As the late summer blockbuster steamrolls toward its 30th anniversary, the action at SDX just keeps getting better and better.
Come from behind wins, brand-new builds, and dragsters turning out 3-second eighth-miles. Smoke, fire, and 5,000 rpm noises out on the pulling track. From sun-up to sundown, there was never a dull moment at the 29th annual Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. As the late summer blockbuster steamrolls toward its 30-year anniversary, the competition taking place within the friendly confines of Wagler Motorsports Park just keeps getting better. High-flying, Outlaw Diesel Super Series racing entertains by day, and top-tier Pro Pulling League action presented by our friends at Hot Shot’s Secret entertains by night. On either track, the highest caliber compression-ignition vehicles in the world put on one of the best shows in diesel.
The diesel racing world longed for the return of Michael Cordova’s record-holding dragster, and now that it’s finally back everyone knows the wait was more than worth it. S&S fueling, MoTeC control, and a Freedom Racing engine recipe remain key pieces of Michael’s race program, but the rail arrived at the Extravaganza packing a massive, 106mm Apex turbo above the valve cover and a water-to-air intercooler directly behind it. Michael turned in a 4.07 at 161 mph in Q1 on Friday, but it would only be the beginning. A day later he would effortlessly break into the 3’s.It’s no surprise that the final ODSS Top Diesel race of 2025 came down to this: Michael Cordova vs. Mattie Graves. Inline-six vs. V-8. Big single Cummins vs. twin-turbo Duramax. And 3-second capability vs. 3-second capability. In Q3, Mattie Graves had sent the Hollyrock Customs rail through the ‘660 in 3.97 seconds at 185 mph while Michael had yet to go 3’s on the new setup, though everyone expected one was coming. It happened here in the form of a 3.91 at 192 mph.The creation of the Pro Truck class—a heads-up category that limits ET to 4.70—seems to fit Steve Royalty’s “Climate Change” Dakota to a T. In the final round, up against Justin Goode’s beautiful LML Duramax-powered Silverado, Steve put a 4.708 on the board for the win. While we don’t always see Climate Change pull the front tire off the ground, the triple-turbo Scheid Diesel-built Cummins always leaves the line at 4,300 rpm—and with 80-psi of boost on tap. Down track, Steve tells us boost peaks at an insane 170 psi.Justin Zeigler’s ’06 Dodge has been living life at 4,100 pounds this season and, despite a few early season setbacks, came out swinging at the Extravaganza. He ran several new personal bests, not only dipping into the 4.60s but running five of them in a row. Justin’s best ET, a 4.67, came in the Super Diesel semifinal against Nick Bell, while a blazing 165 mph was achieved in the final. Justin turned to Wagler Competition Products for a billet-aluminum CX series Cummins this season, along with a water-to-air intercooler and dual high-speed Alpha 550 CP3’s from Exergy Performance. Firepunk continues to have a key hand in the truck’s racing program as well.Everyone loves a good duel, and Brett Marcum and Skylar Fornes had no problem providing one in 2025. Fornes came into the Extravaganza first in points but knew he needed a strong showing to shore up the championship. Marcum, a light-cutting menace with previous 5.90 Index titles, knew he needed a win to have a shot at finishing on top—especially with S&S Diesel Motorsport’s Ryan Reiser also in the hunt. Marcum went 5.704 right off the trailer in Q1 and never looked back, knifing his way through the competition until meeting up with Fornes—and his garage-built, Hardway 5.9L powered, and Exergy-fueled third-gen—in the final. Marcum’s 5.78 at 113 mph got the win light over Fornes’ 5.72 at 122 mph thanks to a lightning-quick reaction time, but Fornes held on to a 4-point lead in the 2025 ODSS 5.70 Index points chase.There aren’t very many trucks that can 60-foot like the Rudy’s Performance Parts Ford does. Built and driven by Nathannial DeLong, this frame-laying, lightweight 4×4 gets the jump on virtually every vehicle it lines up against. Running a different strategy as of late—one that includes leaving the TH400’s converter unlocked in an effort to keep 6.4L Power Stroke blocks alive—Nathannial brought a winning game plan to Indiana. After rocketing out to a 1.13-second 60-foot against Justin Zeigler in the Super Diesel final, Nathannial and team Rudy’s not only got the win (going 4.60 at 157 mph) but also secured the class title for 2025.Friday night’s radials under the lights (presented by our friends at SPE) saw a good turnout at the Extravaganza, with Nick Bell’s 4-second third-gen cleaning house. However, the night would end on a scary note for Nick and everyone watching. After the steering shaft separated from the rack, Nick helplessly crossed over into the opposing lane after the stripe, brushing the wall. Luckily, an alert Justin Goode saw what was happening from his lane, grabbed the brakes, and avoided a collision. For Nick, the damage was primarily cosmetic. Unrattled, he and the truck were right back in action the following day.You only need to watch Austin Denny make one pass to know he lets it all hang out every time he’s on the track. In short order, his compound turbo’d 6.0L Power Stroke is fed all the nitrous he can throw at it (think two .136 jets flowing all they can by the 60-foot mark). His violent launches result in low 1.2’s through the ’60 and four slicks that are all on the edge of breaking traction. A low 5-second 1/8-mile performer, Austin and his ’06 Super Duty finished out the ODSS season third in points in Pro Truck.Christian Wichman essentially triple-classed at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, running 5.70 Index, Pro Truck, and even Friday night’s radial race. His common-rail second-gen would carry him all the way to the semifinals in 5.70 Index before losing to the class’s 2025 champion, Skylar Fornes. While Christian didn’t fare as well in Pro Truck or against the radial guys, he did gain valuable seat time as well as run a new personal best 5.62 and 134 mph. With a few front suspension