Project DeadSpool Victorious In First Drag Racing Event

After waiting all winter, it was finally time to put Project DeadSpool to the test. Unfortunately, the first stop of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series was the Rudy’s Diesel Season Opener and it was just too far out of the way to unveil the drag truck to the world. Which leads me to tell you about the first event – the TS Performance Outlaw Diesel Drags in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The newly adopted project was my personal truck to begin with, and it served for years as a daily driver truck, a toy, and a show truck. It wasn’t until about halfway through the 2017 drag racing season that I decided that I wanted to take the racing program more seriously and advance the truck to another level.

As you may know, the truck has recently undergone dieting as well as adding some additional horsepower. At last year’s Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, it weighed in at 6,170 pounds. Now, even with the bed removed and replaced with the GTS Fiberglass bedsides, there was still plenty left to be taken off to help me achieve my goal elapsed time of 6.70 seconds.

Thanks to our friends at Mickey Thompson, our new wheels and tires made all the difference. Altogether, they were over 100 pounds lighter than the previous set up. What’s more, by swapping over to their drag radial tire, we picked up two tenths of a second on the short time.

In the 6.70 Index class, the rules change from the previous 7.70 Index that I’ve raced in the past. Typically when racing these trucks, in a 7.70-second 1/8th-mile ride, the truck is traveling around 90-93 MPH. When you apply the additional horsepower it requires to run in the 6.70-second zone, the trucks are traveling in the 100+ MPH range.

Getting to the higher power and resulting in faster times is credited to our BD Diesel Performance parts on board. The truck, as you may know, is equipped with the BD R1000 Compound Turbo Kit. It utilizes a Super B Special 64.5mm turbocharger that is fed by a larger 82mm turbo. With these turbos, we have enough air flow to support north of 1,000 horsepower. As a matter of fact, after recent testing, we have calculated a rough horsepower estimate according to our fastest elapsed time to be building over 1,100 horsepower!

Also, after removing the factory unit, BD Diesel hooked us up with their Xtruded Charge Air Cooler (Intercooler) which made a world of difference. With noticeably more power, the BD intercooler lowered overall EGTs and is manufactured to hold more than 130 PSI of boost pressure.

After an unfortunate failure of the injectors that were housed inside of DeadSpool, we upgraded the injectors to a set of 250-horsepower injectors. Although they’re the same size as the original set, this new technology coming from the BD fuel injector laboratory did it right. The truck comes up on boost way faster and makes a ton of power down the track.

Because these trucks are so heavy, the rules change; they need to be safe for us drivers that are going much faster than what you would normally be doing on the interstate. A roll cage can only do so much for a rolling mass of 5,000 pounds.

For instance, something that is required is at least a roll bar. In case of an accident, a roll bar will offer a decent amount of safety in the case of a rollover. But, as you already know, I’ve made some changes to our truck that include full stripping of the interior. It only made sense that I went with a full 8.5-second certified roll cage built by Firepunk Diesel.

It was obvious that the truck was going to be way lighter than the previous year. With that in mind, I wanted to get an idea of exactly how much that was. I was pleased to see the monitor read 5,350 pounds without me in it. As a 200-pound driver, that weighs us in right at 5,550-lbs. With the help of the Wallace Racing Calculators, we found out that at that weight we only needed roughly 913 horsepower to run our 6.70 number.

Every all-out pass at the event, the truck ran a 6.67, which basically put me in the perfect position for a successful weekend. This gave me the advantage to be quick off the line and out of the throttle, ensuring I wouldn’t finish the race faster than the predicted elapsed time. Fortunately for team Diesel Army, that is exactly what happened.

Our fastest elapsed time originally was a 7.31 at 94 MPH. After these major changes and a retune, the truck went out and made a respectable 6.42 at 109 MPH.

These BD Diesel Performance R1000 compound turbos are some of the fastest responding turbos available for the 5.9-liter trucks. When I needed power, these BD turbos made it happen.

After qualifying in the number one spot with a 6.708, the consistency and success continued on for four rounds of eliminations. This resulted in a win in the Flo-Pro Performance Exhaust 6.70 Index class. Unfortunately, on Day Two, I made it all the way to semi-finals and beat myself tripping the beams in a disqualifying red light start.

Team Diesel Army extends our heartfelt thanks to all of our clients on board. We had a truck that was a top-of-the-line build, in tip-top shape for competing with the best.

This was the first trip out for Project DeadSpool, but it is certainly not its last. Directly following this weekend of fun was even more of it. The weekend after the TS Performance show was the Wagler Competition Products Gas Versus Diesel race. The race in Lyons, Indiana brought some of the heavy hitters in the gasoline world to compete with some of the troops from our side. For more information on that race, stay tuned for the recap.

After hours of waiting for rain delays and track prep to clear up, it was all worth it. Once I crossed the finish line with my win light on, I was on top of the world.

We are planning on continuing this success further into the 2018 racing season, and we are planning on hitting most of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series races as well as some other local style events. Stay tuned for future events and don’t forget to let us know what you think of the build below. What would you change or do to the DeadSpool build?

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About the author

Artie Maupin

Artie Maupin is from Southeast Missouri and has an extreme passion for anything diesel. He loves drag racing of all kinds, as well as sled pulling competitions.
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