In the diesel industry, it’s much smaller than the normal drag racing scene. While we all equally love drag racing, the diesel side of things is very tight-knit. Jared Delekta, a mechanic for Industrial Injection Diesel Performance, has been putting in work with his Cummins-powered Chevrolet for the past few years in both local and NHRDA (National Hot Rod Diesel Association), and Outlaw Diesel Super Series events.
In his time in both sanctions, they have built relationships with other drivers which has resulted in friendly duels. Among these friendly competitors’ is a friend of Delekta’s, Dustin Jackson. Jackson has been one of the most dominant drivers in all of diesel motorsports aside from Lavon Miller and the Firepunk Diesel crew in their Pro Street truck.
Delekta and his right-hand-man, Bob Millican, have traveled the country all year long hitting nearly every event they can to collect that oh-so-valuable data and seat time to prepare them for future events. Throughout the year, Delekta and Co. have hit the majority of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series events, some National Hot Rod Diesel Association events, and the brutal Ultimate Callout Challenge.
The obvious reason behind missing the front half of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series was his preparation for his rookie appearance at the Ultimate Callout Challenge. With a truck that can obviously perform on the drag strip cutting unbelievable times, it was clear that truck belonged in the big event in Indianapolis.
At the 2018 Ultimate Callout Challenge, Delekta placed 5th place overall. He brought his A game to the drag racing portion of the competition placing 2nd with a pass of 8.076 seconds on the ¼ mile. He then placed 5th on the dyno maxing out his truck at 2,188.3 HP and 2,663.8 foot-pounds of torque. In the sled pulling portion of the competition, he made a hook of 246.75 feet placing him 16th.
Now, with such a grueling task complete, and nothing but drag racing left, Delekta and Millican both wanted nothing more than to figure out a way to take down Jackson and his Lightning. Ideas began to drum up on how to give this truck the edge.
Continuing The Momentum
It wasn’t until the Crossville, Tennessee race, Rocky Top Diesel Shootout when Delekta made his Outlaw Diesel Super Series debut in 2018. After undergoing some big changes and replacing the factory differential for a Strange Engineering 9-inch axle, they didn’t have much time to test.
We caught up with Bob Millican, Industrial’s engine builder and Delekta’s main pit crew to get his thoughts on the year. “It has been one hell of a year with all of the traveling and sleeping in different hotels every night. We struggled for a while, but eventually, we got into a groove,” said Millican. “As things started to come around, we started getting the truck lined out more and more.”
Delekta and Millican spent a lot of time working alongside Suncoast to get the torque converter lined out. The Industrial Injection power-plant was solid as can be and had no hiccups all year long. With that being said, the engine made so much power, they were struggling to get that much weight and power to transfer through their four-speed 48RE transmission. But, luckily for them, with the help of Randy Reyes of Randys Transmission, their 48RE was an animal.
“The engine was solid as can be. I literally changed nothing mechanically all year,” said Millican. “All I did was heat the nitrous bottle for more nitrous pressure at one event.” With the help of Suncoast and their prototype three-speed trans, team Industrial started to get things figured out.
As the year went on, Jackson’s dominance gained strength and it looked like nobody was going to take him down after winning all of the races besides the season opener in North Carolina. Unfortunately for Delekta, even though the truck was dialed in, his chance to beat Jackson was offered, but the cards didn’t play in his favor. Both trucks had issues in their race, but couldn’t get it done.
With the Outlaw Diesel Super Series season closed, only one race remained. The National Hot Rod Diesel Association World Finals in Ennis, Texas was in their sights. The last race of the year, the World Finals, what better way to end this year of fighting with a win, especially against Jackson? Well, luckily for Industrial, Chris Buhidar was actually suppose to race Jackson in the Texas finals, but because of breakage, Delekta was given the final round.
“I knew Dustin was having problems that day and this was the perfect time to strike,” said Millican. “So, I put a known A-B setup in the truck that I knew would work.” Sure enough, they took him down and were crowned world champions. According to Both Delekta and Millican, beating Jackson has been the hardest thing they have done all year, but it made it all worth it.
The Future
So, now what? You’ve set a goal to defeat a great driver and you’ve done it. “Our future plans are honestly nothing at this point. With our chassis, we can’t go faster than 5.00 eighth mile times, so our plan is to stay consistent in the 5.00 range,” said Millican. “2019 is a championship run. Anyone can win a race but the championship is what we’re after.”
With the NHRDA no longer around, what are your plans for testing? “It will be tough to test and prepare for the Outlaw Diesel Super Series races since there is no more racing in our area. We are thankful for the NHRDA races that prepared us for the big showdowns against the tough Pro Street drivers like Jackson and Lavon,” said Millican. “With both Lavon and Dustin either sold or selling their trucks, it’s going to be interesting to see who shows up, so we’ll see what happens.”
What a treat it was to watch these guys from Utah come all the way over on this side of the United States to battle it out with some of the best drivers in the country. With this kind of momentum, we can’t wait to see how 2019 turns out! For more information about the Industrial Injection-backed truck, or to see what Industrial can do for you, be sure and check out their website here. Stay tuned to DieselArmy for all the event coverage coming up.