An unexpected, low-tech 7.3L that’s shaking up the Outlaw Diesel Super Series’ 6.70 Index class.
Every sport has its odd man out. Its rare breed. Its outsider. Someone who bucks all convention and doesn’t follow the trends you typically see. In diesel drag racing, and more specifically the 6.70 Index category within the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, David Beach is that man. He campaigns a 7.3L Power Stroke in a sea filled with proven Cummins and Duramax competition, and he’s perfectly fine with it. In fact, David has earned his fair share of win lights so far in 2024—this being the year he’s decided to run the ODSS circuit in pursuit of a championship.
Not only is David’s ’96 F-250 often the only 7.3L Power Stroke on the property come race day, but he’s got no data logger, launches off the footbrake, and his engine produces just 35-psi of boost at full tilt. Yet, somehow, his OBS Ford can run the 6.70 number like clockwork. It’s a story that shows how far an old-tech engine—fitted with the right tried-and-true parts and nestled in a simple chassis—can take you in diesel drag racing. Throw in an easygoing driver and you get what might just turn out to be a championship-caliber race program.
When you need an engine to make 1,000 hp or more and live an entire race season while doing it, the stakes are high for many diesel drag racers. Luckily, David has had his hands in a lot of 7.3L Power Strokes over the years and knew exactly what he needed to do when building this one. First, the block’s water jackets were concrete-filled (more than 75-percent to the top), followed by the stock crankshaft being secured via a Carson Stauffer Diesel Performance girdle and ARP main studs. The crank swings a set of forged-steel Ultimax rods from Hypermax Engineering, which are topped with 0.020-inch over Mahle pistons treated to extensive bowl work and thermal barrier.Beneath each Jamaican Teal powder coated valve cover sits a ported cylinder head from Carson Stauffer Diesel Performance. The high-flow, factory-based heads are a big reason why the engine turns out four-digit horsepower at only 35-40 psi of boost. That means David’s 6.7x passes are made with very little stress being placed on the engine. The 7.3L isn’t seeing 70 psi of boost, 1,800-degree EGT and living on the edge of splitting the block each trip down the track. Conceivably, the engine could last forever racing like this. The heads are also fire-ringed and fastened to the block by way of ARP head studs.Longtime 7.3L fans will recognize this arrangement immediately: the dual high-pressure oil pump system created by Brian’s Truck Shop (BTS) and now available exclusively through Full Force Diesel. It’s an indication that some pretty big injectors are onboard and that high-pressure oil volume (injection control pressure, or ICP) needs to be maintained at all costs. The dual 17-degree HPOP’s serve to feed the oil side of a set of Full Force 450cc hybrid injectors equipped with 400-percent over nozzles (i.e. 450/400s). In the world of 7.3L injectors, they don’t get much bigger—or quicker firing—than 450/400s.With an off-the-shelf BorgWarner S476 (a 76/87/1.00) in the valley, there is nothing fancy about the turbo feeding boost into David’s engine. The real magic exists in the turbo mounting system from Ricanbuilt LLC, with its fabricated T4 collector, pedestal, up-pipes, intake Y, and intercooler piping facilitating the use of the competition-friendly S400. Ricanbuilt also fabbed up the piping for the TurboSmart external wastegate—a 45mm Hyper Gate that sees its fair share of use considering peak boost checks in at 35-40 psi. The 76mm charger forces boost through a Turbonetics intercooler.A steady diet of diesel gets delivered to the 450/400 injectors courtesy of a competition fuel system from Irate Diesel Performance. Irate’s comprehensive system revolves around the use of a brushless motor, Fuelab (41402) pump, which is combined with Baldwin filters married to a billet filter base. Up at the engine, Irate’s regulated return kit (complete with stainless steel lines) keeps fuel flow consistent, and David keeps the adjustable Fuelab regulator set at 65 psi. The Irate fuel system pulls diesel from a 5-gallon fuel cell mounted at the rear of the passenger side frame rail.Being that the truck can easily run 7.70s on fuel, David doesn’t have to spray obscene amounts of nitrous in order to be consistent in 6.70 Index. In fact, just one of his two Nitrous Express kits is active on race day, and a conservative 2.5 pounds of N2O is consumed on each pass. A small spool stage is employed during staging to help bring the S400 to life and the primary kit comes on almost immediately after leaving the line. However, to