley Sexsmith’s bright orange Subaru BR-Z stands out as the sole Subaru on the grid in either the Pro 2 or Pro class, and he piloted his 2JZ-powered car to a career best season. After qualifying third and earning a trip to the Top 8 at the first event in Atlanta, Sexsmith earned a pair of Top 16 finishes before claiming his first podium with a second place finish at Irwindale. Sexsmith crashed out in his final battle with fellow Canadian Sebastian Gauthier, but walked away with a smile on his face and his second Carbon Fiber trophy to match his third place finish in last season’s finale at Texas Motorspeedway. The Texas event was the only event Sexsmith qualified for in 2017, so qualifying at all four stops in 2018 is a huge improvement for Sexsmith and the team.

4. Ola Jaeger: Japan Auto Toyota Supra

Piloting the same Japan Auto Toyota Supra that Fredric Aasbo piloted to a Rookie of the Year finish in the Pro class back in 2010, Norwegian Jaeger had a season of ups and downs. Starting off with a win in Atlanta and a pair of epic battles against Travis Reeder and Dylan Hughes, Jaeger ended up facing Reeder twice more in St. Louis and Texas but lost both of the follow-up battles. Jaeger then fell at Irwindale to Troy Manners, but finished the season with an improved standing over his seventh place finish last year. Like many drivers in the class, Jaeger will look to be more consistent with his results, although he improved by qualifying at all four events, which he failed to do last season.

3. Sebastian Gauthier: SSG Motorsports Nissan S14

Guathier burned retinas all season with his fluorescent orange S14, which received a brighter dayglow yellow paint job just in time for the Irwindale finals. Gauthier started slow, losing to fellow Canadians Sexsmith and Goble in the Top 16 rounds at the first two events before breaking out in Texas with a fourth place overall finish, losing only to Travis Reeder in the Final 4. Gauthier went on to win at Irwindale, beating Sexsmith in the finals. Gauthier has been a longtime competitor in the DMCC and Formula Drift Canada series north of the border, but may start competing in more events in the U.S., so long as he gets the sponsorship to make it happen. As the 2018 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year for the Pro 2 class, Gauthier definitely made an impact, finishing as the highest ranked rookie since Alex Heilbrunn won the series back in 2015.

2. Dylan Hughes: Advance Auto Parts Nissan S13

Hughes burst onto the Pro 2 scene last season by earning a second place finish at the first and only event he competed in at Evergreen Speedway in Seattle. Hughes was able to put together a full season of competition this year, and he made the best of the opportunity by taking home a trio of Carbon Fiber trophies. Hughes placed second in Atlanta and St. Louis, then took home a third place finish in Texas. Hughes had an opportunity to win the championship at the final event in Irwindale when Travis Reeder failed to qualify, but he lost his Top 16 battle with Filippi and finished second for the season. This season was largely the “Reeder & Hughes show” as both drivers dominated the series and Hughes finished 45 points ahead of Gauthier, the biggest gap in points between any two drivers in the standings. With four podium finishes at the five events Hughes has competed in, he holds one of the best tandem win percentages in Pro 2 history.

1. Travis Reeder: Reeder Motorsports Nissan S13

When Reeder showed up to the first event with the checkerboard livery on the door of his red S13, it seemed like a stylish way to help him stand out. Turns out, the checkerboard livery would be a preview of coming attractions as Reeder went on to win two events (Seattle, Texas) and podium at a third (Atlanta) en route to winning the Pro 2 championship. Despite not qualifying at Irwindale, Reeder won the championship ahead of close friend Hughes by 18 points and, combined with a win and a second place last season, tied Marc Landreville for the most event wins in Formula Drift Pro 2 history and holds more Carbon Fiber trophies than any other Pro 2 driver. Whether Reeder makes the jump to the top Pro class for 2019 remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Reeder doesn’t have much else to prove in the Pro 2 class.

In a drifting drought? Quench your thirst with our coverage of the Formula Drift 2018 Finale.

You might’ve seen a video making the rounds on social media lately in which a slammed, Fox body Mustang lifts its front wheels on the dyno and churns out 3,920rwhp. That’s Ziff Hudson and his ridiculously clean, twin-turbo, Pro 275-class car—a regular top contender in Duck X Productions’ radial-tire drag races like No Mercy. You’ll probably also recall another video from a few years ago, showing a later-model Mustang dragster bogging off the line in a race, before regaining traction and powering to the win on two wheels all the way through the traps. Yep, also at a Duck X event (Lights Out) at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

While these might seem like hand-picked extremes of what the Duck X events and their racers have to offer, they’re just the tip of the massive, burgeoning iceberg of radial drag racing. After tiring (pun intended) of the slick-clad status quo in conventional drag racing, Donald “Duck” Long began hosting radial-only drag events at his hometown track of South Georgia Motorsports park, and heavily incentivizing top racers in a variety of classes to participate. That was nine years ago, and today competition in classes like “Radial vs. the World” at Duck’s two annual events (Lights Out and No Mercy) are seeing better participation, as well as quicker/faster times, than yesterday’s slick classes, and are becoming top classes in series around the country.

To catch the latest and, hopefully, greatest action in the radial drag racing world, I ventured to South Georgia Motorsports Park from my cushy L.A. homebase for a week of cultural immersion, some of the hottest/most humid weather of the year, hundreds of ridiculously fast dragsters and getting a better understanding of this changing tide of drag racing. Here’s what I found.

Setting the Scene

Looking at it from above, South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) might seem to be in the middle of nowhere. It’s about a two-hour drive from the nearest major airports in Florida’s Jacksonville and Tallahassee, and is located in Cecil, Georgia—a town of 275 people at last count. But, it's free from sound ordinances or pesky neighbors, and only 20 minutes from the nearby college town of Valdosta, Georgia’s plentiful hotels and restaurants. It’s just about perfect for serious drag racing and the associated debauchery. Add to that SGMP’s world-class ground crew and track prep, and tons of pit/camping space, and you’ll come to realize part of why Duck X events have become so popular.

The scene on the ground can only be described as a melting pot of history, culture, methods, geography, engines, chassis, power adders and personalities. The collective demographic of racers and fans is a lot younger and more diverse than one might expect from a domestic drag racing event, and a lot more high-tech—a testament to the universal truth we gearheads all know in our bones: everyone loves speed.

