Close proximity entertainment and zero downtime has come to define the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza in recent years—and the 28th annual affair was no different.
There is never a dull moment at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. From the move-in to the load-out—and the top-shelf drag racing and truck pulling in between—the Scheid show is a weekend jam-packed with entertainment. In 2024, the 28th running of the late August affair, the fastest diesel-powered vehicles in the country showed up for eighth-mile action at Wager Motorsports Park. During the course of the two-day ODSS race, spectators were treated to the quickest heads-up dragster race in diesel history, a new world record for E.T., and a captivating, 4-second side-by-side Pro Street final between the current points leader and last year’s champion.
A few hundred feet to the east, everything from 1,200 hp Pro Street diesel trucks to 5,000 hp Pro Stock tractors hit the two-lane pulling track. Between the daytime qualifying (for the Pro Street and Limited Pro Stock trucks) and the two-night PPL truck and tractor pull, some 300 hooks took place in the dirt. And just as it was in 2023, a sizeable show ‘n shine turnout was conveniently adjacent to the Northwest Dyno Series competition, where nearly 50 trucks were strapped to the rollers. Add in the central location of the vendor midway and there is always something to see or do at what remains one of the industry’s premier and longest-running events.
The ‘660
Picking up right where he left off in Bowling Green, Michael Cordova proved his rail has even more to bring to the table. Besting the world record elapsed time he set at the Bluegrass Truck Jam, Michael’s WrenchWorkz, S&S Diesel Motorsport, and Freedom Racing Engines-backed rail blasted through the eighth-mile in 3.77 seconds (at 182 mph). What’s more is that, due to the short shutdown area, the chutes were deployed early and Michael let out well before the stripe (hence the sub-200 mph trap speed). When he met Scheid Diesel’s Jared Jones in the final round, the crowd was privy to watching the quickest side-by-side race in diesel drag racing history. Thanks in part to his rail’s ability to consistently cut sub-1-second 60-foots, Michael made it to the stripe before Jared in a 3.81 to 4.10 victory. Both dragsters trapped the same speed (187 mph).Other than a spooling issue on Saturday, it was clear that the Scheid Diesel team is getting closer to fine-tuning the Top Fuel style, 5-disc dry clutch arrangement now being employed in its iconic dragster. In addition to the 4.10-second eighth-mile mentioned above, driver Jared Jones put up a pair of 4.07s on the weekend. A recent gear change to a lower (higher numeric) 3.25 ratio may also be a likely contributor to the rail’s low-4-second consistency. Once the entire recipe is figured out, look for the Scheid team to challenge Michael Cordova on a regular basis. Here, Dan Scheid and long-time dragster crew member, John Porterfield, look on.Following weeks of thrashing behind the scenes, combined with a hectic week leading up to the Extravaganza, Justin Zeigler and the Zeigler Diesel Performance team returned “Dirty Diana,” the ’06 Dodge that dominated Pro Street in 2023, to the track. Due to the extensive fire damage incurred at Outlaw Diesel Revenge, Justin told us everything on the truck from the firewall forward had to be redone. Like it never even happened, Justin sent the truck through the ‘660 in 4-second intervals with relative regularity, ultimately ending up in the Pro Street final.In the Pro Street final, Justin Zeigler met current ODSS points leader, Paul Cato, who has succeeded in making his common-rail second-gen a 4-second threat in the class. Paul entered Day 2 of the SDX festivities the number 1 qualifier thanks to his 4.933-second pass on Friday. Lined up against Justin in the final round, Paul cut a .046-second light to Justin’s 0.083, forcing Justin to drive around him for the win. After sheering off the front driveshaft flange at the transfer case near the 400-foot mark, Paul’s Dodge was reduced to a two-wheel drive truck for the duration of the race. At the stripe, it was Justin turning the win light on with a 4.86 at 152 mph to Paul’s 4.98 at 148 mph. With Justin’s comeback complete (and within striking distance of Paul in the standings), we look forward to seeing what these two bring to the table at the final race of the year.A few tune-up changes led to some violent tire rattle for Austin Doidge and his common-rail second-gen, tire shake that may have cost him a potential win against Steve Royalty and the Climate Change Dodge Dakota. The triple-turbo, mechanical monster would move through the eighth-mile in 5.02 seconds at 145 mph, while Austin was all but forced to lift off the throttle shortly after the launch, which sealed his fate. Despite the setback, Austin will enter the last race of the year with the points lead in the Pro Mod category. Expect his lightweight, 4-second 4×4 to be dialed in for the Pennsylvania finale.To say the guys at Firepunk Diesel have had a few issues with their Pro Mod Duster would be an understatement. But while their transmission and engine problems are now behind them, traction still seems to be elusive at times. That was the case at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, with