Once again, it was time to make the trek to the historic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. TS Performance brought back the Outlaw Diesel Super Series to invade their local track for a weekend full of diesel drag racing.
So how did everyone fare in this, the second stop in the Outlaw Diesel series? Let’s dig in.
After a fun visit to the Kingspeed Race And Repair shop on Thursday night, the storms rolled into town and soaked down our racing surface for Day One of fun. After a cool, gloomy beginning, the track officials got the track prepped and ready for some side-by-side drag racing.
Day 1
As usual, the Outlaw Diesel Super Series brought us packed staging lanes full of E.T. Sportsman, 7.70, 6.70, Outlaw 5.90, Pro Mod, Pro Street, and Pro Dragster classes. Although the rain scared off a lot of the competitors, it was still a great outing.
Oklahoma native Devin Ratliff battled all weekend in both E.T. and 7.70 index classes.
In the JAMO Performance Exhaust E.T. Bracket class, it was Dan Holland is his BD Diesel Performance-sponsored second-generation Ram taking the win. Holland has been a dedicated racer for years in this Ram and other drivers know him as a driver to look out for considering his consistency.
For the ATS Diesel 7.70 Class, it was driver Ryan Riddle making it to the top of the podium on Day One. His Firepunk Diesel-backed Ram was deadly consistent throughout the day, earning Riddle some prize money and the bragging rights for the day’s racing.
In a big outing for the Diesel Army drag truck, we ended up taking the win in the Flo-Pro Performance Exhaust 6.70 index class. With the help of all of our clients on board, the truck was on-the-money consistent all day long, resulting in a win for the Diesel Army team. We are ecstatic at the truck’s performance and look forward to the future racing coming up.
Our first outing in the newly dieted and wrapped Diesel Army truck was a great one.
Since the Pro classes only qualified on Day One, that concluded the day’s racing until Saturday. The qualifying for the Outlaw 5.90, Pro Mod, Pro Street, and Pro Dragster classes was full of excitement. In the second running of the newly added Outlaw 5.90 Index, it was Seth Higgins in the Kingspeed Race And Repair Ram taking the number one spot. Trailing just behind was MB Diesel’s McCoy Black and Maverick Diesel‘s Paul Cato.
Over in Pro Mod, there was a much-awaited meeting of the drivers. Done Right Diesel Performance owner Ben Shadday qualified number one with a personal best of 4.712 at 155 MPH. Just behind Shadday was Rawlings Barnes from Rudy’s Diesel, Save The Racks S-10 driver Larson Miller, and Taylor Overcash and Michael Dalton in the RLC Orange Crush machine.
After some minor adjustments and the help of his wife Mindy and friend Daniel Pierce, Dustin Jackson got the track figured out and was planting his Dynomite Diesel-powered F-150 Lightning hard.
In the Hot Shot’s Secret Pro Street class, Dustin Jackson led the pack in front of Firepunk Diesel’s Lavon Miller, Enrique Gonzalez, and Johnny Gilbert in the Stainless Diesel unit. Although Gilbert had some newfound power, the new personal best for the truck wasn’t enough to edge out the remainder of the field.
Day 2
Saturday morning looked promising. However, the humidity turned up to ten, bright and early, before the birds were even chirping. The rain had moved out of town and it was time again to go racing. With Saturday being easier to attend for most, the crowd was marginally larger on Day Two. The truck field remained, with the exception of a few wild cards.
The “Little Debbie” Kuntz Brothers Racing 4BT-Powered bread truck was in attendance. The rolling rectangle hit it hard in the E.T class. It’s been said that this truck makes nearly 650 horsepower.
After an unfortunate outing on Day 1, Firepunk Diesel’s Landon Miller took home the win in the E.T Bracket class, suffering a few deadly reaction times; .000 and .001 reaction times are hard for anyone to do and even harder to compete with. In 7.70, Kevin Frey made the most out of his trip to Kentucky all the way from Plain City, Ohio. Frey punched his ticket to the prize money, the trophy, and the bragging rights for team Firepunk Diesel.
Also doing some dieting over the winter was Diesel South Inc. driver Bradley Kerr. It obviously paid off, considering a runner-up finish on Day One and a first-place finish in the 6.70 class on Day Two. He trumped Swamps Diesel‘s Mike Coleman at Beech Bend Raceway.
In the all-new Outlaw 5.90 index class, after a promising number one qualifying pass, Seth Higgins continued his consistency onto eliminations. He had a bye run into the finals, up against Paul Cato in the HP Tuners/Maverick Diesel rig. After Higgins’ performance this weekend, he is sitting pretty in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series points chase.
In this proven Pro Street truck, Seth Higgins has inherited a vehicle that will take him to the limit.
Lavon Miller’s Pro Street Ram encountered some major engine problems during eliminations, which resulted in him not making it to the starting line in the finals. For simply breaking the beams in the final round, Dustin Jackson took home the win in the Pro Street class and set himself up nicely in the points thus far.
Wade Moody had a promising weekend heading into eliminations, but after some unfortunate spooling issues, Moody was beaten in the first round leaving it up to the Scheid Diesel Dragster and the Tameless Performance-altered machine. In a David and Goliath situation, Aaron Reynolds made it to the winner’s circle.
Moody made the fastest diesel-powered 1/8th-mile pass ever this weekend. This blistering 4.119 at 176.14 MPH started with a wild 1.023 60-foot time.
Larson Miller in the Save The Racks S-10 set a personal best elapsed time in the Pro Mod class, but it wasn’t enough to take the top qualifying spot. The Done Right Diesel Performance Ram piloted by Ben Shadday held on to the top qualifying spot this weekend and went on to take the win as well, up against Taylor Overcash.
Although he didn’t take the overall win, Overcash’s performance didn’t go unnoticed. The man has been building this truck for a long time, and the long hours are finally starting to pay off. With the help of his crew, Overcash slipped and slid his way into a personal best pass of 5.159 at 134.75-MPH.
In what most saw as another David and Goliath situation, Overcash never lifted off the throttle, despite shakes and shimmies. He stayed out in front of the Rudy’s Diesel Pro Mod Ford.
Everyone that raced throughout this weekend has plenty of data to go off of and they can make the necessary changes to tear their way into the money. Even though this is only the second stop of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, the points chases are already heating up. The next stop on the circuit is the Rocky Top Diesel Shootout in Crossville, Tennessee. Stay tuned for the coverage from the mountains and don’t forget to let us know in the comments below what you thought about the TS Performance Outlaw Diesel Shootout.