Family race teams were the norm, best friends and competing rivals were welcomed into each other’s pits and camping areas, goods and services (and that side-hustle cash) traded hands, friendly jabs at racing or personal shortcomings were exchanged amongst friends, and everyone—everyone—openly professed their love of sport and country. Behind the tough facade that’s common in such a competitive arena, and in contrast to any stereotypes our polarized society might levy on this crowd, those who I had the pleasure of meeting were some of the most friendly, generous and genuine people around.  

Racing in Duck X events is eighth-mile, since most of what makes drag racing so awesome happens in that amount of space. We get the hustling and trash-talking, burnouts, staging games, the pro tree, the ever-important 60-foot, plenty of time and distance down the track for almost anything to happen and some of the closest finishes anywhere. About the only thing quarter-mile racing has over it is more time and speed, but with Radial vs. the World contenders routinely trapping in excess of 210 mph in the eighth, there’s plenty of speed. It’s simply too dangerous for many street-appearing cars to go as fast as their engines would take them to a quarter-mile.

Since its inception, Duck X has offered racers generous winnings, like the $101K in last March’s winner-take-all Sweet 16 battle at SGMP. Total payouts for No Mercy 9 exceeded that, and on top of it all, Duck and his team even found a way to arrange donations of a veteran-built race chassis and engine to one of the racing community’s newest Gold Star families.

Heat and rain were big factors this time around. Near 100-degree ambient and 150-degree track temps kept power down for the forced-induction guys, and made finding traction difficult for nearly everyone. Slightly cooler mornings and evenings brought more grip and some huge wheelies, and the constant threat of pop-up showers kept racing moving at either a round-robin pace with zero downtime between runs, or put everything on hold for hours at a time.

There were a couple scary moments early on, most notably (for me, anyway) when LeRoy Nabors Jr.’s immaculate Radial vs. the World-class Corvette appeared to suffer an engine failure and lose traction on its own oil at the end of a 4.019-second at 187.89-mph pass, and plow straight into the wall just ahead of where I was shooting. He did an awesome job bringing the car back into lanes and getting out safely, but the car’s damage was too great to continue… this time.  

Getting down to business 

Radial vs. the World (RvW) is just one class in Duck X events like No Mercy, and it can be thought of as the top-flight, fastest class open to just about any chassis (Pro-Mod included), engine, transmission or power adder on 315 DOT or 10.5-inch 3062R or 3362R radials.

Jeff Naiser and his nitrous-fed RvW-class ‘69 Camaro set the low-E.T. bar for the entire event in qualifying late Thursday night, with a quick 3.762 at 190.35 pass. Right behind him, and demonstrating the big top-end power of forced induction, was the twin-turbo ‘78 Chevy Malibu of Mark Micke—winner of that Sweet 16 $101K payout—belting out a 3.768 at 218.27 mph pass in qualifying.

As eliminations began for the field of 32 three and four-second cars, all turbo cars went out by the third round, in the heat of the day. Just when the advantage of his nitrous car began to fade late in the day, Naiser met Alex Laughlin and his insanely loud, supercharged ‘12 Chevy Corvette. In one of the closest bouts of the day, Naiser crossed the stripe first by a very small margin: 3.792 at 197.62 to Laughlin’s 3.808 at 196.73.

Limited Drag Radial (LDR)

Not far behind RvW in the Duck X pecking order is Limited Drag Radial. These cars must appear largely faithful to their stock designs and dimensions (so no Pro-Mod chassis), and stock firewall locations must be retained. Removable parts can be made of lighter-weight composites, and back-halfing is allowed, but no tube chassis or even wheelie bars are permitted, and competitors must adhere to power-adder limits and run 295 or 275-series tires.

Still, that didn’t hamper LDR racers from running the SGMP eighth-mile in around 4.1 or 4.2 seconds and over 188 mph. Eighteen drivers qualified for competition, led in E.T. and trap speed by Daniel Pharris in the black sheep of the entire event, on several fronts: the white, twin-turbo, Ekanoo Racing ‘15 Lexus RCF, with a 4.135 at 188.07.

Pharris held strong and worked through his side of the bracket, but so did another competitor: Justin Martin and his twin-turbo, big-block ‘72 Chevy Nova, who set a record on his semi-final bye run with a blistering 4.097 at 189.20 pass. On a bye run! Martin would go on to phase out Pharris in the finals with a 4.121 at 188.60 to Pharris shutting down midway through his 6.575 at 98.04 pass.

Pro 275 

Almost neck and neck with LDR at No Mercy was the Pro 275 class, for similar cars as LDR but with some weight penalty differences and the mandated use of Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Pro 275 tires. The times at the top of each class were nearly identical, with Pro 275 qualifying front-runner Don Lamana posting a 4.136 at 199.82, just 7/100ths of a second ahead of next-closest competitor Ziff Hudson in that monster Mustang, with a 4.203 at at only 169.81—hinting that the car had much more to give.

Don and Ziff each worked their side of the ladder, benefiting from the odd bye run here and there, before somewhat predictably meeting in the finals. Ziff had been fighting to find traction all day. His new twin-turbo setup we think delivers more torque than his previous single, and with the inconsistently hot track, there just wasn’t enough time to get it dialed in. Ziff got a huge jump on Don when the final-round tree dropped, but when those traction gremlins reared their heads, Don powered off to an easy win.

Outlaw 632

Just a wee bit off the pace of LDR and Pro 275 at No Mercy was Outlaw 632. It's another door-slammer class, but one where up to 45-inch of front overhang, 632 big blocks (bored out to a max 400 CID) and just about any tire are cool. Turbos and superchargers aren’t, though—just gobs of nitrous.

Making the most of that rulebook in qualifying was Sam Harvey, who piloted his ‘66 Chevy to a 4.144 E.T.—nearly 2/10ths ahead of his nearest competitor. Just when it seemed to be in the bag for Sam, he broke in the first round of eliminations. Three rounds later, it was Mike Starvines and his ‘69 Camaro that emerged the victor, with a 4.478 at 157.89 to his opponent’s 4.538 at 158.20.

X275 

In a lot of regards, X275 is one of the most exciting classes to watch. Another class in which competitors are limited to 275-series or 28x10.5 radials, cars here are even more faithful to their stock sheetmetal. A full 32 cars took to the tarmac of No Mercy 9, with 16 of them qualifying in the 4.4 to 4.5-second range—that’s some close competition! While qualifying leader Shane Fisher and his ‘93 Ford Mustang’s 4.428 at 173.99 might have been quicker than the field, if the racing throughout the weekend taught us anything, it’s that anything could happen in this class.

