HEADLINES: Firepunk’s Pro Mod Goes 4.14 In Testing
Firepunk’s Pro Mod inches closer to 3’s, truck pulling icon, Van Haisley, earns a lifetime achievement award, and TSD is already prepping for U.C.C. 2024.
Taking full advantage of the November heat wave that swept through Ohio last week, the Firepunk boys hit the track for testing. While there, the dark Plum Crazy Pro Mod Duster seemed to move beyond the struggles it faced this racing season and turned in an incredible 4.14 at 179 mph, along with a 1.02-second 60-foot. Between chassis and power management, and dialing in the Liberty’s shift points and converter lockup, much is left to do—but the fact that the car is making full A to B passes now is a great sign. The real question at this point seems to be how far into the 3’s is this thing gonna go?
Drag Racing
No Time Truck Shootout
The 52nd Snowbird Outlaw Nationals will be taking over Bradenton Motorsports Park from November 30-December 3, and for the first time an N/T truck class is on the docket. So who’s going? And will any diesels make the call? The heads-up category is sponsored by Fleece Performance Engineering, and several of its customers are capable of putting on a show. The rules are pretty simple, with no engine restrictions and no nitrous limitations, although power adders are capped at a maximum of two for six cylinder and smaller power plants. If you ask us, this is yet another way to get diesels racing side-by-side with some of the fastest spark plug engines on the planet.
Dyno Testing
Life Is Good At 6,000 RPM
Having a chassis dyno at his disposal has made Truck Source Diesel’s Chris Buhidar one of the best tuners in the industry, and he made some noise recently with his infamous Cummins-powered F-350. How does 6,000 rpm out of a Freedom Racing Engines’ 6.8L Cummins sound? Rumor has it Chris is testing a set of new S&S Diesel Motorsport injectors and dialing things in via the truck’s MoTeC stand-alone ECM. If this is the same setup Chris plans to bring to U.C.C. next year, he should have one of the most thoroughly tested steeds in the race.
Truck Pulling
Van Haisley Earns PPL Lifetime Achievement Award
It’s banquet season, and over the weekend it was PPL’s turn. At the year-end, Champions Tour bash held in Louisville, Van Haisley was honored with the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Since high school, when he pieced together a mini-rod, Van has been involved in the sport of truck and tractor pulling. His first competition diesel truck—built long before you could order a Cummins-powered Dodge—was a ’75 Chevy packing a turbocharged 6.2L. Today, most of the world recognizes Van as the driver of the Rock Hard Ram, a Super Stock truck powered by a Haisley Machine Cummins. From 200 hp to 4,000 hp, Van’s journey has been incredible.
New Product Alert
DieselSite’s 7.3L Air-To-Water Intercooler
As proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks, DieselSite has developed an air-to-water intercooler for the ’94.5-’97 7.3L Power Stroke. Simple in design, the entire system installs in less than two hours, is significantly more efficient than an air-to-air unit, and saves you the headache of hacking up your OBS Ford’s core support. On top of that, the intercooler itself (a 4-core piece) mounts near the HPOP reservoir without hood clearance issues and is located in a way that still allows for access to the glow plug relay, and even the ability to pull the HPOP. DieselSite’s air-to-water intercooler kit is designed to work with the stock (or factory-based) OBS Garrett turbocharger.
