Since joining forces with U.C.C., Firepunk Diesel’s Outlaw Diesel Revenge event has grown to become the biggest ODSS race on the calendar.
Ever since it joined forces with Ultimate Callout Challenge, Firepunk Diesel’s Outlaw Diesel Revenge event has grown to become the biggest ODSS race on the calendar. The early June blockbuster goes down at historic Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, with thousands of spectators and hundreds of competitors making their way to the storied drag strip. For the 2025 rendition of Outlaw Diesel Revenge, more than 200 vehicles lit up the front half of the quarter-mile track, treating attendees to a weekend of the best heads-up, index, and bracket racing the diesel industry has to offer.
ODR would also be just the second ever event to feature the ODSS’s newly created racing classes. In Top Diesel, dragsters went head-to-head with door-slammers. Super Diesel would offer a dominant performance from Nick Bell behind the wheel of his new hot-rod. Pro Truck would belong to former ODSS Pro Street champion, Paul Cato. And in 5.70 Index, there was a continuation of what is arguably the best side-by-side diesel drag racing on earth, albeit a couple tenths quicker now. The 6.70, 7.70, and ET Bracket fields were as chock-full as they were action-packed, and Chris Naudain won the former category with an incredible 6.700 final.
And then there was the inaugural “Seventy 2 Fast” category dreamt up by the folks at Firepunk. Within it, 16 hand-picked drivers competed in a heads-up, instant green, single elimination, and no time racing format. The catch was that they all had to run the same 72mm spec charger from VS Racing, drive trucks that weigh no less than 6,000 pounds, and that compete on fuel only. The 16-truck, Saturday night attraction did not fail to entertain—and it even produced a surprise winner.
A week before Outlaw Diesel Revenge, Nick Bell wasn’t planning to race. Rather, his new third-gen build—complete with a Wagler CX400 series Cummins, a Stainless GT55, S&S Ordnance injectors, 12mm CP3’s and a MoTeC stand-alone ECU running S&S firmware—was going to be parked at the S&S booth in the UCC/DPI Expo. Long story short, the parts Nick needed in order to make the race showed up early—so he and his team changed gears and began prepping the truck to go to work in the Super Diesel category. Tested and adjusted on Thursday, Nick’s “Blue Bell” Dodge went 4.59 at 166 mph during qualifying on Friday, ran a pair of 4.58s on Saturday, and went 4.55 at 168 mph to beat Nathannial DeLong in the Rudy’s Performance Parts Ford in the final.Coming into Indy, it’d been nearly two years since Mattie Graves put the Hollyrock Customs rail in the winner’s circle. After fighting all sorts of gremlins on the twin-turbo Duramax dragster last season, the team decided to go through the whole car and start from the basement. The strategy seems to have worked, as Mattie—who cut .046, .024, and .030 lights at ODR—looked comfortable and consistent behind the wheel. During a side-by-side qualifier with Scheid Diesel’s Jared Jones on Friday, her 4.11 at 183 mph beat Jared’s 4.06 at 195 mph on the tree. Mattie would continue her repeatability on Saturday, going 4.10 at 166 mph in qualifying (lifting at 550 feet), 4.08 at 182 mph to take out Austin Denny, and capping things off with a win over Wade Minter’s ’63 Corvette in the Top Diesel final for a long overdue victory.It seems that veteran 5.90 Index racer, Brett Marcum (right), has had few issues adjusting to (and living at) the new 5.70 index. For Outlaw Diesel Revenge, 18 drivers made the call in 5.70, and it was business as usual for Brett. Here, he’s lined up next to Jayle Wagler, last year’s 5.90 rookie and Scheid Diesel Extravaganza winner, in the semifinals. Both have proven deadly on the tree, but Brett got the win this time (in a 5.705 to 5.725 nail-biter, no less). He would face Skylar Fornes’ bright green third-gen Cummins in the final, where he cut an impressive .007 light in route to earning the win.Nathan Bandstra (right) and Cody Helms (left) are two ODSS competitors who took different approaches to turning up the dial from 5.90 Index in 2024 to 5.70 Index in 2025. Nathan turned up the fuel a bit on his compound turbo’d 7.1L Duramax and began using a small jet to wake up his 106mm atmosphere charger. As for Cody, he spent the winter back-halving and dropping weight off of his second-gen, along with adding dual wastegates to better keep turbos alive. Cody’s 12-valve Cummins sports a 13mm P-pump, 5×0.022 injectors, an S485/96/1.32 charger, and makes 80 psi of boost heading down track.When former U.C.C. competitor Cody Hopkins rolled up to the staging lanes, the dual hood stacks reminded us that his Quad Cab packs triple turbos. Talk about a sleeper! Having run low 10-second quarter-miles in the past, it made sense to find Cody competing in 6.70 Index. Unfortunately, after a handful of a launch (and what looked to be a mid-to-low 6-second pass) during qualifying, Cody’s trio of