Despite the lack of drag racing, the sled pulls were just as exciting to the crowd who got to see lots of competition that came from across the country.

Everyone knows that diesels make huge amounts of torque when they’re “tweaked” a bit with performance aftermarket parts. But it’s not every day that we get to see 1000+ horsepower 4x4 pickups that are driven on the street one minute that are then placed into competition on the drag strip, or hooked up to a weighted sled to pull it as far as it can down a 400-foot dirt course.

That’s what real diesel performance is all about, and we got to see a lot of it at the 2009 TS Performance Outlaw Drag Race and Sled Pull held in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The event began May 8th with an open house at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, where diesel truck owners got to see some of the latest performance products available for diesel trucks.

Who cares about brand loyalty when the popular engine swap is to remove your Powerstroke for a Cummins in your F-250?

Many aftermarket performance parts manufacturers attend this large event. Snow Performance is one who’s methanol/water injection systems are quickly becoming a popular addition to many street-driven diesel trucks.

Manufacturers such as Snow Performance (right) had its Diesel MPG MAX Boost Controller, methanol/water injection system on display, which can improve fuel economy by 1-3 mpg and add as much as 150-ft.lbs. of torque to stock diesel pickups. ATS diesel also had a variety of its new intercooler packages and a display showing its Five Star torque converter that features a patented two-piece design with five-clutch surfaces that can hold up to 2000 lbs.-ft. of torque. Many diesel truck owners also took advantage of special pricing on aftermarket components from several retailers who also displayed at the show, and got expert advice in selecting the right products for their particular diesel pickups.

While some people drooled over new power parts for their trucks, others gathered by the DieselPerformanceMotorsports.com dyno. It was here that crowds cheered truck owners like John Powell, who’s 2007 Chevy Duramax made 811.2 horsepower and 1303.0 lbs.-ft. of torque from a seemingly stock-looking pickup. There were plenty of other big numbers on the dyno that day, many of which reached well over 500 horsepower and 1000 lbs.-ft. of torque. Guys like Jason Revis and his 2005 Dodge Ram equipped with a 5.9 liter Cummins was another who achieved 515.9 horsepower and 1067.6 lbs.-ft. during his dyno run to earn some cheers from the on-lookers.

You had better be pulling big numbers when your truck gets on the dyno at the TS Performance Outlaw Drag Race and Sled Pull. Fortunately many made well over 1000 ft.-lbs, which always impresses the crowd and earns owners bragging rights.

It takes lots of torque and horsepower from a modified turbocharger inlet to pull the weighted sled down the hard-packed dirt course.

With plenty of trucks already making big power, it was a huge disappointment to find out that the large drag racing portion of the event was cancelled the following day. A few individuals caused some damages to the campground area, which forced Beech Bend Raceway to close this portion of the event down. Nevertheless, everyone headed to the Southern Kentucky Fairgrounds early to wait for the sled pulls that would regenerate the excitement of the participants and spectators once it got started that evening.  

Once the smoke started pouring out of big exhaust stacks and all four tires (six if you count the 4wd Duallys) spun on the hard-packed dirt course, the huge crowd gathered around the sled pull dirt course erupted. It was great to see the street classes, where daily-driven diesel pickups pulled a weighted sled down the track. The stock classes had more than 100 diesel pickups that, at first, made it look too easy to pull the sled down the 400-foot course. After more weight was added, many could only muster over 300 feet, which made the competition even tougher, as the difference between winning and losing the round was measured in inches.

The sled pull was the main draw at the show, as the horsepower and torque of each truck was put to the test during the competition.

The fun and excitement of the sled pulls seemed to overshadow the lack of diesel drag racing, and the thousands of spectators still got to experience what true diesel performance is all about by talking to the manufacturers and being around other truck owners. While this event gave us only a glimpse of the performance potential of late-model diesel trucks, we can only anticipate that next year’s event will bring out faster and more powerful trucks that are sure to impress.

Sled Pull Results

2.6 Class
Jason Beasley, Houston, MO - ’06 Dodge -  338.01 feet.

2.8 Class
Matthew Williams, Shelbyville, KY - ’96 Dodge - 300.29 ft.

3.0 Class
Rod Tar, Edinburg, IL – “Super Ram” Dodge - 357.03 ft.

Modified Class
Shane Kellog, - Forrest, OH - “Gotta Have It” 1997 Silver Dodge - 302.39 ft.

New diesel products like ATS’ Five Star torque converter that can hold 2000 ft.-lbs. of torque are examples of where diesel pickups are in terms of performance.