Howard Claypool kept going back to the starting line with new driving tactics that dropped his Duramax-powered '05 Chevy 2500HD's e.t. from 17.2 seconds all the way down to 15.48 seconds-not bad for a truck that looks bone-stock on the outside.
Saturday kicked off both the Havoc show and The Sport Truck Challenge. Several of the locals were already waiting for us when we arrived to set up our tent and staging area. TS Performance, a local shop that specializes in making 10,000-pound diesel trucks haul ass, was in the house with several trucks ready to get it on. We knew this group would offer some pretty stiff competition because many of their drivers were weekend racers and their trucks rolled in with custom paint. Throughout the day, we coaxed show participants into the action as they came up to our tent looking for information about the show's bikini contest. This netted us 22 trucks, many that had never seen the sticky side of a dragstrip.
By 4 p.m. the trucks had all made a ton of passes down the track in preparation for Sunday's showdown, and we had a good idea of which ones could run a good number and which ones would have to get by on looks alone. We gathered up our new racers for a photo shoot and judging session. Editor Mike Finnegan and Senior Editor Calin picked over each truck with a fine-tooth comb, giving each driver the opportunity to tell them all about the mods done to their ride. We then thanked the crew for participating and sent them on their way to enjoy the rest of the show that day.
Another stealthy but super-quick truck from the TS camp was Joel Greathouse's '06 Dodge Ram 2500. The Cummins engine had a big exhaust system and a new computer that added up to best pass of 13.05 at 106 mph. This truck is a perfect bracket racer because it ran within hundredths of a second all day long.
The Challenge got under way on Sunday morning. Attrition during Saturday's practice session had put a couple of trucks on the trailer and several more must have felt they didn't have a shot at the prizes and simply didn't show up to the driver's meeting. A mean hangover could also have played a roll in paring down the field to just 14 trucks. No matter, because we still had a grip of competitors willing to duke it out without having a clue how many points they had earned during the judging portion of The Challenge.
On Sunday, each driver was able to make four passes down the track to nail their best e.t. Reaction times and mph did not factor into The Challenge this time around because we literally were just looking to entice folks into participating. Needless to say, the reaction times of many could be measured in seconds and not thousandths of a second. Many of the competitors burned up passes, attempting to find the best ride height and air pressure setting for their truck's air suspension system. Traction was a problem for a lot of trucks with an abundance of horsepower and low-profile street rubber. You could count the number of trucks that came prepared for battle with a pair of slicks on one hand.
We are happy to report that the mechanical carnage that ensued was minimal, which is good because most of the competitors had long drives home ahead of them. We had trucks from as far away as New Jersey running on the track, and the prospect of breaking down and paying a massive tow bill obviously wasn't a good one. You wouldn't know that anyone was holding back by the way the trucks lit up the water box or by the number of passes that were laid down. Many of the new racers were like kids in a candy store. They had full access to an uncongested dragstrip and took full advantage by heading straight back to the starting line after each pass. It was glorious.
Yes, it's stock, but it runs 15s on 24-inch wheels. |  |  |
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Now here is something you don't see every day: A prerunner-styled Ford Explorer racing a lifted Ford Super Duty driven by a woman. Cory Draper lined up his Exploder against Caroline Jones's Super Duty in a battle of the speed limit busters. They were the last two racers to sign up for The Challenge; neither driver had been down the track before and neither truck was going to set the world on fire. Both of them had a blast, though, even when running high 19-second e.t.s, barely at 70 mph. Caroline almost didn't come back on Sunday because her truck is used on her horse farm, and she had to feed the stallions that morning. She made it back to race in time and swears she'll back next year with more ponies on tap. |