chargers sent his engine over the edge. After splitting the Cummins’ block, camshaft pieces were littered all over the track.The 6.70 Index field was stacked with talent at Outlaw Diesel Revenge. From last season’s points champ (and winner of the 2025 Rudy’s Spring Truck Jam race) Jeremy Stickney to Jesse Pittman to Zach Tucan to Neal Nissen, the competition was stiff. Luckily, Chris Naudain brought his A-game. Despite fighting electrical and four-wheel drive issues throughout the weekend, he was able to knife his way through 30 other competitors to get to the finals. There, he and his fine-tuned third-gen ran a perfect 6.700 to take the win in dramatic fashion.Breathing even more life into the biggest ODSS event, the inaugural Seventy 2 Fast race provided plenty of excitement on Saturday evening. The final heads-up, no-time contest came down to a common-rail Cummins duel between Austin Yingling (left) and Matthew Parker. Cutting the better light, Austin would slide past Matthew for the win—as well as a $5,000 payout. Despite trucks in the Seventy 2 Fast class being limited to a single VS Racing 72/89/1.01 T-4 turbo, fuel-only, and a 6,000-pound minimum, dragy times revealed both of these trucks ran 6.2-second eighth-miles. That equates to 1,100-plus hp being applied to the track.Lightened by more than 500 pounds, equipped with 9-inch axles, and its suspension having been reworked over the winter, Paul Cato came to ODR to pursue a win in the new Pro Truck class. Paul would work through front Wavetrac and driveshaft issues, as well as perform an un-intended four-wheel drive burnout along the way, but eventually make it into the winner’s circle. And despite the growing pains he faced with his latest revisions, Paul managed a new personal best in Indy (4.87)—even while pedaling it. The Maverick Diesel second-gen common-rail could also be found competing in Super Diesel, where Paul may end up once he gets the truck below a 4.70 ET.Jordan Blackard won’t soon forget Outlaw Diesel Revenge 2025. The event would bring him his first ever ODSS win—and it would occur at his hometown track and on the heels of completely rebuilding his truck. Up against 100 other ET Bracket competitors, Jordan stayed poised and consistent, ultimately reaching the final round. There, his ultra-light, VP44-fueled and compound turbo’d 24-valve Cummins went up against Evan Ratcliff’s first-gen for an all-rotary pump finale (shown). Evan would break out by 0.006 seconds while Jordan would stay just above his 7.70 dial-in. Jordan also qualified 15th out of 54 trucks in 7.70 Index.Jordan Newman’s rowdy common-rail first-gen proved all but untamable on the drag strip. Fading track conditions late on Friday, combined with radials, leaf springs, and even a low rail pressure issue, made the truck a bit unhappy on the launch. Luckily, by the fourth round of qualifying on Saturday Jordan was able to put together a 5.99 at 122 mph to make the show in 5.70 Index. Once the truck’s issues are ironed out, it could be tough to beat in this ultra-competitive category. And with Loganbuilt Transmission & Race Fab in his corner, Jordan’s race program is definitely in good hands.With his third-gen attempting to torque-steer all over the track, a bit of driving was required from Cody Lambert in 5.70 Index. Cody is looking to improve on his strong, Eighth Place points finish in 5.90 last season. At Outlaw Diesel Revenge, he would be taken out by Blain Lafferty’s hoodless second-gen common-rail, who collected a new personal best (5.85 at 125 mph) and make it to the semifinals. Consistently fast is the best way to describe the 5.70 category. It’s a big field of vehicles, each one of them running elapsed times that would’ve made them Pro Street contenders just a few years ago.Of the 54 trucks entered in the 7.70 Index category, once again the familiar face of Emanuel Yoder came out on top. By Q3, he had both the track and his third-gen Cummins figured out, going 7.708 and grabbing the number 2 qualifier spot. Last year’s class champion, Emanuel seems to have picked up right where he left off in 2024. His win at Outlaw Diesel Revenge catapults him out to a sizeable points lead thus far in 2025—and we wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t relinquish it the remainder of the way.Tyler Stacy has a knack for going rounds in both ET Bracket and 7.70 Index. After a tuning tweak from Firepunk’s Larson Miller, he moved into the number 1 qualifier position for 7.70 on Friday with a 7.71-second pass. After going rounds in ET Bracket eliminations, Tyler would red light against the class’s eventual winner, Jordan Blackard. Back in 7.70, he would be sent to the trailer by Emanuel Yoder (that class’s eventual winner), but not before making it to the semifinals and accumulating the points needed to become number 4 in points in a category with 58 entries so far in 2025. The points spread is tighter in ET Bracket, and we expect Tyler could go from 10th in points into the Top 5 by the end of the ODSS season.