Fisher’s performance gap indicates that there’s still a lot of room for growth in the class, but his ultimate fate proves that having the advantage isn’t always a sure bet for victory. As Fisher worked through his side of the eliminations bracket, 14th-seed qualifier Rob Gross did the same on the other—just barely staying ahead of his competitors with 4.4 to 4.5 E.T.s. We’re not sure what made Fisher drop from his consistent low 4.4-second competition passes down to a 4.810 at 159.61 in the finals, but when he did, ol’ Rob Gross belted out another modest pass, this time a 4.526 at 163.59, to earn the upset win of the event.

Ultra Street

Ultra Street is Duck X Productions’ newest class. It's similar to X275 in its emphasis on largely faithful production cars, but also adds the option (and incentives) for racers to battle on a 255-series tire.

Qualifying was led here by Rodney Ragen with a 4.689 at 156.43 over the two closest of 22 competitors (nearly all Mustangs or Camaros), each running 4.73s. No upsets here—Ragen dominated all the way to the finals, earning the win with a 4.703 at 156.57 when the barely quicker Joel Greathouse (4.690 at 151.09) redlit off the line.

DXP235 

If 255 seems like a small tire for serious drag racing, try 235. While you’re at it, enter in Duck X’s aptly named DXP235 class. You might not expect it by looking over the times, but this is a class for even closer-to-stock street cars, with limits on engines and power adders, running on either a 235/60-15 tire or 26x8.5-inch bias-ply slick.

Only 10 cars comprised the DXP 235 field at No Mercy 9, but the top seven were separated by only a tenth of a second. Leading the pack in qualifying was Jason Anderson and his ‘69 Chevy Nova with a 5.218 at 134.30, with Jonathan Insley right behind him with a 5.220 at 133.55. Come race day Anderson would out himself in the first round of eliminations, while Insley would run consistent 5.2s, eventually taking the win with a 5.208 at 134.50 and a perfect .000 reaction time.

Let’s Do It Again!

It’s hard to imagine, but the top qualifiers and final battles above barely scratch the surface of fun and excitement at No Mercy 9. More awesome burnouts, blowouts, blow-ups, wheelies, trash-talking, side-betting, amazing saves, near misses and extremely close finishes went down throughout the four solid days of racing than we could ever mention, and that’s not even elaborating on the overall fun and friendly atmosphere events like this always seem to foster.

Lights Out 10 has recently been announced for February 14-17 at SGMP, and Sweet 16 number two is scheduled for March 21-23. Those are two chances for you to take part in the action before next racing season really rolls around (dates for No Mercy 10 are expected once again in late September/October). If you need more encouragement to go, check out the gallery below.

Have you seen a diesel dragster? Here is the Anatomy of a Pro Mod Diesel Truck.

After Nitto released the Ridge Grappler in the spring of 2016, it received rave reviews from online and national print publications, industry experts and off-road enthusiasts. Coined a hybrid terrain and aimed at the truck owner that enjoys the off-road capability of a mud-terrain but that prefers the tread longevity and quiet, comfortable ride of an all-terrain, the Ridge Grappler has proven to be the perfect compromise for countless truck owners. So far, the Ridge Grappler has been a huge hit not only with its intended target audience (light duty pickup owners), but in the Jeep segment as well. Whether it’s on an F-150 or a Wrangler, the Ridge Grappler has been praised for its prowess in dirt, rocks and sand, while holding its own in light to moderate mud.

A Perfect Fit

Not surprisingly, Nitto’s Ridge Grappler has found a happy home in the ¾-ton and larger diesel truck segment. In this domain, truck owners depend on their vehicle(s) to do everything: work, play, commute and even haul the entire family to Disneyland. Needless to say, the tire’s E and F load range options, above-average off-road capability, pleasant on-road manners and the prospect of even tread wear piques their interest. Common endorsements among diesel enthusiasts include: great traction in rain (even aboard 700hp trucks), solid off-road performance, a quiet ride out on the highway and an affordable price point.

Long-Term Test

We know you’ve read Ridge Grappler reviews on Driving Line before, but we’ve never tested a set on a 1-ton diesel pickup, long-term—and by long-term, we mean it. This evaluation won’t span the course of a few months, but rather years, with subsequent installments posted intermittently. To keep tabs on the series, make friends with the search function at the top left of your screen. The purpose of this test is to convey how well the Ridge Grappler performs in a wide array of environments on a daily-driven diesel, as well as how it holds up over the long haul.

All-Purpose Tire, Year-Round Use

Throughout the course of our evaluation, the Ridge Grapplers will be exposed to everything a Midwestern environment can throw at them (rain, sleet, ice, snow and mud) while also bearing the brunt of having a 10,000-pound trailer in tow and the occasional ton of rock in the bed. We’ll probably even air them down and test them at the drag strip a time or two. Let’s get started.

The Test Mule

This is the guinea pig our Ridge Grapplers will be motivating: a four-door, 4x4 ’97 Ford F-350 equipped with the hard-to-kill 7.3L Power Stroke. Like most diesel truck owners these days, our F-350 is used for everything. Whether it’s cruising down the interstate at 75 mph, towing heavy (rain or shine) or commuting for work in the snow, it has to be ready for anything. It’s no coincidence that we’re purchasing new tires right before winter hits. Our Ridge Grapplers were sourced from York Tire in Jacksonville, Illinois, where they were also mounted and balanced.

Variable-Pitch Tread Pattern

So what exactly does this mean? It means variable-pitch tread blocks are employed to keep the tire quiet and comfortable on the highway. The tread pattern was designed using computer simulation and through the use of advanced sound equipment. All that engineering paid off, with Nitto’s own in-house testing earning the Ridge Grappler a score of 4 out of 5 in quietness (the same score given to the Terra Grappler and Terra Grappler G2 all-terrains).

Two Sidewall Options

No different from other tires that bear the Grappler name, each Ridge Grappler features two different sidewall designs. One side entails a more traditional pattern, while the other incorporates a new, aggressive tread block design. It’s up to the end-user to decide which sidewall faces out.

Alternating Shoulder Grooves

In this head-on animation shot, you can see the grooves along the tire’s shoulders. The highlighted grooves on the left are intentionally designed in varying widths and lengths to clear mud and keep the tire digging effectively. Lateral Z grooves arranged in a zig-zag fashion provide more aggressive biting edges for the tread blocks. For additional off-road bite, staggered shoulder lugs are also used.

