100+ hooks in the dirt, records shattered on the drag strip and a catastrophic engine explosion headline the entertainment from the 2023 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza.
At the end of every August, there is a lot more occurring in western Indiana than the kids making their return to school or the corn turning color. This time of year, at a place located 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis, you’ll find a hive of activity between the cornfields. We’re talking of course about the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, an annual gathering that’s been held since 1997. Now in its fourth year at the “new” host facility, Wagler Motorsports Park in Lyons, Indiana, spectator attendance appeared to be on a noticeable upswing—and the competitor turnout looked to be holding steady.
Out on the hard-packed, clay pulling surface, America’s top-running diesel trucks and wheels-up tractors provided unforgettable entertainment. Over on the eighth-mile drag strip, engine carnage, a crash and a pair of new dragster records captivated the crowd (and us). Aboard the mobile chassis dyno, a new VP44 Cummins high mark was set, and scattered throughout the show ‘n shine there was an overflow of unique vehicles to swoon over. There was even a burnout pad open for business until 2 a.m. each night. Without a doubt, 2023 will go down as the year the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza came into its own at its new home.
There has definitely been a target painted on Adam Kincaid’s back in recent years. His time behind the wheel of the Hill Brother’s second-gen Limited Pro Stock truck has been nothing short of successful, and at the Extravaganza he qualified first on Friday, followed by a mid-pack, 319-foot effort that evening. O’Bryant Diesel Service & Repair built the common-rail Cummins that keeps Adam running at the front of the pack.Tim Tuttle has been on a tear in the month of August. Fresh off of wins at the Missouri State Fair and the Horsepower in Horse Country event in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Tim stole the show in Friday night’s running of the Limited Pro Stock class. That evening, no one could get within seven feet of his 335-foot distance.Josh Stahl built some serious ground speed on Friday night. His cut-tire Pro Stock Dodge moved the sled 349.71 feet, putting more than five feet on Second Place (Scheid Diesel’s own Brady Ingram). On Saturday, Josh and the Thicker ‘N Blood second-gen would finish seventh in a field of 23 trucks.Pro Stock tractors are the reason spectators pay good money to come to a truck and tractor pull—and this is one of the most recognizable machines in the game. Campaigned by the late Don Masterson and now driven by his son, Kevin, the John Deere 7280R known as “Tinker Toy” turned in an impressive 348.95-foot, Second Place effort on Friday night. It doesn’t get any better than a giant, single turbo feeding more than 100-psi of boost into a 680-ci engine, does it? Eavesdropping on the crowd, estimates of anywhere from 4,000 horsepower to as much as 5,000 horsepower could be heard. Whatever the numbers are, these 10,000-pound monsters are impressive.Watching a four-wheel drive Super Stock diesel truck claw its way through a tight clay track is a sight to behold. Scheid Diesel’s Kent Crowder earned Second and Third Place finishes on the weekend, which was enough to sew up the PPL points championship for the year. On Friday night, Kent ran the triple-turbo Cummins out to a distance of 339.22 feet—just inches behind front-runner Nick Gillett’s 339.36-foot hook.The eighth-mile drag strip at Wagler Motorsports Park has been a hot-spot for broken records in recent years, and that trend continued at Scheid Diesel Extravaganza 2023. During qualifying, Michael Cordova reset the Outlaw Diesel Super Series Pro Dragster ET record with a blazing (yet smooth) 3.97-second pass at 189.84 mph. Watching another diesel dragster break into the 3’s left the crowd (and us) in awe.Next, it was Scheid Diesel’s turn to raise the bar in Pro Dragster when Jared Jones topped Mattie Graves’ trap speed record of 189.87 mph. It has to be mentioned that none of these records would’ve been broken without the work Ralph Mabrier of Total Venue Concepts poured into the track prep. Despite the sizzling heat (ambient air temps knocked on the door of 100 degrees on Friday), he was able to maintain an ideal racing surface.Having won every race in 2023 coming into the Extravaganza, Justin Zeigler had high expectations for himself, his team, and his 4-second Pro Street Dodge. He would not disappoint, putting up a 4.98 in qualifying and later edging out Dan Zelten’s hard-charging, 4-second Duramax in the finals. Justin told us that at the outset of the ODSS season his goal was to sweep Pro Street, and he meant it. With one race left on the schedule, he’ll look to wrap things up at the Wagler Fall Nationals on September 30th.Without question, Hunter Coffey took home the carnage award at SDX 2023. Pitted against Ethan Patterson in Pro Street eliminations, Hunter lost his engine in the most catastrophic fashion possible. The cast-iron, 6.7L Cummins-based block split, ejecting the top portion (along with the cylinder head) through the front clip and sending it roughly 15 feet in the air. We’re told that the deadly combination of locking the converter at the bottom of the gear and spraying 17 pounds worth of nitrous led to the fireworks. Thankfully, Hunter and Ethan escaped unharmed.No longer wanting to turn his truck down enough to run 5.90 Index, and unwilling to add weight to his street-slaying, back-halved Dodge, Austin Doidge had no other choice than to sign up in Pro Mod. His consistent, 5-second performances proved enough to take the win over class heavy-hitters Larson Miller and Johnny Gilbert. While wins will definitely be hard to come by for Austin, it’s highly entertaining to watch his lightweight, four-wheel drive mix it up in the Pro Mod category.It’s been a great year for Mark Rojee, who obtained Rod MacMaster’s 5.90 Index Dodge over the off season. Fresh off the win at Rocky Top Diesel Shootout, Mark made it two in a row at the Extravaganza. The W pushes him within one point of class-leader, Brett Marcum. If you haven’t made plans to attend the final ODSS race of the year at Wagler Motorsports Park the weekend of September 29-30, do it now. You might just catch Mark and Brett in a wild race to the finish.Although Nick Morris wasn’t able to grab the win in either of the classes he regularly competes in (7.70 Index and ET Bracket), he did continue to add points to his ET Bracket total. Fellow racer and former ET Bracket champion, Ken Phillips, would get the ET victory at Scheid’s. At the final race of the year, look for Nick to wrap up the ET Bracket title but also fight for a runner-up finish in 7.70 Index (behind veteran Ryan Riddle).Focusing on lightweight and traction rather than all-out horsepower has made Jordan Blackard’s ‘01 Dodge a real contender in the 7.70 Index category. His second-gen is proof that the VP44-fueled 24-valve Cummins can be competitive in the big leagues. Jordan didn’t quite have the showing he would’ve like to at the Extravaganza, but he’s currently parked in the number 9 spot in points. Trust us, placing in the top 10 of a class with 79 drivers signed up to compete—all of them talented behind the wheel—is commendable.Speaking of VP44’s… Patrick Brown brought his 6.7L, VP44-equipped second-gen to the Extravaganza to see what kind of numbers it could make on M&M Repair’s mobile Dynocom. To everyone’s surprise, Patrick’s Ram belted out an incredible 1,532 hp—a new VP44 dyno record. Getting the truck loaded property called for what essentially amounted to destroying the rear brakes, but records are records and it was a small price to pay for setting a new milestone.Boggers on Koy Vanhorn’s Cummins-swapped dentside Ford, big modern chrome on Hunter Clark’s air-ride ‘79, and Hannah Wheat’s Cummins-powered, frame-laying ’59 Chevrolet Viking say that vintage trucks with diesel engines are the new craze. But it wasn’t all classic Blue Ovals and Chevy’s, as we spotted a variety of ultra-clean first-gens this year—including Plowboy Diesel’s ’85 Dodge packing a VE-pumped 6.7L Cummins (more on that in the months ahead).
