ODSS drag racing rolls through Indy, and brings with it a weekend of new records, surprise wins, and a fiery finish.
In the blink of an eye, the rainout at Rudy’s and the cancellation of this year’s Rocky Top Diesel Shootout has tightened up the 2024 Outlaw Diesel Super Series (ODSS) points chase considerably. Obviously, fewer races mean fewer events to accumulate valuable championship points and, expectedly, the competition is bound to intensify. That’s exactly what happened the weekend of May 31-June 2 in Indianapolis, when Firepunk Diesel’s Outlaw Diesel Revenge event unfolded alongside the Ultimate Callout Challenge. New records were set in Pro Dragster, Pro Mod, and Pro Street, with countless other racers running new personal bests.
Outlaw Diesel Revenge always enjoys a good draw, but the quality of the racing this year seemed exceptional. Nearly 100 trucks showed up to compete in ET Bracket, 61 drivers signed up to run 7.70 Index, 42 came to battle in 6.70 Index, and 5.90 Index saw 17 entries. Better yet, virtually every driver appeared locked-in, making for great side-by-side racing all weekend. High 4-second passes were made in Pro Street, the quickest Pro Mods went low 4’s, and Michael Cordova’s dragster pushed even deeper into the 3.80s. The atmosphere was electric, and our best attempt at a proper recap is as follows.
No one had a better weekend at Outlaw Diesel Revenge than Michael Cordova. In the words of the folks at S&S Diesel Motorsport, “the only thing better than setting a record is doing it while winning the final round of an event.” And that’s just what he did. During the Pro Dragster final, Michael’s S&S, Freedom Racing Engines, and WrenchWorkz-backed dragster cut a 0.993-second 60-foot on its way to a 3.83-second pass at 203 mph. Not only did Michael beat his own ET record (a 3.87 previously), but the mph number overtook Scheid Diesel’s Jared Jones for the fastest eighth-mile trap speed ever recorded by a diesel. The record-setting pass also marked the first time a diesel has broken the 200-mph barrier in the ‘660. Topping it all off, Michael’s rail took the event win over Hollyrock Customs’ Mattie Graves.At every ODSS event, you can count on Justin Zeigler’s Pro Street Cummins running high 4’s with spot-on repeatability. He kicked off the weekend with a 4.85-second blast at 159.97 mph in Q1 and would reset his own Pro Street trap speed record multiple times. Eventually, Justin’s dominant Pro Street Dodge would raise the trap speed bar to a steamy, 161.46 mph. That’s moving for a 4,400-pound, 4×4 truck. By our calculations, Justin’s D&J engine, Rossler TH400, SCS drop box, and Moser axle(s) powertrain makes it possible for north of 2,600 hp to be applied to the track on the big end.Living in the 4.80s, it looked like business as usual for Justin Zeigler and that he would cruise to yet another Pro Street victory. Unfortunately, after setting his final trap speed record, a high-pressure fuel line worked itself loose and doused the engine in fuel, which started a fire under the hood. With the fire suppression system failing to work and the engine running away (thanks to max rail pressure being commanded due to the fuel leak), Justin calmly unlatched his race harness and vacated the cockpit. So was he rattled? Let’s just say that, while being checked out in the ambulance, Justin’s blood pressure checked in at a perfect 120/80. Expect to see him back racing at the next ODSS race in Bowling Green, Kentucky.Mattie Graves and the twin-turbo, Hollyrock Customs Duramax dragster would rocket to a 4.04-second pass in qualifying. But when the team’s TH400 suffered a broken input shaft, the failure threatened to end their weekend. Luckily, S&S Diesel Motorsport‘s Carter Langellier stepped in and stepped up in a big way, not only lending Mattie and the Hollyrock team the parts they needed but driving home to retrieve them. Thanks to Carter, Mattie’s weekend didn’t end suddenly, and ultimately he made it possible for her to take home Second Place points. Heading to the next ODSS race, Mattie remains within striking distance of Michael Cordova and his record-setting rail.Outlaw Diesel Revenge marked the first W for Firepunk Diesel’s Plum Crazy, D&J billet-aluminum, Cummins-powered (and Liberty-shifted) Duster. It’s been a long road, but the car showed remarkable signs of (4.1-second) consistency during eliminations. It was also refreshing to see Larson Miller back in the winner’s circle. One thing is clear beyond any reasonable doubt, when the Duster hooks it’s capable of setting records. At the first race of the season in Orlando, Larson rewrote the Pro Mod trap speed record with a 194.41 mph blast. In Indy, he stole the ET record from