Rigid Tread Blocks & Stone Ejectors

In an effort to add strength and reduce flex in the tread blocks, Nitto employs a reinforced block foundation on the Ridge Grappler. Further aiding traction, the tops of the tread blocks feature tapered and stepped edges. Stone ejectors are also present in the shoulder grooves to keep rocks from drilling into the bottom of the grooves.

16-to-24-Inch Availability

Because we were mounting our Ridge Grapplers on the F-350’s factory 16x7-inch forged-aluminum Alcoas, we were left with two tire choices: LT265/75R16 or LT285/75R16. The lack of 16-inch options isn’t surprising, as very few vehicles make use of such a small wheel these days. However, starting with LT255/80R17 and ending with 37x13.50R17, there are 16 options for 17-inch wheels. As for 18s and 20s, there are 24 and 26 different Ridge Grappler sizes, respectively. Beyond that, 10 sizes are available for 22-inch wheels and two options exist for enthusiasts running 24s.

LT285/75R16

Having already run 33-inch diameter, 12-inch wide tires on the truck in years past with no clearance issues, we knew the LT285/75R16 option wouldn’t be a problem. If you’re unsure what the outer diameter of your metric size tire is in inches, check out the conversion formula below:

Example: 285/75R16

1. 285/10 = 28.5 (mm to cm)
2. 28.5 x 0.393 = 11.2 (cm to inches)
3. 11.2 x 0.75 = 8.4 (width x sidewall height, which in this case is 75% of the width of our 16-inch wheel)
4. 8.4 x 2 = 16.8 (the “2” meaning top and bottom side wall)
5. 16.8 + 16 (add in the wheel diameter) = 32.8 inches

10-Ply, 80 PSI and 3,750 Pounds of Carrying Capacity

Like most E load range tires, maximum inflated pressure for the Ridge Grapplers is 80 psi. The LT285/75R16 tires bear a load index of 126 and a carrying capacity of 3,750 pounds per tire (in single rear wheel applications). As all of Nitto’s E load range LT tires do, they also feature a 10-ply rating.

Built for Heavy Loads

For the truck owner that lives life at max GCWR or GCVW, Nitto offers various sizes of the Ridge Grappler in an F load range, starting with 18-inch fitments and up. With today’s diesel trucks capable of towing in excess of 30,000 pounds, a properly spec’d Ridge Grappler will never be your workhorse’s weak link thanks to the various E and F load range options. Note that our LT285/75R16’s are load range E.

Keeping Tabs on Tread Depth

Measuring a tire’s tread depth is the best way to log tread wear and we’ll be doing it with this color-coded tread depth gauge from Godeson. You can pick these babies up for $3 or $4 at your local auto parts store and they last forever. A tire tread depth gauge measures the height of the line that extends from the deepest portion of the tread void to the top of the tread block. To keep tread wear to a minimum we plan to rotate our Ridge Grapplers every 4,000 miles and maintain the same air pressure for the duration of our testing.

It’s All Downhill From Here

Our starting tread depth on the LT285/75R16 Ridge Grapplers checked in as advertised: 16.4/32”. We’ll be making regular tread depth inspections throughout the course of testing these tires to gauge how quickly (or, hopefully how slowly) they wear. Look for our first check-in (Part 2) some time this winter, once we’ve racked up a couple thousand miles and some testing in the rain, sleet and snow that’s sure to grace the Midwest in the coming months.

Toy Hauling

When the old body style Ford isn’t running back and forth between photo shoots, industry events and the occasional off-road venture during the summer, it’ll be attached to this toy hauler. Though it’s a far cry from the types of loads you see late-model diesel pickups lugging around these days, it’s heavier than it looks and tips the scales at just over 10K when fully loaded. This is where the LT285/75R16 Ridge Grappler’s E load range and heavy-duty carrying capacity offers utmost peace of mind.

Looking for more Ridge Grappler reviews? See what OffRoad.com thinks of the tire here.

The first thing you learn spinning an open cockpit car at 130 mph is that if you're going to mow the lawn, you'd better have your visor down. This was my overriding thought as the Radical SR1 I was only moments ago piloting up the long pit straight at Virginia International Raceway's South Course finished its final rotation and came to a stop, covered in grass and dirt, about 10 feet from a concrete barrier.

My second concern? I hope I haven't just bought a starter. You see, the Radical makes use of a motorcycle drivetrain, which means if it ever rotates in the wrong direction while in gear it has a nasty tendency to tear the starter right off the engine. "Both feet in" was the mantra I'd internalized from the briefing the night before, but now I couldn't get the sequential gearbox to snap into neutral and I began to doubt whether I'd caught my folly in time before it made a dent in my bank account.

The safety truck rolled up and Ty, the manager of Formula Experiences on-track operations, walked over with a look of concern masked by a wry smile.

"Did you try to start it?" he asked.

I shook my head no. He poped me out of my harness and squeezed himself behind the flat-bottom wheel, kicking in the clutch pedal and pushing the start button. The Radical fired right up, the air pump whirring to life, and he pulled back on the left paddle while hitting the neutral button. The car effortlessly slid out of gear.

"Not enough air pressure in the system to activate the gear selector," he explained. He gestured towards the truck, which then took me back to the pit, the SR1 following along behind us none the worse for wear despite my stunt. I exited the pickup in front of my fellow drivers, holding the mud-spattered helmet that serves as a beacon of the shame that accompanies any agricultural excursion in a car that doesn't belong to you.

Peter Heffring, the man responsible for my presence here at VIR and the principal behind Formula Experiences, walked up to me, his face a mixture of concern and gentle good humor.

"Well," he said, his gaze moving from my helmet, to the car, then back to me again. "That was a learning experience, wasn't it?"

Time To Go Racin'

Formula Experiences, still in its inaugural year, is one of the more unique paths to fantasy racing glory available in the United States. Heffring, a software mogul turned Radical racer, was inspired to make FE a reality after he realized there was a gap between full-fledged racing schools and high performance driving club events.

"I looked at what every school out there was doing, and I realized I didn't want to run a school, I wanted to offer an experience," he told me later that afternoon during a break from the action. "I didn't want something that was strictly regimented. I wanted to provide a structure that would have people comfortable in a race car, even if it was the first time they'd ever set foot on a track. Something that gave them a chance to learn, and of course move forward with their driver education, but with the prime focus being on having fun in the moment."

