Fresh Records & New Personal Bests At Rudy’s Spring Truck Jam

Turns out, the billet block 6.4L isn’t going in the Rudy’s Performance Parts Super Duty after all. Instead, it’ll be powering a brand-new build that the Rudy’s team unveiled at Spring Truck Jam: a Pro Mod Mustang hand-crafted by the company’s own Nathannial DeLong. The low-down: Kill Devil Diesel-built 6.4L Power Stroke, Warren Diesel aluminum block, Wagler/KDD billet heads, Dynomite Diesel injectors, MoTeC control, and a remote-mount, Bullseye Power turbo. Now that the car has made its debut and shakedown passes in front of the hometown crowd, expect Rudy’s crew to get to work analyzing the data collected from these initial hits and start piecing together a potential record-setter.

More From Rudy’s

Familiar faces and first-time winners alike would grace the winner’s circle at Rudy’s Spring Truck Jam this year. In 7.70 Index, Emanuel Yoder would kick off the ODSS season right where he left off, with yet another win. In 5.90, it was veteran (and former champion) Brett Marcum stealing the show. But in the ‘tweener index category (6.70), Steve Robbins earned his first ever W behind the wheel of his owner-built third-gen. In Pro Truck, not only did Justin Zeigler bring home the hardware, but his ’06 Dodge ran a new personal best, 4.55-second 1/8-mile at a ridiculous 170 mph. Austin Doidge and Brian Jelich would also put up new personal bests, Austin going 4.70 at 154 mph in his newly rebuilt second-gen and Brian squeezing a 5.13 at 136 mph out of his freshly pieced together 7.3L (his ET marks a new 4×4 7.3L record).

At The ‘Strip

Building On The Seventy 2 Fast Class In June…

After piecing together a truck to compete at the Seventy 2 Fast race at UCC, Dante Delaney is thinking of ways to use his L5P-powered ‘04 Silverado after the big race concludes. Picture it: Heads-up, fuel-only (with zero fuel restrictions), 6,000-pound minimum, and stock turbo. With the right official(s) and tech processes it could be done—and it just might make for a very exciting new race category. Speaking of Seventy 2 Fast, Brad Helton’s revised 6.7L Power Stroke-powered Super Duty debuted at Rudy’s Spring Truck Jam over the weekend—complete with a front-mount 72mm VS Racing turbo and an air-to-air intercooler. It went low 6’s at 5,980 pounds… Are air-limited, fuel-only classes going to be the next big thing in diesel drag racing?!

Unreal Dragy Times From This M57-Powered BMW

Yet another mover and shaker made it down to Rudy’s Spring Truck Jam, and his name is Matt Santjer, owner of Santjer Performance Development. For years, Matt has been pushing the limits of what his BMW 335d can do—and more specifically what the M57 engine can handle. Recently, his 3.0L I-6—which is S&S fueled, supported by Kill Devil Diesel, and graced with an in-house triple-turbo arrangement—propelled Matt’s full weight, 1,200-whp street sedan from 60 to 130 mph in 3.83 seconds. At Rockingham, Matt went rounds in 5.90 Index, ultimately finishing runner-up to Brett Marcum. Not a bad showing for him and the BMW M57 platform…

On The Dyno

A Haisley-Built 4BT Cummins Destined For A Mini Rod

If you’re going to find a high-powered 4BT Cummins, there is no better place to look than at Haisley Machine. The longtime truck pullers recently turned their legendary six-cylinder recipe loose on the 6BT’s smaller sibling for a sled pull customer, and rumor has it the engine will propel a mini rod through the dirt. With a big single Apex turbo feeding it boost, the folks at Haisley spun the 3.9L Cummins as fast as 5,500 rpm on their engine dyno. We know one thing for sure… We’ll be paying much more attention to the IHRA Pro Pulling League mini rod circuit this summer.

Engine Science

PSA From Hot Shot’s Secret: Your Engine Has A Story To Tell

Oil analysis. It’s one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get a glimpse inside your engine without cracking it open. Hot Shot’s Secret recently reminded everyone that by collecting a small sample of engine oil at each change interval and having it analyzed you can keep detailed tabs on your truck’s engine. And, more importantly, you could even be forewarned when something is amiss. An uptick in things like copper, iron, chromium, silicon, soot, and even potassium being present in your engine oil can alert you as to increased bearing, piston ring, and valvetrain component wear, along with increased contamination due to a failing EGR system, a bad injector, or coolant additive. In many cases, the warning signs present in an oil analysis give you time to correct the problem or, at the very least, prepare for an inevitable engine rebuild.

Written by Mike McGlothlin