tweaks and quicker, more consistent 60-foots, look for this hoodless Dodge to be a serious contender in 2026.Last year’s Scheid Diesel Extravaganza 5.90 Index winner, Jayle Wagler, experienced some hard luck in 2025. But despite battling several electronic gremlins in addition to an ailing Powerglide, she still managed to tack another 30 points onto her season total in Top Diesel. In doing so, Jayle sewed up the ODSS championship. And on top of that, she finished fourth in points in the 5.70 Index category—no easy feat. We’re told big changes are in store for Jayle’s rail this winter. Perhaps we’ll know more by PRI.For 2024 6.70 Index champion, Jeremy Stickney, 2025 was full of ups and downs. Not surprisingly, he stormed out of the gate at Rudy’s season opener, taking the win. At U.C.C./Outlaw Diesel Revenge, transmission breakage took him out of contention before eliminations. That was followed by making it to the finals at FP Diesel Warz but breaking out. In Bowling Green, a rain out ended any chance of earning another win. Bear in mind that lights-out driver and ODR winner, Chris Naudain, was leading the field at that point in the season. Enter Q3 at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, where Jeremy snagged the #1 qualifier with a 6.701 and proceeded to eliminate everyone in his path. Ultimately, Jeremy would squeak past Chris by two points to narrowly earn his second consecutive 6.70 Index championship.Heading into the Extravaganza, Jordan Blackard trailed ET Bracket class front-runner, Chris Naudain, by 27 points. In order to swoop in and win the championship he knew he would have to be as locked in as he’d ever been, but also that it would be a mathematical impossibility if Chris was able to go deep into eliminations. As it turns out, Jordan was ready for the challenge, fighting his way through a 47-truck field in his compound turbo’d, VP44-fueled second-gen to go up against Brandon Kreese in the ET final. There, Kreese would get the W, but thanks to Naudain being put out early on in eliminations Jordan was able to claim the ET Bracket title.For longtime truck puller, Josh Land, the 2025 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza will be remembered as the year he threw cut tires and a 3.6-inch turbo on his Limited Pro Stock Dodge and ran Pro Stock. Josh’s common-rail Cummins—an S&S fueled, MoTeC-controlled and Hardway tuned beast he built himself at Bluegrass Diesel—responded with a Second Place finish in a tough and battle-hardened field of trucks on Saturday night. Rumor has it the change from the 3.0-inch to the 3.6-inch smooth bore charger added more than 500 hp… The results were so impressive that now Josh is even contemplating throwing a 4.1-inch unit at the engine and dabbling in open/RWYB style classes or even Super Stock.Terry Biggs wrapped up a very successful PPL season at the Extravaganza with a 325.79-foot, Third Place hook on Friday night and a 335.42-foot win on Saturday (putting more than 10 feet on Second Place). His strong finishes at Wagler Motorsports Park, combined with five wins on an 11-hook schedule, helped him capture the 2025 PPL Super Stock championship. When Terry and the “Deadpull” Ford did finish outside the winner’s circle, the “worst” finish that we know of was Sixth Place. That’s about as close to dominating as it gets in this stacked field of 3,500+ hp, cut tire monstrosities.Scheid Diesel’s Super Stock second-gen turned in strong performances on both nights of the Extravaganza. On night 1, Brady Ingram drove the venerable Dodge out to a 327-foot, Second Place distance. Just 24 hours later, his brother, Trenton, piloted the Ram 325.79-feet, which was good enough for Third Place. The impressive showing proved once again that a big single turbo setup can hang with all the triple-turbo competition—especially on the right track and under the right conditions. A 5.0-inch inducer Hart’s charger forces boost into the truck’s billet-aluminum block and head Cummins.After winning the daytime qualifying session on Friday, Ethan Beard’s “Full Bore” Limited Pro Stock Dodge proved his daylight performance was no fluke later that night in the finals. Drawing the first hook in the class, Ethan’s Attitude Diesel-built third-gen made it count, dragging the sled 318.96 feet. It’s a distance that couldn’t be matched by the remaining 21 trucks in the 3.0 smooth bore category. On top of that, Ethan’s win provided a shot in the arm for the P-pump crowd. Common-rail technology has made huge inroads in Limited Pro Stock in recent years, something that’s shaken up a class that used to be dominated by mechanical injection.The Scheid Diesel Extravaganza presented the perfect chance for “O-Line,” the joint pulling truck effort between WP Developments and Indianapolis Colt’s Offensive Lineman, Dalton Tucker, to hook to the same sled as the nation’s top (and well-seasoned) Super Stock pullers. Now packing an 18mm billet Sigma pump from Fair Valley Performance and triple 107mm turbos from Stainless Diesel, O-Line’s trip down the track was highly anticipated, and all appeared well until the sled began to drag the truck to a halt. An unfortunate high pressure water failure joined forces with a fuel supply issue for the Sigma pump and all hell broke loose (blown freeze plug, burned pistons, oil and fuel everywhere), culminating in a fire and driver Ethan Patterson’s triggering of the fire suppression system. Far from over, the team is already putting a game plan together for a billet block engine—and it might be ready in time for Diesels In Dark Corners…There were 22 Pro Street diesel trucks signed up to compete at the Extravaganza, and Evan Rusk’s “Double Or Nothin’” Dodge placed high the entire weekend. Friday afternoon, Evan’s Freedom-built common-rail Cummins carried him into the nighttime show with a 311.81-foot, Fourth Place pull. A few hours later, he finished third in the finals, just one foot shy of the winner. Saturday Evan returned even stronger, with a number 1 qualifier and a Second Place, 347.75-foot finish that night. The engines in this class squeeze an incredible 1,200 hp (and more) through a 2.6-inch (66mm) smooth bore turbo.