Stainless Diesel’s Johnny Gilbert thanks to a 4.101-second pass during the final round against Enrique Gonzalez.Who would’ve thought that less than a year after his horrific crash at RTDS Zack Pierce would be back, in a different truck and driving better than ever before. Thanks to Rudy’s Performance Parts’ Nathannial DeLong performing key chassis changes and Zack adding a new 6.4L Power Stroke (packing DDP piezo injectors, no less) over the winter, his 4,400-pound 4×4 Super Duty is now an even more formidable contender in the Pro Street category. In Q1, Zack ran a 5.18 at 138 mph. Later in the weekend, he would string together back-to-back 5.0x passes, including a new personal best in the finals (a 5.06 at 139.99 mph), where he edged Phillip Franklin in a tight race.Speaking of Phillip Franklin (left) and 5.0x Pro Street trucks, the Texas native made a last-minute decision to come compete at Outlaw Diesel Revenge. We’re glad he did, because some of the weekend’s most exciting moments occurred with his ’06 third-gen Cummins on the track. In the first round of qualifying, Phillip ran a new personal best of 4.92 at 149 mph and at the same time set a new record for the 48RE (his rock-solid version having been assembled by Loganbuilt Transmission & Race Fab). Then in E2, Phillip was paired against Nathan Wheeler, who was fresh back after a complete resurrection of his Cummins-powered, “Crazyhorse” Ford. The side-by-side race in the 4’s culminated in Phillip running a 4.88 to Nathan’s 4.93 and Phillip enjoying a .0047-second margin of victory. The aforementioned 4.88 (at 151.66 mph) reset both the ET and trap speed records for a 48RE.Only months after Nathan Wheeler’s devastating crash, his Cummins-powered ‘10 Ford was reborn at Truck Source Diesel. TSD’s Nathaniel Oku fabricated the chassis to perfection while TSD owner, Chris Buhidar, kicked in a donor Super Duty for the use of its cab. The truck is also graced with a fresh D&J Precision Machine Enforcer under the front clip, an S&S Diesel Motorsport-sourced MoTeC stand-alone ECU system, fueling, and calibrating, and a big single turbo from Hart’s. All that’s left to do to the truck now is a rewrap. At Outlaw Diesel Revenge, Nathan blasted back onto the racing scene with an impressive 5.27 at 133 mph during Pro Street Q1. That was followed later on by a 5.02 at 143 mph, and finally the 4.93 at 152 mph mentioned above.Within the ranks of 6.70 index racing, drivers don’t come much more automatic than Jeremy Stickney. Spot-on reaction times, consistent 1.5-second 60-foots, and 6.7x passes seem to be par for the course any time he and his third-gen quad cab are out on the track. Knifing his way through eliminations and besting 41 other drivers, Jeremy sealed the deal in 6.70 Index with a win against Caleb Brown in the final round. Jeremy, who travels to races from his home in Nebraska, has won both ODSS events he’s attended this year and enjoys a comfortable points lead at the present time.Between the 7.70 Index and ET Bracket classes alone, there were 155 entries at Outlaw Diesel Revenge. Like a lot of other racers, Keith Languell often tries his hand at both, and his standard cab F-350 is always close to the number. Keith wouldn’t get the win in either category in Indy (Emanuel Yoder would go on to win 7.70, while Austin Bridges took the W in ET Bracket), but Keith did his part to accumulate more points—points that have him sitting fourth overall in 7.70 Index and fifth in ET Bracket midway through the season.The red ’07.5 third-gen you see here had a lot of win lights in Indy. Behind the wheel, 16-year old Audrey Cato (daughter of Pro Street driver, Paul Cato) took care of business in 7.70 Index, often appearing more like a 10-year veteran than a new driver. Audrey’s consistency on the tree would earn her the 11th qualifying spot (of 16), and she had zero issues keeping the win light on during eliminations. And though Audrey would ultimately lose to the tough, Emanuel Yoder in the final round, she outlived 59 other competitors to get there. She sits third in points moving into the second half of the season.It was the first race of the year for Jordan Blackard and the Every Day Diesel team. With a fresh set of compounds under the hood of his 7.70 Index/ET Bracket second-gen, Jordan’s VP44-fueled Cummins looked as repeatable as it ever has, running consistent 7.76-second passes during qualifying. However, in rare form, Jordan lost on the tree during the first round of ET Bracket eliminations and red lit during 7.70’s E1 race. However, he did see what the old Dodge could do on the Northwest Dyno Series SuperFlow, dynoing 665 hp on fuel and an impressive 805 hp on nitrous (with a single, .136 jet).
