Breakage, perseverance, new personal bests, and even a fresh record was set at the fifth stop on the Outlaw Diesel Super Series circuit.
When Outlaw Diesel Revenge left Ohio to be combined with Ultimate Callout Challenge in Indianapolis, ODSS drag racing went missing in the Buckeye State. In the fall of 2025, Brad Helton—owner of Rowdy’s Automotive & Motorsports and an ODSS 5.90 Index competitor—was determined to bring an event back to his home state. With both local and industry-wide support, the greenlight from the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, and Edgewater Sports Park onboard as the host facility, Trucks Unleashed was scheduled as the fifth stop on the 2026 ODSS schedule. The weekend of September 18th and 19th we made the trek to southwest Ohio for 1/8-mile drag racing, a show ‘n shine, chassis dyno action, and a Tug-A-Truck competition.
There would be breakage, perseverance, new personal bests, and even a fresh record set out on the drag strip. Justin Zeigler’s battle-tested Dodge and David Petrick’s new 4×4 Cummins Pro Mod provided some of the most captivating passes, while Michael Cordova’s 3.87-second blast (at 7,000 rpm) gave the crowd a taste of what the world’s quickest diesel can do. Then came the nail-biting final rounds in Super Diesel and each index category—along with an unprecedented finish in the Top Diesel class. Well-organized and smoothly run, one can only hope Edgewater becomes a regular stop on the ODSS circuit.
Four-wheel drive burnouts anyone? Trust us, if you want the undivided attention of spectators, track crew, and even fellow competitors, sending all four slicks up in smoke is the way to do it. David Petrick made Trucks Unleashed the second outing for his brand-new, Firepunk-built, Wagler-powered and S&S fueled, 3,700hp Pro Mod Cummins. Making progress with every pass, David kicked off the weekend with a 4.87 at 150 in Q1. By Q3 on Saturday he would put a 4.73 at 159 mph on the board. And then, in the first round of eliminations, David would even break into the 4.60s, going 4.67 at 161.99 mph.After battling injector issues on Thursday—and after S&S’s Carter Langellier rebuilt the troublesome units in the pits—Justin Goode and the MBS Diesel Performance and MTKB Racing teams topped off with fresh Hot Shot’sR100 and fired up Justin’s LML Duramax at 2:30 am Friday morning. In Q1, he drove the lightweight Silverado to a 4.90. Then, like clockwork, the truck went quicker with each subsequent pass: 4.82 in Q2, 4.79 in Q3, 4.72 in E1, and then 4.67 at 167 mph in the second round of eliminations (the quickest and fastest the truck has ever been on slicks). Despite the front left slick breaking traction in the final against David Petrick, Justin pedaled it and was able to hold on for the win, his second Super Diesel victory of the season.It was a rough start to the weekend for Brianna Gilbert and the Stainless Diesel team. After shelling the Powerglide in their new dragster, donor and fresh parts were obtained, two aftermarket cases were sourced, and the crew rebuilt the old-school two-speed in the pits. Friday evening, all the thrashing proved worth it when Brianna drove the (now compound turbo’d) rail to a 4.92 at 139 mph. Not only was it the young driver’s first 4-second pass, but it also made her dragster the first VGT-equipped Duramax to ever break into the 4’s. Toggling between 5.90 Index and 4.9x-second tune-ups, Brianna and team Stainless left town with the win in Top Diesel and fourth place points in 5.90.When a transmission failure wipes out all forward gears and you need to break the beams to get your points, you use reverse! In one of the wilder finishes we’ve ever seen in Top Diesel, Michael Cordova backed into the beams for the final against Brianna Gilbert. During qualifying, Michael kicked things off with a 4.10 at 177 mph and then followed it with a 3.87-second blast in Q2. Despite the breakage (and thanks to reverse functioning), Michael left Edgewater Sports Park with a commanding points lead headed into the final ODSS event of the year: Smoky Mountain Throwdown.Justin Zeigler’s march toward the 4×4 diesel 1/8-mile record came with a side of winning at Trucks Unleashed. Granted, Austin Doidge’s unfortunate breakage gave Justin the easy Pro Truck class win—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t on a mission. Friday night during the first round of qualifying, Justin and his team put together a 4.59-second pass at 169.88 mph. In Q2, he dug deeper and went even faster, ultimately going 4.54 at 171.82 mph. In addition to his quest to break the 4×4 diesel record (Derek Rose’s 4.41 at 173 mph), Justin has all but sewed up another ODSS points championship.Even though he’d come close the previous two races, Cody Gilbert had yet to secure his first ODSS win of the 2026 season. That changed at Trucks Unleashed. After grabbing the number 2 qualifier, Cody and the Bare Knuckles Diesel Performance Mega Cab went to work, cutting consistent .02 to .04 reaction times and picking off some of the best 6.70 Index racers in the business. Not only did Cody get the win, but he moved past Steven Robbins in the points chase for the class. Expect a dog fight between these two at the final race of the year.Every racing series needs a dynamic force. Someone who knows how to keep the mood light, doesn’t know a stranger, competes fiercely, yet cares deeply about his fellow competitors and the industry as a whole. In the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, Brad Helton is that force. The Southwest Ohio native owns Rowdy’s Automotive & Motorsports, competes in the 5.90 Index category, and has a hand in several other competitive trucks on the ODSS scene. In the fall of 2025, Brad was determined to bring diesel drag racing back to the Buckeye State. Working with the likes of Snyder Performance Engineering, Fisher’s Shop Inc., Edgewater Sports Park, Outlaw Diesel Performance for sponsoring the 7.70 Index purse, Wyse Auto Repair for throwing an