Finally, it’s here. The first race event of the season is underway here at the Emerald Coast Dragway in Holt, Florida. Tonight was the qualifying sessions for all classes racing tomorrow for the big money prizes and what a treat it was to finally hear some diesel power ripping down the track after such a long break. The weather is 65-degrees with a slight breeze and it’s a perfect Florida evening for some drag racing.
We have classes ranging from Sportsman all the way up to Pro Dragster. Everyone has their winter updates and alterations buttoned up and now it’s time to put up or shut up. For starters, it’s clear that the staging lanes are filling up for qualifying, which means tomorrow will be fun.”ET Bracket, 7.70 Index, 6.70 Index, Pro Street, Pro Mod, and Pro Dragster are the classes that we’re going to offer this weekend,” said Michael Cassady of Diesel Thunder.
Honestly, the highlight of the evening was watching Ryan Milliken pilot the ’66 Chevrolet Nova after coming off a career-best performance at one of the largest radial tire races in the world. The Nova was in attendance but didn’t make any qualifying hits midday. In the evening, we looked forward to seeing it in action.
With this track being in beautiful Florida, it made for a pile of companies to show up with trucks for this years testing including Industrial Injection, DNR Customs, and a few Dynomite Diesel-powered trucks. You’re in the area, why not have a small vacation getaway from the normal?
Jared Deletka with his Industrial Injection powered GM truck is doing some testing to prepare for the Ultimate Callout Challenge coming up in May in Indianapolis. Delekta made a handful of sub-six-second passes in his truck with even more horsepower in the tank for the eliminations. Dustin Jackson in his Cummins-Powered Ford Lightning was in attendance making some serious steam but chose not to make any hits.
Derek Rose with DNR Customs made the trip down from Michigan to also get some testing in on his new powerplant for the 2018 season. This BD Diesel Performance Race Team member is planning on competing in the new Firepunk Diesel Outlaw 5.90 index class for the Outlaw Diesel Super Series sanction. After struggling with an electrical gremlin, Rose finally got in a few good licks to knock the winter rust off.
Danick St. Pierre flew down here all the way from Canada to play around in his 2017 Ultimate Callout Challenge truck in hopes to make some big power this coming year. After some minor adjustments, Danick is just a click off of that 5.90 index time. Adrian Forkum from Nashville, Tennessee brought his Suncoast Transmission backed black Dodge Ram to make a few hits in the 7.70 index class and did well in testing to prepare for Saturday’s event.
With the first round of qualifying completed, the ladder was beginning to form for Saturdays’ big event. Stay tuned for how it all went down in Florida!