It's this thinking that has lead to an emphasis on small groups (no more than 12 for those booking the individual packages, with corporate team-building packages typically larger and splitting their day between track and go-karting) and substantial amounts of track time. You get to try out a simulator, too, in both static and full-motion setups that provide a taste of the 1.65-mile South Course in a race car before you suit up for the real thing.

Also in the mix is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lap Virginia International Raceway under cover of darkness in a ride-along with a Radical outfitted with off-road projector beams (truly exhilarating), and ride while Heffring and his lead instructor Wyatt Foster trade positions, but not paint, to demonstrate what it's like to race wheel-to-wheel with just inches between vehicles.

Radical Concept

The fleet of Radicals (single-seat SR1 and dual-seat SR3 models) ready to be thrashed at Formula Experiences are phenomenally light and remarkably quick. The wider-track SR3 pulls 2.3 g in cornering and hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds. It’s far more likely that you'll find your own limits as a driver before you bump up against theirs, as my proven by my spin earlier in the day. There's also a pair of Ligier F4 single-seaters on deck to provide a Indy-like open wheel driving alongside the LMP-lite Radicals.

Off-track interlude aside, I found myself surprisingly comfortable behind the wheel of almost all of the Formula Experience cars. My favorite was the Radical SR1, which marries 175hp from a 1.34L Suzuki four-cylinder with less-than-half-a-Miata in curb weight.

Get past the claustrophobic tightness of its cockpit and you'll find your confidence increasing with each passing lap as you tear around VIR's short course behind the ably-piloted lead car (with either Heffring or another capable instructor at the wheel). For most people, including yours truly, this will be their first contact with a full-aero car, which actually sticks better to the tarmac the faster you go. It's initially a mind-melting concept to embrace for anyone making the transition from street cars, but one which quickly becomes second-nature.

Roll your eyes if you must at the lead-follow format, but trust me, even experienced pilots will have difficulty maintaining the same pace as the professionals with Radical series racing experience. It's a built-in safety valve that keeps drivers on a pace that matches their comfort zone, but having a rabbit to chase (particularly one that knows the line at VIR inside and out) is also a formidable learning tool that had most members of our group improving their performance throughout the day.

"I have four track records here," explains Foster, Heffring's go-to instructing hot shoe. "Well, maybe five. I did a 2:50 around the full course in a semi-truck. I'm just gonna call that a record."

Driver education on the track isn't just about lap times and braking zones, of course. Sometimes, it means discovering things about yourself that shatter previously-held assumptions. While I loved the steroidal go-kart feel of the Radical SR1 and enjoyed the communicative street tire-shod SR3's extra power, when it came time to sample the Ligier F4 I found myself surprised by just how uncomfortable I felt with my feet laid out almost straight ahead of me and just my head sticking up from the top of the car's carapace. All of my excitement about my first-ever open wheel session evaporated after just a few laps, and I came in early, unable to trust in the F4 in quite the same way as either of the Radicals. Again, as Peter would say, a "learning experience."

More Than Just a Day at the Track

In addition to providing a bucket-list checkmark for drivers who've always dreamed of racing glory and the associated adrenaline, Formula Experiences now offers Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) licensing. It's even the first SVRA-endorsed school in the country. This is on top of the driving packages like the one I tried out, which range from $1,495 to $2,695 depending on how much track time you're looking for, and whether you also want to drive one of your own vehicles at VIR at the end of the day.

The program is also giving British-based Radical a boost in America, says FE's chief engineer (on loan from Radical HQ) Rhys Terry, where the racecar company has a much lower profile compared to European and Asian markets. Should you become enamored with the SR1 ($70,000) or the SR3 (north of $100k), Radical will be happy to either sell you one or have Heffring hook you up with an arrive-and-drive arrangement at any of VIR's on-track events.

Whether a day at Formula Experiences convinces you to take the next step in your racing career, pushes you to reserve your own Radical at your next HPDE or simply serves as an unforgettable 24 hours, it's clear that Heffring's vision is a welcome one on the current motorsports landscape. This well-balanced mix of beginner-friendly fun and on-track adventure is something you'll have a hard time duplicating anywhere else.

Want to have the track experience on a budget? Try autocross!

It seemed like anyone’s game heading into the 2018 Ultra4 season closer at Wild West Motorsports Park outside Reno, Nevada. Less than 500 points separated the top 17 4400 class racers, demonstrating just how competitive this top-tier class of off-road racing has become. The 4 Wheel Parts Nitto National Championship race has become a fan favorite, not only because the short-course style setup is entirely visible from the grandstands, but also because racers bring their A-game and are willing to set it all on the line to finish off the season strong.

After a hard-fought weekend of racing that saw Cody Addington claim the pole position and JP Gomez win his second race in a row, it was Erik Miller who rose to the top on points to become the 2018 Ultra4 champion. Winning the KMC Battle in Bluegrass earlier this year and finishing strong in all of the races he competed in, including his second place KOH finish, Miller’s national championship is well-deserved and a first for this two-time King.

Following Miller in first place, is his Nitto Racing and Miller Motorsports teammate Josh Blyler. First entering Ultra4 in 2016, Blyler made a bang at his first King of the Hammers by finishing sixth in 2017. He’s gone on to show consistent driver skill and team preparedness in his Miller Motorsports’ Pro Series production chassis.

Rounding out the top three in 4400 national championship points is another Nitto Racing teammate, Wayland Campbell. Posing a major threat in Ultra4 racing for the past few years, Campbell held the championship title in 2017 and finished third at King of the Hammers this year. Wayland traded buggies with his dad, Shannon Campbell, for the Nationals race—opting to have an advantage in horsepower and finish the year as strong as possible.

While Wayland wasn’t able to bring home the win, he did help in earning Campbell Ent. the first-ever Fab School Manufacturer of the Year award. Based on finishing points of various buggy manufacturers racing in Ultra4, Wayland was just one of many racing a Campbell Ent. buggy. Of course, Shannon and Bailey Campbell were also racing Campbell Ent. buggies, as well as Levi Shirley, Cody Addington and others.

Outside of the 4400 class, Vaughn Gittin Jr. had a big win in the 4500 class. Winning not only the nationals race but also the 2018 4500 East Coast championship, Vaughn Gittin Jr. has shown a commitment to developing his off-road racing program after first competing in the 2016 King of the Hammers.