further improve consistency David told us he’ll soon be switching to a timing-based nitrous arrangement rather than one triggered according to boost reference.Long ago, the F-250’s twin traction beam was ditched in favor of a Dana 60. But that’s not all. An ’05 Super Duty donated its front axle, coil spring suspension, and rear 10.5-inch to the race truck cause. Instead of the factory Super Duty radius arms, David runs this beefy three-link setup from PMF Suspension, which does a fine job of keeping the front axle planted during boosted, four-wheel drive launches. The coil springs up ahead of them have been cut down to lower the truck and a Motorcraft shock absorber exists at each corner.A set of inconspicuous and weight-saving CalTracs traction bars work to keep axle wrap at bay on the rear 10.5-inch. To achieve both the stance he was after and to get rid of unnecessary weight, David reduced each leaf spring pack to three. Like the Dana 60 up front, the rear axle is an untouched factory Super Duty piece, complete with its original 3.73 ring and pinion. Without question, the rear disc brakes bring considerably improved stopping power into the equation as well.Horsepower makes it to its final destination by way of a Hoosier 28.0/10.0-16 slick parked at each corner of the truck. The Hoosiers allow David’s OBS to cut high 1.5-second and low 1.6-second 60-foot times with regularity. They’re mounted to old-school, 16×10-inch Center Line wheels which, believe it or not, came off of a parts truck David once had in his possession. Their new home is a far cry from their previous life, coupled to 35-inch tires under a lifted Super Duty.David’s workspace in the cab is basic and straightforward. The interior has been completely stripped save for the retention of the OBS gauge cluster, and the addition of an Equus water temp gauge and Kirkey Racing seat with Corbeau harness. Twin 15-pound Nitrous Express bottles, a B&M shifter and the truck’s original transfer case lever round out the cockpit’s highlights. The roll cage is made of DOM tubing and is legal to run 8.50 in the quarter-mile. At the first ODSS race of the 2024 season in Orlando, David had the cage re-certified.Speaking of the factory gauge cluster… check out the subtle, hand-written reminder for the driver. It reads “4×4? Nitrous?” “That’s there because I’ve forgotten both of those things,” David told us. “I’ve left the line in two-wheel drive and with the nitrous off…so that’s a note to David—to make sure David shows up on race day.” As for 4×4, power sent to the front axle comes by way of the truck’s original BorgWarner transfer case.None of what David does out on the drag strip would be possible without this piece of electronic equipment and the tuner that calibrated it. The Hydra Chip from Power Hungry Performance is the most popular (and capable) tuning device for the 7.3L PCM, and David’s is programmed by Jelibuilt Performance—a company that owns one of the fastest 7.3L-powered Fords in the world. The spot-on 6.70 Index file that was custom-tailored for David’s truck allows him to run the number with predictable repeatability.It takes a tough transmission to hold up to a 900-whp diesel living in a 5,500-pound truck. For a rock-steady E4OD, David turned to Twisted Diesel’s Level 4 unit. The competition-ready four-speed packs billet input, intermediate, and output shafts, a billet forward drum and overdrive planetary, and makes use of a quad disc, billet stator, 2,200-rpm stall converter from Diesel Performance Converters. The transmission takes its cues from the Powertrain Control Solutions (PCS) TCM-2000 shown here. And although David has to footbrake the truck, once he leaves the line (at 2,500 rpm), the minimal amount of electronics he runs takes care of everything else. ”It’s nice because once I let off the brake, everything takes care of itself,” he told us. “The nitrous comes in, the trans does its thing and I’m just here to drive.”David came out swinging in 2024, earning the runner-up spot at the ODSS season opener. He then grabbed another 20 points for showing up at Rudy’s (which was rained out), tying him for First Place in the standings heading into the next affair: Outlaw Diesel Revenge/UCC. If you hadn’t already guessed, David’s goal is to win the points championship. But after he finishes going rounds in 6.70 Index for the year, he also has plans to improve on his personal best, a 6.40 at 106 mph, with a hero pass or two. “I already have a spare block and everything sitting at the machine shop,” he admitted. “In case it blows up.” David’s unbothered state of mind—combined with his unconventional means of going fast—is what makes he and his old-school Ford so unique in diesel drag racing.