the car kicking the tires. However, the Plain City, Ohio team was able to put it all together in the final against Steve Royalty, with the car sticking and putting a 4.38 at 158 mph on the board. For Larson Miller and crew, it’s their second win of the season—and it brings them within six points of current Pro Mod front-runner, Austin Doidge.Despite the way things appear in this photo, Nathan Bandstra (far side) got the win against Will Cunningham in E1 of 5.90 Index. About as tight as things get, Nathan beat Will by 0.0014 of a second. According to Nathan, that’s roughly 2.44-inches at the stripe! Even more impressive was the fact that, minutes before he was due in the staging lanes, he was wrapping up a water pump install on his Duramax, the impeller of his high performance unit having become a two-piece version… Prior to that Q3 issue, Nathan ran a 5.96-second, fuel-only qualifier (Q1) and a 5.87 with nothing more than a spool jet for the first 100 feet (Q2).Not many ODSS racers can say they won their first event, but that won’t be the case for Jayle Wagler, daughter of Jeremy Wagler. Three years in the making, she and her Duramax-powered dragster (unofficially coined “No Maintenance”) joined the ranks of the 5.90 Index class at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. With light weight on her side in a class of full-size trucks, it’s rumored that roughly 500-rwhp is all that’s needed to compete in one of the ODSS’s fastest categories. Throughout the weekend, Jayle would prove deadly on the tree—even deadlier than class veteran Brett Marcum, who she beat in the finals (her 5.921 came with a .078 reaction time vs. Brett’s 5.905 with a .125).Georgia native, Jesse Pittman, and his Duramax were on a mission at SDX, ending up with the 6.70 Index win. With points leader Jeremy Stickney out early in eliminations (an odd feeling for us, being that he’d won every ODSS race we’d attended so far in 2024), Jesse was able to make up some ground and move himself into Third Place in the standings. His classic body Silverado has been treated to a 48RE swap (the Chrysler four-speed having been built by Sun Coast) and the built Duramax under the hood stack is dialed in courtesy of MTKB Racing’s Mark Broviak.Believe it or not, the final round of E.T. Bracket came down to a battle between two 7.3L’s, and this is one of them. Robin Ridgway’s ’01 F-350 stayed the course all day long, running as close to her 10.16 dial-in as possible. In the finals, she would line up against Michael Gaskin and his Excursion, who’d also sliced his way through the competition all afternoon. While Michael would take the win light for the last race of the day, he and Robin both drove their workhorses home—something you don’t see much of in diesel drag racing anymore.It’s been a hard luck year so far for Adam Foltz. First, a cracked water line at Bluegrass Truck Jam made for an abrupt stop to his weekend’s racing. Then, he popped a turbo in catastrophic fashion during qualifying at the Extravaganza. Thankfully, Adam’s fire suppression system made quick work of extinguishing the flames. And on the bright side, it looked like his P-pumped 24-valve was going places on the pass. Once Adam works out all the bugs in the new Pro Street setup his second-gen is going to fly.
The ‘300
Cole Faber’s Cummins-powered Chevrolet has been a force in the Pro Stock (3.6) diesel truck class for years now, and it turned in a 321.45-foot effort on Saturday evening. Although that distance earned him a Seventh Place finish (out of 17 trucks), it should be noted that less than 12-inches separated Third Place through seventh. Cole’s hook puts him in a three-way tie (with Matt Penn and Brad Ingram) with just one Pro Stock pull remaining on the PPL schedule for 2024. Trenton Ingram, behind the wheel of the Scheid Diesel Dodge Ram, would get the win later on in the night, thanks to a 325.91-foot hook.It’s exceptionally hard to get a Duramax to run with all the Cummins-powered trucks in the Limited Pro Stock (3.0) field, especially in recent years. But that’s exactly what makes Evan Davis’s story so exceptional. For well over a decade, he’s been defying seemingly insurmountable odds with his GM V-8’s, almost always placing in the top five wherever he and his Silverado HD go. At this year’s Extravaganza, Evan and his “Grey Area” Chevy qualified sixth on Friday afternoon (against 27 other competitors) and went on to take Fifth Place that evening. The following day, he qualified first (against 26 other trucks) and wound up sixth that night.Somehow, the 9,500-pound Limited Pro Stock tractors are able to squeeze 2,400 to 2,600 hp through a 4.1-inch turbo—and it’s impressive to watch them do it. Just like in years past, select tractor classes complemented the truck categories perfectly at the 2024 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. Here, Brett Hackstadt pilots the red 618 Motorsports machine out to a 349.16-foot distance. It’s a mark that would only be beaten by one other tractor: Keith Myers’ John Deere called “Weezer.” On top of the 4.1-inch turbo rule, the 9,500-pound Limited Pros are limited to 640 cubic inches of displacement.You could say Scott Barcus had a very successful weekend at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. Packing a common-rail Cummins from Freedom Racing Engines in his 8,000-pound