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Rudy’s Fall Truck Jam

East Coast Action From One Of The Season’s Largest Events

Over the last few years Rudy’s Diesel—a Durham, North Carolina-based shop—has hosted some of the most exciting diesel power events that the East Coast has to offer. Rudy’s Spring and Fall events have grown from small “dyno days” into all-out diesel extravaganzas, with drag racing, sled pulling, a Show & Shine, and of course, dyno action.

This year’s Fall Truck Jam also had one of the biggest purses in diesel drag racing: a $16,000 Pro Street shootout that gave $10,000 to the winner. That prize brought out some of the most exciting trucks in the country. There were also bracket classes where racers had to run as close to their dial-ins without going under. For a taste of extreme speed, Scheid Diesel brought out their Cummins-powered diesel dragster and wowed the fans with some low four-second elapsed times in the eighth-mile, topping out at more than 180 mph.

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The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League made a stop at Rudy’s as well, and some of the hottest trucks in the nation battled it out in 3.0 and Super Stock classes. Most competitors stayed around and pulled again with the Carolina Truck and Tractor Pullers on Saturday night, which also had street classes that allowed normal diesel work trucks a chance to hook to the sled. The two straight days of pulling made for a great show, as those participants who didn’t have a good hook on Friday got another chance the very next evening.

If you weren’t one of the 5,000-plus fans who showed up for Rudy’s Fall event, there’s no need to worry. On April 24 and 25, Rudy’s Spring event will roll around at Galot Motorsports Park, an even bigger venue that will host more trucks, spectators and vendors. The Fall event will continue as well, and will take place on October 9 and 10. If you’re anywhere near the East Coast (or even if you aren’t), make sure to mark those dates on your calendar, as Rudy’s puts on a show that’s simply too good to miss! DW

The coveted number one qualifier spot belonged to Brett Deutsch, who was right near the class minimum 4,500-lb weight in his 1,300 rwhp Duramax-powered C-10. Launching on a Rossler-based TH400 transmission with a trans brake, the truck cut unreal low 1.3-second 60-foot times and rocketed to 5.63 at 128 mph in the eighth-mile. Unfortunately, Brett didn’t get the turbos spooled up on the line in eliminations, and lost to Sam Schmitt.
This super-clean OBS (old body style) Ford made us stop in our tracks, as it’s one of the finer examples of these trucks that we’ve seen in a while. The blacked-out rig had some performance modifications too, as a custom intercooler could be spotted through the grille.
One of the faster street trucks in attendance was this big mean 6.0L rig built by Warren Diesel, which has made 917 rear-wheel horsepower on fuel on a single S475 turbo, and ran 7.0 at 100 mph on the eighth-mile track.
The staging lanes were full the entire day with every shape and size diesel one could think of, from daily drivers to pure race trucks.
Here Ben Shadday is seen just starting to spin the tires, which then turned into a 300-foot four-wheel drive burnout. Fortunately for him, Mark House also had traction problems, and Ben got the win.
The Scheid Dragster with its 2,500-hp aluminum-block Cummins was on hand to make exhibition passes, and ran as fast as 4.22 seconds at 180.61 mph during the day. Remember, an eighth-mile is only two city blocks, so getting up to 180 mph in that space is quite a feat!
Although Brian Jelich (far lane) got the jump on Seth Sullivan in the first round of competition, the Ford’s high six-second eighth-mile was no match for Seth’s high-five time, and 130+ mph trap speeds.
A big part of Rudy’s Fall Truck Jam was the $16,000 Pro Street shootout, which paid a whopping $10,000 to the winner. Trucks had to run quicker than 6.79 to make the cut, and the top 16 were chosen for the following day’s race. Both Mark House’s lightweight Dodge (near lane) and the Maryland Performance Diesel Ford (far lane) made the cut, running 6.54 and 6.77 respectively.
The drag strip action got started on Friday morning with groups of street trucks. It didn’t take long for some of the competitors to figure out that diesel torque and two-wheel drive street tire launches only resulted in tire smoke, and for the rest of the day most of the trucks ran in either 4wd, or on used slicks or drag radials.
Shawn Proctor was one of the fastest common-rail Dodges on the grounds, running low-six and high-five times in the eighth-mile all weekend. The shortbed back-halved rig lifted the tires on nearly every pass, and got past Stuckey in the first round on a hole shot.
From large to low, this smooth Ford project was also on display. The Power Stroke-powered ride was literally on the frame, thanks to a lot of custom suspension and chassis work.
Scheid Diesel played the numbers and fielded two trucks in Super Stock. Brad Ingram drove the first truck to a 275.57-foot pull for seventh place, while Kent Crowder finished third, with a 282.37-foot run.

“The two straight days of pulling made for a great show, as those participants who didn’t have a good hook on Friday got another chance the very next evening.”

XDP was there too, and brought along its Cummins-powered monster truck. The diesel behemoth can be seen at events across the country beating up on gas rigs, and recently even landed a backflip in Freestyle competition.
Brothers Tyler and Tyson Dillard both ran 3.0 trucks, with Tyler’s “Smokin’” finishing behind his brother’s “Smokin II” by a good 30 feet.
In addition to the drag racing action, a Show & Shine area was set up in the pits, where folks could display their rides. Fords were the main attraction here, as we saw a multitude of lifted and lowered Blue Oval trucks.
Curt Haisley’s “Off Constantly” was a strong runner in the 3.0 class, and had an unheard of four wins in a row coming into the event. At Rudy’s, however, Haisley was slightly edged out by Andrew Grove’s “Bad Timing.”
C.W. Cartmell’s “Most Hated” is one of the strongest 2.6 pullers in the country, and finished well, with a 308-foot pull.
Brad Deeter’s Cummins-powered “Oversize Load” was the winner in the Super Stock class, with an impressive 284.99-foot pull on a very heavy sled.
All hell broke loose when Wayne Allan’s compound turbo Ford was loaded down, as the 6.4L had a huge screaming Garrett turbo as an atmospheric charger. The black Ford laid down 968 rwhp, which was the top number for the event.
Dynoing trucks is also a big part of Rudy’s events, where anyone can strap down their truck on the rollers and see what it puts out. The dyno was busy all day, and was constantly surrounded by a crowd waiting for big numbers.
The manufacturer’s midway was a great spot to hang out, get some food, and buy some event T-shirts.
If you were looking for horsepower, the pulling arena was the place to find it. This 6.7L-based Cummins built by Haisley Machine makes more than 2,500 horsepower thanks to triple turbos and 150 psi of boost!

The Winners!

While the end of the drag racing competition was rained out, we were able to grab the sled pull and dyno results. Here are both Friday and Saturday’s winners for the 2014 Fall Truck Jam.

Drag Racing

Top Dragster: Jared Jones, 4.22 at 180.61 mph
Pro Street: Seth Sullivan, Taylor Wildon (tie, rainout)

Sled Pulling

PPL 3.0: Andrew Grove, “Bad Timing,” 325.22 feet
PPL Super Stock: Brad Deeter, “Oversize Load,”284.99 feet
CTTP Work Stock: Kenneth Stanley, 323.16 feet
CTTP Hot Street: Carey Clark, 317.73 feet
CTTP Open 4×4: Rob Wright, 332.98 feet

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