DOOM & GLOOM
JUDGEMENT DAY COMETH IN WINCHESTER, KY
The team at Thoroughbred Diesel in Winchester, Kentucky, has been hosting the Judgement Day dyno competition and open house event for eight years now, and it continues to be one of the best dyno competitions we have had the chance to attend.
As in years past, Judgement Day separated the trucks into three classes with the largest being the class for stock-appearing turbo trucks. Additionally, there was a 2.6 Turbo class and the anything-goes Unlimited class to round things out. Unlike most other dyno competitions that simply give the top honors to the highest horsepower measured, the team at Thoroughbred measures both horsepower and torque then adds the measurements together to give each competitor a score of total “horsetorques” if you will. With this scoring method, the one with the most horsepower doesn’t always win, but having the most horsepower certainly helps your cause.
The line of competitor trucks runs around the shop, allowing spectators to check out the trucks before they enter the competition arena inside the shop where the trucks are strapped down to the chassis dyno. Several of the competitors also show off their power with burnouts in the burnout area outside the shop to thrill the crowd.
BURNING RUBBER
This year, the Thoroughbred crew planned to also host a tug-o-war truck competition on their adjacent lot but did not have enough participants willing to risk their trucks, so the team adapted and offered up prize money for the best burnout. The burnout competition took place during the break between the Stock and 2.6 Turbo classes running on the dyno. Brandon Albright spun the rear tires of his Dodge to the cords spraying rubber across the pavement until the driver side tire deflated on the way to the burnout contest win.
DYNO CONTEST
Twelve of the 35 Stock class dyno competitors put down more than 500 horsepower, with a broad mix of trucks in the class. The lowest power truck in the class was Wade Flannery’s 1968 Chevy C10 that’s powered by a Cummins 4BT, so it was down two to four cylinders compared to most of the other competitors in the class. Of the eleven 2.6 Turbo class competitors, only the top three were able to break through the 600hp barrier. In the wide-open Unlimited class, five of the fourteen competitors delivered more than 1,000 horsepower to the rear wheels; Bailey Phillips even broke the 2,000lb-ft of torque threshold with her 2002 Dodge to take second place in the class. But no one had enough horsetorques to take down Banean Woosley, who scored 3,126.8 horsetorques to take the Unlimited class win while also throwing down the highest horsepower measurement of the day with his 2005 Dodge spinning the rollers to the tune of 1,211.2 hp.
If you weren’t able to attend Judgement Day 2016 yourself, don’t worry; Judgement Day will come once again in 2017 with the Thoroughbred Diesel team setting aside the date of Saturday, October 7, for the festivities. Be sure to mark your calendars and arrange your affairs so that you can be there either as a spectator or a competitor. We’re sure you’ll be glad that you did. Just be sure to tell them that your friends from Diesel World sent you. DW