Congratulations to these and all of the Ultra4 competitors and national champions! Your racing and commitment is unparalleled in the off-road racing world and we can’t wait to see what next year brings! Stay tuned for Driving Line’s full National Championship recap and gallery!

Since bringing its season-ending World Finals event to Texas in 2012, the National Hot Rod Diesel Association’s year-end extravaganza has enjoyed solid spectator and competitor turnouts. Each fall, you can count on watching the fastest drag racers and the most powerful pulling trucks in the nation compete at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis. In 2018, things were no different, as convoys rolled in from all over North America for a shot at being crowned a World Champion. In addition to the prospect of earning a World Championship trophy, many racers were hoping to perform well enough to tie up the national points chase in their respective classes.

With the overall points chase still up in the air in several categories (namely Top Diesel, Pro Stock, Pro Street and Sportsman), the stage was set for a highly-anticipated final weekend of drag racing. Adding to the anticipation, the Firepunk Diesel team hauled the Pro Mod Save the Racks S10 some 1,100 miles to take a shot at the long-standing Pro Stock quarter-mile record. Unfortunately, Mother Nature saw to it that no records were broken on race day. As violent weather tore across northeast Texas, torrential rainfall and tornado warnings canceled all drag racing on Saturday. Luckily, Sunday was available as a rain date, but with many teams unable to remain in town an extra night (Firepunk included), racer turnout was inevitably reduced.

Still, the World Championship truck and tractor pull went off without a hitch on Friday night and the drag racers that rode out the storm on Saturday were rewarded with sunny skies and a well-prepped track on Sunday afternoon. By the end of the day, Matt Kubik looked to be on the verge of breaking the Pro Stock record aboard his P-pumped, 7.3L-powered ’98 Mustang, Phillip Franklin put his 5.9L Dodge through the eighth-mile in 5.7 seconds and John Robinson awed the crowd with a low-7-second quarter-mile in his Power Service dragster. For those highlights and more, keep scrolling.

Pulling Off the Upset: Jared Delekta Wins Pro Street

Headed into the World Finals, Jared Delekta held a slight points lead over the always-automatic Dustin Jackson in Pro Street. But even though Delekta had been lowering the Industrial Injection Cummins-powered ’01 Silverado’s elapsed times (and increasing its trap speed) all season, the real question was whether or not he could edge out Jackson, whose Cummins-powered first-gen Ford Lightning is known to run consistent 5.0s and 5.1s in the eighth-mile. In a final round upset, Delekta’s 5.11 at 142 mph beat out Jackson’s 5.39 at 141 mph for the win. Throughout 2018, Delekta and the rest of the Industrial Injection crew pushed the 4,800-pound, four-wheel drive, IFS-equipped, rear leaf spring Chevy to its very limit, and the World Finals win is a well-deserved victory for the Pro Street newcomers.

Pro Street Runner-Up: Dustin Jackson

After grabbing the number one qualifier position, it looked as if the cool, calm, collected Dustin Jackson was once again on his way to victory aboard the Old Hustle, New Flow ’94 F-150. Thanks to a win earlier in the season at the Oklahoma Diesel Nationals, Jackson came into Ennis just a few points behind Jared Delekta. In fact, the points were tight enough that, had Jackson been able to beat Delekta in the final round, he would’ve also snuck around him in points and stolen the National Pro Street Championship out from under him. While it wasn’t meant to be this time, Jackson and Delekta’s side-by-side race in the final was awesome to watch.

World Championship Three-Peat: Jarid Vollmer

The ’41 Willys from G&J Diesel is always a fun one to watch go down the track. Known in the diesel world as the Batmobile, this Duramax-powered, Lenco transmission, fiberglass bodied head-turner runs mid 7s in the quarter-mile on a regular basis. At the World Finals, driver Jarid Vollmer trapped 186.41 mph in the final round against Matt Kubik, where he took the win in Pro Stock.

Tough Break for the 7.3L Mustang

Anytime Matt Kubik shows up with his P-pumped 7.3L Mustang, people take notice. His unique Pro Stock creation sounds, looks and acts completely different than anything else on the NHRDA circuit—but it’s also incredibly fast. Having trapped 192 mph in the past, Kubik was on what looked to be a winning pass in the finals. Unfortunately, a clutch let go in the Lenco, costing him the race and a World Championship trophy. Amazingly, with the mechanical 7.3L Power Stroke screaming and the transmission unable to shift out of second gear, Kubik’s Mustang still managed to trap 172 mph!

A Win Is a Win

By the end of a long racing season, weak links sometimes begin to surface—and the Top Diesel class was living proof of that at the World Finals. With Wade Moody unable to attend the event in his Duramax-powered rail due to engine troubles and being that Jared Jones and the folks from Scheid Diesel broke their dragster’s rear end during qualifying, all Robinson had to do to get the win was bump into the staging light during the final. Robinson too had seen his fair share of late-season issues, including internal engine damage incurred the weekend before the World Finals. Pieced together with a fresh cam and a handful of new valves, Robinson’s 12-valve Cummins was still able to throw down a 7.33-second pass in qualifying and end up with the World Championship.

Super Street King: Phillip Franklin

After running 8.80s at just under 160 mph in the quarter-mile last year, Phillip Franklin was a big reason the NHRDA implemented new rules for Super Street in 2018. The biggest change? These 6,000-pound behemoths will be limited to running the eighth-mile until further notice. But the track being cut in half didn’t seem to bother Franklin, as he racked up three wins before rolling into the World Finals with a commanding points lead. Once he’d gone rounds and ended up in the finals at Ennis, Franklin stormed the eighth in 5.78 seconds at 125 mph for the win. This is his second consecutive win at Worlds, but his first National Championship points win in the Super Street class.

Super Street Number One Qualifier: Dallas Wade

Accumulating two wins along the NHRDA circuit, Dallas Wade showed up in Texas hungry for more—and it showed. He claimed the number one qualifier spot with a 6.02-second eighth-mile at 119 mph, and it looked like it would boil down to him and Phillip Franklin in the final. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, as Wade red-lit against Chase Wells’ low-6-second Cummins in the semifinals.

10-Second Ranch Hand

Once he’d finished terrorizing the 11.90 Index class, Larry Brown installed a roll cage in his ’07 Dodge 2500 farm truck and set his sights on kicking tail in the 10.90 category. At the World Finals, he proved unstoppable. Brown and his flatbed Ram earned the win by cutting an 0.95 light and running 10.900 on the money in the last round. It doesn’t get much closer to perfect than that.