second-gen Dodge, he nearly dominated both nights of Pro Street (2.6) diesel truck class action. On Friday, Scott finished fourth in qualifying but came back that evening for a Second Place hook of 332.26 feet. The following day, he and the “Cole Train” Dodge were automatic, qualifying first and moving the sled five feet further than the nearest competitor during the nighttime show. No wonder Scott wrapped up the points chase in the PPL’s Champion Seed Western Series for the class. This truck means business!Due to the sun and lower humidity present during a daytime pull, drivers typically want to draw the earliest hook possible. The track dries out and goes away quickly, so your best chance of traveling a respectable distance is usually toward the beginning of the class. Nighttime is a different story, where the track holds moisture and offers a much better bite. There, hooking later in the pulling order usually pays off the most. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and Kyle Spickerman’s “Ol’ Genny” is one of them. During Friday’s qualifying session, Kyle’s Limited Pro Stock first-gen secured a spot in the nighttime show despite being the 25th (of 27) truck to hook to the sled.Another exception to the rule is Jason Wayman’s “Megatron.” Whether it’s his Limited Pro Stock truck’s overall setup, the lines he picks, or the horsepower his Mega Cab turns out, he is almost always a front-runner at the Extravaganza. Somehow, Jason drew early hooks all weekend (two days of qualifying and two nights of points pulls), which helped him qualify first on Friday and third on Saturday. Friday evening, he was able to inch past Evan Davis and hold the lead for a period, ultimately ending up with a Fourth Place hook. Saturday night, Jason and Megatron finished a foot and a half out of First Place with a Third Place overall distance.Ethan Beard’s ultra-clean third-gen Limited Pro Stock Dodge, coined “Full Bore,” had some terrible luck strike during Friday morning’s qualifying session. A broken frame near the end of its hook brought his progress to a halt at 303.51 feet—a distance that actually qualified the truck. For obvious reasons, Ethan was unable to make the show later on that night, but rest assured his ultra-clean third-gen—which is a formidable contender within the ranks of the Ohio State Tracor Pullers Association—was fixed and ready for its next date in the dirt on Monday.Adam White’s “Gambler,” a front-runner in PPL points this season, just made the Limited Pro Stock field with a 10th Place qualifier on Friday. A few hours later, Adam and his Cummins-powered ‘17+ Ford moved the sled 324.78 feet, an effort that held off Adam Hallien’s Wrecker2 GMC by a matter of inches for the win. Unfortunately, drawing number 26 for Saturday’s qualifying session would keep Adam and the Gambler out of the night show. He’s currently in a tight points battle with Adam Kincaid (Moo Money) and Evan Davis (Grey Area).It was a solid weekend for Andrew Kicak and his 6.4L-powered Ford known as “American Ride.” The New York-based, Pro Street class blue oval qualified first on Friday despite a lost dual K16 drive belt costing him several feet. That night, a 330-foot effort earned him a Third Place finish. On Saturday, Andrew qualified fourth, making the evening show once again. Unfortunately, the dual fueler belt issue resurfaced 100 feet into his Saturday night hook. With only one high-pressure fuel pump in the mix and rail pressure unable to maintain throughout the run, he still managed a 10th Place, 325.83-foot pull.Josh Graver debuted his “Holler Hooker” F-350 as a Pro Street puller last year, and it’s one of only two 6.7L Power Stroke powered Super Duty’s in this class (that we know of). A few changes for 2024, one of which was the addition of an S&SDCR high-pressure fuel pump (working in conjunction with one of the company’s 12mm CP3’s), helped bring the Ford V-8 to life. Unable to qualify at last year’s Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, Josh and his ’11 Super Duty made the cut both days in 2024. If you’re a Ford fan, buckle up. Josh will be pushing the limits of the 6.7L platform in the months and years ahead.Strapped to the Northwest Dyno Series’ SuperFlow, Derrick Barney laid down 936 hp on a fresh build (engine, transmission, body work, everything). At U.C.C. a couple years back, this is the Mega Cab that nearly burnt to the ground at the end of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Now the 2011 Ram packs a Shredder series Cummins from Industrial Injection, a Stainless Diesel 5-blade S485 Godfather turbo, and a stage 4 68RFE from Randy’s Transmissions. Once the kinks are worked out of the new setup, Derrick plans to spray the truck to 1,400 or 1,500 hp.It goes without saying that a truck fitted twin 12-valve 5.9L’s in the engine bay would draw some attention, but that’s not all the folks from Plowboy Diesel brought with them to the show ‘n shine. Beside the twin 6BT 1970 Sweptline sat the company’s John Deere-themed ’52 B-series Dodge pickup, complete with a green 4.5L PowerTech engine and backed by a six-speed Allison 1000. To the right of the ‘52, passersby found the truck that created a bit of buzz at the 2023 show, the ’85 Dodge with a VE-pumped 6.7L Cummins. With this much thinking-outside-the-box, it makes you wonder what Plowboy Diesel will dream up next…
