HORSEPOWER IN THE HILLS

STARLITE DIESEL DYNO AND UNITED PULLERS EVENT
uring the hot summer months in central Utah, you’ll find most diesel guys busy at work, out in the fields raising crops or punching a time clock in an office. But on June 17th, every diesel junky in a 300-mile radius was gathered for the Starlite Diesel Dyno event held in conjunction with the Northwest Dyno Circuit (NWDC) and a United Pullers Association sled pulling event in Morgan, Utah.

DW-1711-PULL-03 — Running in the United Pullers Open Street class, Shannon Perkins took her first shot at sled pulling in this Cummins-powered Dodge she calls the Little Red Wagon. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned as some axle hop and bounce led her to lift a little soon, ending the pull at 97 feet. But huge props to her for getting out there and trying—you’ve got to learn somehow.

DW-1711-PULL-02 — This clean and sleek lowered 6.4L Power Stroke is owned by Richard Scott of Roy, Utah, and laid down 713 hp. Scott has made a few improvements under the hood like custom Tyrant Diesel tuning, No Limit Fabrication intake, an HT Turbo 71mm Low Pressure turbo, BTS Transmission torque converter, and an H&S Motorsports wastegate kit.

DW-1711-PULL-01 — Oakley Bonds of Nephi, Utah, had this big blue Dodge on the rollers and slammed down 844 hp in the Small Twin class, which allows all compounds up to an 80mm turbocharger. That run was enough to land third spot in the class, very respectable numbers for daily-driven rig.

DW-1711-PULL-05 — There is just something about a clean OBS Ford that gets a guy excited. This crew cab 7.3L Power Stroke is owned by Austin Thomas of Clinton, Utah, and made 477 hp on the Superflow Dyno. Great numbers from an old HEUI engine.

DW-1711-PULL-06 — As the dyno event sponsor, of course Starlite Diesel had to have its own display. Owner and lead tuner Zac Fuller has spent years tweaking, tuning and building on this truck and has competed in both Ultimate Callout Challenges. Broken converter bolts during his time on the dyno created some issues, but not before he smashed out more than 1,400 hp.

DW-1711-PULL-04 — Master Shredder, owned and piloted by Shawn Baca, the lead engine builder at Industrial Injection, has made quite the name for itself over the past couple seasons. As a competitor at the Ultimate Callout Challenge, it laid down over 2,500 hp. This truck has also made a few passes in the mid-9s at the track and dominated the sled pull thanks to those cut pulling tires, placing first in the Pro Mod Diesel class.

Specializing in custom EFILive tuning for the Cummins and Duramax trucks, Starlite Diesel has made quite a name for itself in the industry and tunes some of the most competitive sled pulling and drag racing trucks in the country. Obviously, their knowledge of the EFI tuning software makes them extremely talented when it comes to tuning daily drivers for better power, mileage, and towing performance as well. Owner Zach Fuller decided it was time to team up with his close friends at the NWDC and host one of the many stops on the 2017 summer points circuit.

DW-1711-PULL-07 — Bryant Evans from Tremonton, Utah, had his 6.7L Cummins on the dyno earlier in the day where he made 590 hp in the Small Single class. Out on the pull track the black Dodge ran 163.1 feet before getting stopped by the big sled.

DW-1711-PULL-08 — No, it’s not a diesel, but who doesn’t love seeing big-block Chevy, running straight alcohol, with a massive blower sticking out of the hood, carrying both front wheels 5 feet in the air all the way down a dirt track? The old Chevy, Cheap Shot Reloaded, is owned and driven by Skyler Neibaur of Rigby, Idaho.

DW-1711-PULL-10 — There’s nothing like the sound of a set of 40-inch mud terrains spinning 100 mph on the chassis dyno, right? While it’s not ideal to run that big heavy dyno, at least you’ll get real world numbers for what your truck makes on the street.

DW-1711-PULL-09 — The Dynomite Diesel-sponsored Cummins truck run by Trevor Larkin from Syracuse, Utah, has made a strong surge to the front of the pack in the 3.0 Inducer class along the United Pullers summer circuit. Another first place pull at Morgan proved he’s in it to win week in and week out in hopes of another season points championship.

DW-1711-PULL-14 — This super-clean LBZ is owned by Jordan Willie from CDP Motorsports out of West Valley, Utah. With a 66mm Borg Warner SXE turbocharger under the hood and plenty of fuel, this hot street truck is one to watch out for, laying down 665 hp to the tires.

The dyno competition kicked off early Saturday morning and was categorized like all NWDC events with Stock GM, Dodge and Ford classes. Along with Small Single (under 70mm), Large Single (over 71mm), Small Twin (under 80mm), Large Twin (over 81mm) and Unlimited. With a cap set at 60 trucks, the sign-up sheet was full before noon, and the crews blasted through them quickly, allowing some extra time for the Unlimited class entries to make sure everything was just right before they spooled those triple turbos and armed the nitrous switches.

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DW-1711-PULL-13 — Dustin Willey drove all the way up from Craig, Colorado, to try his hand on the Northwest Dyno Circuit dyno only to have some problems getting his big S400 single turbo to light. Running hardly any boost and smoking like crazy, the truck made just 359 hp, which is unfortunate because it has made nearly 700 hp in the past.

DW-1711-PULL-11 — The Edge-sponsored truck owned by Ryan Thain of Benson, Utah, has been competing in the Pro Mod class for a couple seasons now. His first attempt down track for the season didn’t go quite as planned after something in the drivetrain broke and sent the engine over 6,000 rpm before he could get out of it. A spike in rail pressure blew out one of the pressure lines and led to a pretty intense under-hood fire.

DW-1711-PULL-15 — Tom Hansen has been a competitive puller all over the country chasing the 3.0 Inducer points series with the NHRDA, but he still makes sure to get to every United Pullers event he can in between. With Industrial Injection, Edge Products and Starlite Diesel Tuning as his main sponsors and contributors to the build, you know Hansen will always be a threat for a first-place hook.

Notables on the chassis dyno were Randy Reyes, a recent Ultimate Callout Challenge competitor who stole the show with a brutal 2,058hp run thanks to his triple turbos and a little nitrous. Starlite Diesel had its Duramax dually on the rollers and was just cresting 1,400 hp when the torque converter bolts sheared off mid-pull. Richard Scott’s 6.4L Power Stroke smashed out a 713hp run in the Ford class and Justin Archibald had his Small Twin Common Rail Cummins fine-tuned to the sound of 1,063 hp as one of only a few to crack into the four-digit range on the day.

Mother Nature brought some beautiful weather for the event, and the cool mountain air and lush green hillsides made for an amazing evening around the dirt sled pull track. The stands were packed and everyone was smiling as some of the strongest running diesel trucks of the region tried to plant that horsepower to the extremely short 250-foot track. The United sled had to transfer the weight quick and hard to be sure to shut these trucks down in time; at night’s end, Shawn Baca’s famous 2,500hp Master Shredder made the longest pull of the evening at 242 feet. With the help of Edge Products, the Morgan event was a major success for the United Pullers team and you can expect to see more action-packed events along their 2017 circuit. DW

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Pinaki Bhattacharya

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