Smokin’ Gun

Canadian big-rig racer and world record holder Gord Cooper was in hot pursuit of his third consecutive NHRDA World Championship trophy in the Hot Rod Semi class. Thanks to the big Kenworth running an 11.96 at 115 mph in the final round against Mario Monette, he was able to pull off the three-peat. Earlier in the day, Cooper’s ’68 KW claimed the number one qualifier with an 11.93-second pass. The 10,000-pound W923 is powered by a nitrous-huffing, twin-turbo 8V92 two-stroke Detroit and has been as quick as 11.40 at 120 mph in the past.

Ending the Season on a High Note

Veteran truck puller Jim Greenway is no stranger to the winner’s circle and has campaigned a vehicle in every competitive pulling class there is. However, since introducing his latest truck (coined “Luther”) in the top-tier Super Stock class, wins have evaded him. All of that would change in Texas, where Greenway yanked the sled 326 feet and change, putting more than 20 feet between himself and second place.

Scheid Diesel: Running Out Front

Brad and Susan Ingram trekked 800 miles to the World Finals to represent the Scheid name in the Pro Stock and Super Stock categories. Winning Pro Stock (the class the truck spent the 2018 season competing in), Brad finished nine feet ahead of the rest of the pack with a 331-foot hook. Also signed up in Super Stock, Susan drove the cut-tire, second-gen Cummins to a 302-foot distance, which was good enough for second place.

Photography provided courtesy of NHRDA

Can't get enough diesel drag racing? Then you need to see Rudy's Fall Diesel Truck Jam.

The rest of the Ultra4 field needs to watch out. Team Nitto driver JP Gomez has officially arrived. After running well for a long time, but never breaking through, he has now won the last two races of the 2018 season, capping things off with a win in Reno, Nevada. Is he now the favorite to win King of the Hammers next year? It’d be hard to bet against him after two straight wins in the desert.

JP Gomez going back-to-back wasn’t the only excitement at Wild West Motorsports Park. As second-place Nick Nelson made his way through the last rock section before the finish line, his rig got squirrely and flipped over, facing the wrong way after the tumble. Instead of turning around, he just stuck it in reverse and finished the race backwards! Coming in behind him in third and rounding out the podium was Mike Bergman, also in a UFO chassis like winner JP Gomez.

The race for first place wasn’t the only high stakes battle of the day, as the national championship was also settled during the race. In the end, Erik Miller won his first national championship after finishing in 11th. Congratulations to his team for running well all season long. Right behind him both in points and on the course was his Miller Motorsports teammate Josh Blyler. Clearly that camp has figured something out. They’ll also be strong contenders at KOH next February. Coming in third was last year’s champion, Wayland Campbell.

Flip through the gallery above to get a better look at all the top finishers for the weekend.

Want more Ultra4? We cover every race all season long!

Grind Hard Plumbing Company turned a totaled 2000 Toyota Tacoma into a truck to take on Moab that maintained street-legal status. The restrictions for the build were simple: total function and the lowest possible cost. So how much do they have into the build, not including the wheels and tires? About $1600 total.

Want more off-road custom truck action? Click here to see the Rockin' '74 Chevy Cheyenne.

JP Gomez took the checkered flag for back to back victories as Erik Miller took home the National Points Championship in a big weekend for Team Nitto at the Ultra4 Racing National Championship race. Returning to the Wild West Motorsports Park just outside Reno, Nevada, for the fifth straight year, spectators and racers alike were treated to one of the most exciting Ultra4 events in history. In a race with a marred start, the ending more than made up for the beginning and capped another incredible year of racing for 2018. At the season-end banquet on Saturday night, champions were crowned, stories were told, drinks were had and KOH plans were started as there really is no “off season” for Ultra4. KOH is only 100 days away!

The Wild West Motorsports Park in Sparks, Nevada, is an ultimate season ending race course that encompasses short course thrills, hill climbs, high speed sections and rocks, with an amazing spectator section that can see the entire course. The biggest danger each year is the whiplash from trying to see all the action at once. The entire year boiled down to this final event for all classes. National championships were still in doubt, KOH qualification was still available as some teams fought to avoid having to run the LCQ next year and the thrill of standing on top of the podium is always in the eye of everyone who puts on a fire suit and straps on a helmet.

(Writer’s note: Sometimes there is just too much goodness. For this article, I am focusing on the 4400 Unlimited class. The Underclassmen race recap and season ending awards report will follow in a separate article to highlight the hard work and results of the 4500, 4600, 4800 and 4900 classes.)

4400 Qualifying

With the layout and driver turnout for Nationals, there was once again a qualifying heat format. Drivers burned their way around the short course and through the rock garden on Friday afternoon for placement in race heats on Saturday. Saturday consisted of three preliminary heats for the Unlimited drivers in which the top seven from each heat transferred to the Main, then a Main B, followed by an LCQ Shootout for two final drivers to make the Main. All in all, the drivers had three possible shots to make the main race, but the more tries it took, the further back in the pack they started. The balance between keeping the cars together and getting a high starting position added tension and drama to qualifying day.

You can watch all the qualifying events here. It’s a great way to spend the day when you're supposed to be working! For right now, I’ll recap some highlights so we can get to the Main race. First off, Team Nitto driver Cody Addington is a beast. We’ve all seen winning cars go to new drivers and never return to the same level of success. Not so for the Red Dragon. Cody upgraded machines and his driving is more powerful than ever. He laid down the fastest lap time on Friday and went on to lay down the fastest lap in the qualifying heats to win the KMC Hard Charger award and pole position in the main.

Ultra4 Racing is about never quitting and the trail riding roots have never left this sport. Levi Shirley took a bad tumble in qualifying, to the point of possibly having to end his day early due to damage on the car. The Ultra4 family of racers and pit crews wouldn’t let that happen. Members of four different teams pitched in with Levi and worked feverishly to get the car ready for the Main B, from which Levi raced it into the Main. When it looked like all was lost, miracles were worked and friendships were solidified. Kudos to everyone who pitched in to get Levi back on course. Karma is a powerful thing.

