An inside look at the backstory, the drivers, and the reason this spec turbo class may be the future of diesel drag racing.
June 5th, 2026 in Indianapolis will go down as one of the most exciting diesel drag races ever. On that Friday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, 120 plus trucks turned out to compete in the Seventy 2 Fast race. Why did so many purpose-built vehicles show up in the racing capital of the world? It all started with a question posed by Firepunk Diesel’s Lavon Miller back in November. “Do you want a $1,000 entry fee and a HUGE purse ($25K+), or a $200 entry fee and a small purse?” he asked. Immediately (and emphatically), the collective answer from racers was to pay the higher entry in exchange for a shot at a massive payout.
Seventy 2 Fast is a spec turbo class that was dreamt up, and then perfectly executed, by Lavon Miller and the folks at Firepunk Diesel. It revolves around the use of a “box” dual ball bearing T4 turbo from VS Racing with a 72mm (inducer) compressor wheel and an 89mm (exducer) turbine wheel inside a 1.01 A/R exhaust housing. Key rules for the class dictate that all vehicles: run on diesel fuel-only (no nitrous or water injection), adhere to a 6,000-pound minimum (no grace), make use of an OEM ECM (no stand-alones), utilize an air-to-air intercooler (no CO2 or other supplemental cooling systems), and stage via foot-brake (no trans-brakes or bump boxes). The race itself is a heads-up, instant-green (no amber on the tree), no-time (win light only), single elimination affair with chip draws conducted between rounds to determine racer pairings.
A Triumphant Return For Matthew Parker
Without question, Texas native Matthew Parker (right) took notes at the 2025 Seventy 2 Fast race (where he took runner-up to Austin Yingling). His preparation for the big race started back in February, with his common-rail Cummins-powered second-gen fresh off of win at KOS. Along the way, Matthew tested different intercoolers, transformed the truck’s roll bar into a full-on roll cage certified to go 8.50s, added a rear four-link, cut and widened the rear wheels an additional 2 inches, ditched the front AAM 9.25 for a Dana 44 (with a limited slip differential) and then reverted back to the 9.25 after experiencing breakage, and even installed 4-piston brake calipers off of a Mercedes Benz. In between each significant change, he paid a visit to the local track to test things out.
Going Rounds For The Win
Two days before the big race, Matthew found himself on the chassis dyno at Firepunk for some last-minute fine-tuning. One day prior to race day, he was making passes at Edgewater Dragway in Cleves, Ohio. Just 24 hours later, he was going rounds against some of the toughest trucks (and most talented drag racers) ever assembled. After knifing his way through the competition, Matthew found himself in the finals for the second year in a row. This time it was against Stephen Grundke and the boys from Alberta, Canada—but this time he wouldn’t leave town Second Place. In a dogfight that boiled down to driver skill being the deciding factor, Matthew Parker executed with surgical-like precision. It culminated in him leaving Indy $70,000 richer.
Stephen Grundke
Upon learning of the Seventy 2 Fast race announcement back in the fall, Stephen Grundke knew his short bed Ram had what it would take to compete. So, he and the team at Khaos Diesel Performance & Repair immediately set to work making sure the truck met the rules. Believe it or not, the only meaningful testing they were able to squeeze in happened just days before the big race. But despite battling tire issues, combined with very little testing, you would have never known it. Right up until the last round was complete, we were sure Stephen Grundke was taking the giant pot of cash with him back to Canada. After beating Chance McKelvie in the semifinals, he met Matthew Parker in the final. While Stephen got off the line quicker, Matthew’s horsepower allowed him to reel him in and, in dramatic fashion, beat him to the stripe by just 6 inches!
Chance McKelvie
In order to meet Seventy 2 Fast rules, Chance McKelvie had to ditch the MoTeC stand-alone he was running in favor of a factory ECM (his being of the CM849 variety)—which only became operational 24 hours before leaving Arizona for Indiana. Then a quick stop at Wagler Motorsports Park for a private test session quickly went from a one-day affair to a two-day struggle thanks to a few electronic issues (which S&S quickly helped to remedy) and a bit of transmission carnage. One all-night 48RE swap later—and with help from Chance’s new friend, Stephen Grundke, and his team—this rowdy third-gen was back in contention. On race day, Chance and the truck delivered, making it all the way to the semifinals.
Cody Lambert
While many Seventy 2 Fast competitors were hush-hush about their plans and progress leading up to the race, Cody Lambert’s journey was an open book. Like some of the other racers, Cody took to social media to announce changes, updates, and even issues he’d faced. Case in point, in what felt like minutes before the race, Cody and his wife Toni discovered a problem in cylinder number 4. No, it wasn’t a cracked piston, or even a bad injector. Luckily, the injector simply wasn’t seated properly. But that also meant Cody’s third-gen had made big power on the dyno at Firepunk while down on compression… For ultimate peace of mind (and as recommended by the folks at Flux Diesel Injection), Cody replaced his Cummins’ entire fuel system just days before the race, including dual 14mm CP3’s made possible thanks to an overnighted dual pump kit from Fleece. Long story short, Cody made it to the quarter finals (round 5) before losing to eventual runner-up, Stephen Grundke.
Patrick Bowden
Contradictory to the kinds of problems some Seventy 2 Fast competitors encountered (and other than a small electrical issue), Patrick Bowden and his team turned zero wrenches in the pits. Out of 120-plus trucks and on a single entry card (some drivers had multiple), Patrick made it to the final four. In the sixth round of competition (the semifinals), he met Matthew Parker. Unfortunately for Patrick, who had a great reaction time, it would be Matthew’s personal best pass for the entire event. Still, as a semifinalist Patrick was able to get his hands on $5,000. Here, he and his crew cab, short bed Dodge go head to head against PKP Motorsports’ 6.4L-powered Ford.