additional $1,000 into the winner’s pot, and friends Joe Milburn Jr. and Mitchell Wicklund (among others), he was able to make that dream a reality on September 18th and 19th with Trucks Unleashed. In our 20 years of covering diesel events, we can’t recall when a first-time event ran as smoothly as this one. We can only hope it becomes a regular stop on the ODSS circuit.In 5.90 Index, all roads lead through Brett Marcum. And even though Brett saved his deadly combination of cutting a solid light with running the number right on the money for his matchup against Spencer Prichard, it happened in the final round of 5.90 Index. It’s Brett’s third win of 2026 and his second victory in a row. Catching up with Brett in the pits, he told us his success in ODSS is primarily due to “good luck.” We responded by letting him know he can only use that excuse for so many years before it becomes more than just “good fortune.” Brett left Ohio with a huge points lead and another 5.90 championship secured.Right off the trailer, Spencer Prichard’s SPE and Exergy-backed 6.7L Ford was a threat to go rounds in 5.90 Index. In Q1, Spencer put a 5.894 at 118 mph on the board but would later slow things down enough to grab the number 1 qualifier. After getting past 2025 champion, Skylar Fornes, Spencer lined up against Jaxon Harrell and his lightweight, LB7 Duramax-powered Silverado in the semifinals. In a close race, Spencer’s 5.93 at 117 mph edged out Jaxon’s 5.97-second pass at 117 mph. Believing the truck has a 5.4x pass in it, look for Spencer to challenge the 4×4 1/8-mile 6.7L Power Stroke record soon.RedLine Transmissions’ Karl Mireiter used the 5.90 Index class at Trucks Unleashed to dial in his Seventy 2 Fast build: an immaculate ’95 Dodge with a common-rail 6.7L Cummins under the hood. In qualifying, Karl went from a 6.14 at 111 mph in Q1 to a 6.05 at 112 mph by Q3. And while his 6.09 at 112 mph couldn’t match Brianna Gilbert’s 5.99 in round 1 of eliminations, there is little doubt Karl’s build has what it takes to put a 5-second 1/8-mile pass together. At least one other Seventy 2 Fast entry was on the grounds at Edgewater, making final preparations for the big $100,000 race at the NHRDA World Finals in Ennis, Texas on September 25th.Only with a Cummins can you attempt to survive an entire event on an ailing engine. Jordan Blackard rolled into Edgewater Sports Park with a suspected blown head gasket, but you never would’ve known it based on how the truck performed—at least not at first. Friday night, Jordan’s compound turbo’d, VP44-fueled second-gen put together two 7.70x passes (a 7.703 and a 7.705). Then the trouble started. After re-torquing the head studs and draining coolant in favor of water, the 5.9L had had enough following the fourth pass, ultimately blowing out the O-ring on the tappet cover and causing a messy oil leak. Luckily, despite the issue Jordan lost no ground to ET Bracket points leader, Dustin Canter.It’s not easy to earn back-to-back wins in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, but Damon Yoder completed the feat at Trucks Unleashed. After getting around 7.70 Index points leader, Emanuel Yoder, in the final round at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, Damon lined up against Matt Maier and his formidable 7.3L-powered OBS Ford (far lane) for the final round in Ohio. Damon and his Duramax-powered GMC would get the win, going 7.72 at 83 mph on the brakes to Matt’s breakout performance (a 7.697 at 86 mph). Unsurprisingly, each of the three drivers mentioned here represent the 7.70 Index class point leaders (Emanuel in first, Damon in second, and Matt in third).Somehow, some way, Justin Buchanan’s factory sealed LBZ Duramax and 100-percent stock six-speed Allison continue to survive life in 900-rwhp territory. Following an 895 hp performance aboard Blessed Performance’s dyno at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza—and feeling like the truck had four-digit potential—Justin strapped his Silverado to the same set of rollers at Trucks Unleashed. Although 1,000 hp wasn’t in the cards, primarily due to a boost leak stemming from a cracked intercooler, Justin’s Bow Tie made a respectable 858 hp and a peak torque number of 1,522 lb-ft. His horsepower recipe consists of a 63mm Cheetah VNT from Fleece in the valley and an S488 atmosphere turbo, a 10mm CP3 and 100-percent over injectors from S&S, a 220-gph AirDog system, PPE exhaust manifolds and up-pipes, and Mark Broviak (MTKB Racing) on the keyboard.For the second event in a row, WP Developments sponsored drag race ride-alongs—and ODSS regular, Keith Languell, was more than game for taking passengers with him on a few 7-second trips through the ‘660. However, Keith would have his work cut out for him on Saturday following a front diff failure. With four-wheel drive no longer available to him, Keith proceeded to enter the water box before each pass and compete in rear-wheel drive. It’s proof that sometimes you do what you have to in order to stay in the fight. By racing in 2wd, Keith actually made up ground in the ET Bracket points chase, as both Dustin Canter (first in points) and Jordan Blackard (second in points) went out early (Canter in the first round of eliminations and Blackard due to the aforementioned blown head gasket).When it’s not hauling round bales, it’s winning money in the ET Bracket class… Robin Ridgway has owned her ’01 F-350 since 2008, and the truck (which she calls “Tony”) has made hundreds (if not thousands) of passes over the course of the last 15 years. Sticking close to her 10.22-second dial-in, Robin and Tony ended up in the ET Bracket finals, where they defeated Mason Rhodus. Robin credits her neighbors in the pits—Caleb Faler (who couldn’t get his compound turbo’d VP44 second-gen to keep from breaking out in 7.70), Morgan Gaynor (Gallops & Gears Photography), and fellow 7.3L owner and ET Bracket racer Jeffery-Michael Gaskin—for their help, encouragement, and camaraderie throughout the weekend.