4400 Main

The main race consisted of 12 laps around the punishing course with a winner take all finish. The race cars started like God intended: two by two and side by side as they enter the Ark…or in this case, the rock garden in front of the grandstands. With Cody Addington on the pole and a host of horsepower behind him, everyone waited for the green flag to drop! Engines and the crowd roared as one and the race was on…for a few minutes, that is, until it was off. A pileup going up King Shock hill brought out the red flag and the Ultra4 team worked to line the teams up for a restart. After taking cars off of one another and getting everyone down the hill, the drivers were lined back up in starting order at the start line and ready to go again.

Once again, the crowd and engines erupted as Cody flew through the rock with two-time king Loren Healy right on his tail. Going into turn one, Cody and Loren got tangled up with Cody ending up rolling to the outside and Loren charging to the lead. Once again teams powered up King Shock hill, only to once again have cars pile up and cause another red flag. Safety always comes first, and with the dust and stopped cars, a second restart was required to ensure safety and a competitive environment. On restart number two, however, the cars were brought to the top of King Shock hill and not put back in original starting order. While this helped cars like Nick Nelson and Shannon Campbell, who moved up during the second restart, it really hurt drivers like Cody Addington, who saw his pole position advantage disappear within seconds of the race starting and was now buried deep in the pack.

Teams and spotters perked up as they heard over the radios the two-minute warning from race director J.T. Taylor. By this point, drivers had been in their cars for over 45 minutes and were dealing with the adrenaline rush and crash of two starts and two red flags. Mental as well as vehicle toughness was going to be required to win this race. As the green flag dropped yet again, Loren Healy set out to define what it meant to run away from the field. Powering through turn after turn and rock course after rock course, Loren soon lapped half the field by the end of lap six. JP Gomez was a distant second in a group with Darren Hinke, Nick Nelson, Shannon Campbell, Brian Caprara and Andrew McLaughlin.

Midway through lap nine, fans and spotters all began pointing to a tire that was rocketing down the side of the mountain and headed towards the infield. Tires without a car are certainly strange, but not unusual when doing such hard racing, but everyone soon noticed that the rim was the very distinctive red color of race leader Loren Healy! The debate is still out about whether it was bad luck versus bad karma for the Cody spinout, but either way Loren sheared off the lug nuts from his passenger rear and ended his day in disappointment after completely dominating the first eight laps of the race. This opened the door for JP Gomez and Nick Nelson to start lighting the course on fire and the battle for second had now become the battle for first.

Team Nitto driver Nick Nelson, in a matching Jimmy’s IFS car to Loren’s, began to move through the field with precision and intent. JP Gomez, in his UFO single seater IFS buggy, just kept laying down smooth lap after smooth lap. JP was coming off his first Ultra4 Racing victory the previous race in Ridgecrest and appeared to like the taste of winning. No heroics were necessary, simply a strong, fast car and a seasoned driver to make it through all 12 laps. As Loren had just proven, in order to finish first, you must first finish.

Coming into the last rock section, JP was exiting the downhill as Nick Nelson was entering it. JP powered his UFO through the final rock garden to take the checkered flag and his second win of the year! Not to be outdone, Team Nitto driver Nick Nelson decided to put on a show for the fans and flat out sent it through the rock garden in front of the grandstands. In fact, he sent it a little too hard and ending up flying end-over-end on the backside of the rocks and just short of the finish line. Fate, however, had kindly put the car back on all fours and Nick slammed it into reverse and finished the race going backwards! The stand erupted with cheers as Nick took home second place. Mike Bergman was further back in the pack and rounded out the podium in third place, putting a second UFO car on the podium. Paul Horschel finished fourth and Levi Shirley overcame all the challenges between qualifying and the Main to bring Loretta home in fifth place.

While the front of the field was duking it out, another battle was raging back in the field: a battle of strategy for the National Championship points victory. Eastern Series winner Erik Miller and Western Series winner Wayland Campbell were battling for position and final points. Tucked away in this two-man battle was fellow solid axle and Miller Motorsports Pro Chassis racer Josh Blyler, just laying down fast laps and staying under the radar. Wayland continued to push his car hard to move up enough spots to gain points on Erik, while Erik strategically laid down nice, safe laps with the goal to finish the race. With only two laps remaining, however, Wayland pulled into the pits and had to call it a day. Erik continued through to the finish and solidified his first National Championship. Team Nitto driver Josh Blyer was also able to finish all 12 laps and accrued more points than Wayland to take second, dropping Wayland to third, but giving Team Nitto all three top spots in the National points!

Season End Awards

Congratulations to two-time king, 2018 National Points Champion and Team Nitto driver Erik Miller for winning both the 4Wheel Parts Eastern Series Championship as well as the Nitto Nationals Points Championship. Team Nitto took the top four spots in the final points, with Erik being followed by Showdown in Shamokin winner Josh Blyler in second, 2017 champ Wayland Campbell in third, three-time King Shannon Campbell in fourth and Levi Shirley in fifth place. The top two cars in 2018 were both Miller Motorsports Pro Chassis, while the rest of the top five were Campbell Enterprise Chassis. Wayland Campbell won the Lasernut Western Series Championship

Congratulations to Jason Scherer for winning the inaugural Off-road Triple Crown! Jason won the 2018 King of the Hammers, followed by a fourth-place finish at the MINT 400, then came back and won again at the Big House in Crandon to secure the short course portion of the feat. It was an incredible season of racing across the most challenging types of off-road racing in the United States. Well done and well deserved, Jason.

Congratulations to Campbell Enterprises for winning the first year of the Manufacturer’s Cup, barely beating out Miller Motorsports with such strong finishes at the Nationals race. With UFO delivering two of the top three cars at this year’s Nationals, Loren and Nick and the Jimmy’s Army in Jimmy’s 4x4 chassis, the Campbells and team Miller all getting stronger as the year went on, 2019 promises to be a very exciting year for competition and innovation in the sport and the industry.

Final Notes

The Ultra4 season has come and gone without a driver winning both the King of the Hammers and the National Points Championship in the 4400 class. Even after 10 years, the brutality of the series has kept this achievement from happening. Maybe 2019 will be the year. That being said, start making your plans now for the 2019 King of the Hammers. Race week has changed up a little bit with the EMC happening on Wednesday, a new invitational desert truck race happening on Thursday, and the main event, the King of the Hammers, happening on Friday, February 8, 2019. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss. Stay connected with Driving Line as we get you ready for the new season, get your fix and re-live previous races here and I’ll see you on the Lakebed in 2019! It’s an honor and privilege to be able to report out on Ultra4 Racing. Thank you for another great year.

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