Hunter Coffey
Hunter Coffey and the After Hours Automotive and Diesel crew brought one heck of a contender to Seventy 2 Fast. And as if making the elite 8 wasn’t enough, they entered a lightened version of the truck (5,800-pounds) in the ODSS 5.90 Index class and went rounds the next day. It’s proof that these fuel-only, VS Racing 72 equipped rides can run low 6’s—and even high 5’s—like clockwork. Hunter’s common-rail second-gen is one of many trucks that spent time on the Firepunk chassis dyno before the race. Thanks to Lavon Miller dialing in the Exergy fuel system, it laid down a highly respectable 1,241 hp while it was there back in early May.
Lucas Hall
One of the biggest impediments in fuel-only racing is that there is no scramble button available to help run your opponent down. For this reason (and it certainly wasn’t made any easier courtesy of the instant-green arrangement), races were won on drivers reaction times and 60-foots. Unfortunately for Lucas Hall, he had a hard time getting out of the hole. Despite his struggles on the start, he still somehow managed to make it to the quarter finals in his regular cab third-gen. Lucas’s Cummins was built by New Performance Automotive—the same builder that squeezed an incredible 1,640 hp out of fellow competitor David Petrick’s Cummins on the engine dyno.
Cory Dixon
Perhaps no other competitor had less seat time in their Seventy 2 Fast build than Cory Dixon, but that didn’t stop him from going rounds in this immaculate ’03 Quad Cab. Incredibly, Cory and his team made it all the way to Round 5 (quarter finals) before being put on the trailer by Chance McKelvie. While there might’ve been a little luck baked into his success that day, Cory is noticeably talented behind the wheel. A solid staging regimen and strong reaction times allowed him to go rounds deep into the night.
Greg A.
No doubt about this one. Greg A.’s Seventy 2 Fast entry meant business. On the heels of making 1,500-plus hp on the engine dyno at Freedom Racing Engines—followed by backing it up with 1,356-rwhp at Hardway Performance—the “Redemption” third-gen was predicted to be a 5-second force out on the track. Unfortunately, a staging lane miscommunication ultimately disqualified him from contention, but not before a rail pressure issue was about to do the same. Back in the pits, it was discovered that the number 2 injector feed tube’s hold-down nut had backed off, causing a significant loss in rail pressure and killing the truck’s power.
Randell Dueck
If you weren’t in Indy you might be asking yourself ‘what about all the Duramax trucks?’ Well, according to the rumor mill, most of the V-8 competition was down 200 to 300 hp compared to the Cummins-powered trucks. But despite air-limited racing favoring the proven inline-six platform, Sleytown Diesel‘s Randell Dueck showed up ready to compete with his Duramax-swapped square body. His Seventy 2 Fast race prep entailed ditching the Allison for the lighter weight and more predictable-shifting 4L80E, but also a forced a last-minute engine swap. Randell went out in the third round, but not before putting a few Cummins-powered trucks on the trailer—which meant he was able to leave town with some of the bounty money offered up by HSP Diesel and Merchant Automotive.
Why Seventy 2 Fast Changed Everything
For a lot of reasons, Seventy 2 Fast changed the diesel drag racing game—and it wasn’t just the $70,000 payout. First, you have the great equalizer: every competitor must run the exact same turbo. Then you have the fuel-only, 6,000-pound minimum, air-to-air intercooler, and factory ECM stipulations—along with prohibiting transmission brakes and bump boxes—and you not only have a level playing field, but one that doesn’t require you to spend an obscene amount of money in order to be competitive. To be sure, big money was in play in a lot of Seventy 2 Fast builds, but spending $100,000 definitely wasn’t mandatory in order to go rounds. Then there are the instant-green starts, which make it a driver’s game, where a quick reaction time is crucial.
Fuel-Only Ingenuity
Why else did Seventy 2 Fast galvanize diesel drag racing? Because it stimulated the kind of innovation normally reserved for truck pullers, where huge fuel-only horsepower is made despite being limited on turbo size. Fuel system, engine, and tuning experts played with unique injector combos, different pistons, and tweaked calibrations to squeeze every ounce of fuel-only horsepower out of the VS Racing 72. Many Cummins owners were even able to find an additional 200 to 300 hp from the time testing commenced back in the fall to the week of the race. In the weeks and days leading up to the event, some entrants were even clearing north of 1,300 hp on the chassis dyno (and 1,500-plus hp on the engine dyno). Of course, the huge interest the race generated led to performance parts manufacturers selling more products, shops seeing increased dyno usage, engine builders assembling more engines, and local tracks booking private test sessions.
What’s Next
As the creators, developers, and owners of Seventy 2 Fast (which includes the name, branding, and racing format), the folks at Firepunk Diesel are willing to spread the joy—and they already have a taker. September 25th, at the NHRDA World Finals in Ennis, Texas, a Seventy 2 Fast race will be run—and the purse is going to exceed what we saw in Indy. How about $141,000 in total and a $100,000 payday awarded to the winner! This time, the racing field will be limited to 64 entries, each with a $1,500 buy-in. Entry sales went live on June 13th and were sold out in 90 minutes, proving exactly what we suspected: diesel racers are hungry for more of this type of racing.
