Golden State Dieselfest

Dyno, Drags and a Massive Show ‘n Shine on the West Coast

It’s event season, and folks have had a long year to prepare their rides for the dyno or track once again. It should be no surprise that when Diesel World partnered up with Sacramento Raceway and Street Trucks, the resulting  Golden State Dieselfest netted a huge turnout, as tons of diesel nuts and truck/racing enthusiasts in general were more than ready to show off their rides. The Dieselfest had literally everything for the diesel enthusiast, including hundreds of trucks at the Street Trucks Show Off Series show n’ shine, the Northwest Dyno Circuit’s killer Superflow dyno, and of course Sacramento Raceway’s awesome dragstrip. There was even prize money to be had, as the Holeshot Diesel Series was there to pay out some cash in the Pro Street, 6.70, 7.70, and E.T. Bracket classes.

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Nate Wilson of Wilsonz Kustomz has already been in the pages of Diesel World for his ‘38 Dodge creation, but he’s also hard at work on this wild suicide-door Lincoln. It’s Cummins powered of course.

In past years these California events have been largely Cummins dominated, although this year the Duramax contingent made a definite show of force. We saw some cool swaps as well as fast race trucks, and of course plenty of iron in the show n shine. Speaking of the car and truck show, we saw more cars than ever before, with Dustin Hamm bringing his Pro Street Camaro, Nate Wilson showing off his Cummins-powered Lincoln, and Brian Ronsonet even bringing out his Baja-inspired Mercedes!

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We’ve always wanted a diesel C10! This prime example was sold by Nate to a lucky buyer who can now enjoy classic lines and diesel power.

Between the show and drag races, spectators could check out the food trucks, manufacturers midway, and dyno area. A number of trucks broke the 800hp mark, with Duramax-powered GMs leading the horsepower charge. In Pro Street, the win would go to California’s Rick Fletes in his Duramax-powered Chevelle, while the 6.70 win went to Cummins power with Travis Turner’s Dodge. Spencer Schultz from Wilder, ID kept up with the trend in 7.70 running a 7.92 in his ‘07 Dodge, while ET Bracket saw a number of serious competitors but it was an (ouch) gas truck coming out on top with Chris Swenson in his ‘02 Escalade. Once the races were over, the kings of the show and strip were crowned, it was time to go home, with the knowledge that diesel performance is still alive and well all across the country…starting on the West Coast!

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One of the more immaculate engine bays on display was this p-pumped 24v Dodge, which also hit the dyno later in the day.
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Larry Strawn is famous for the “Fodge,” his Model A Cummins creation. He’s now upped the ante with Fodge 2 (a Pro Street ride) and 3 and 4 (pictured) which are four-door and two-door 40s hotrods respectively.
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Yep, it’s got a diesel! The old body style 4×4 Ford isn’t Cummins powered, but rather packs a 7.3L Power Stroke.
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The 1-Ton Patriot has 18 inches of lift on its LOWEST setting. It’s hard to miss the paint, or the giant 28-inch wheels and 44-inch tires.
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A vendors row was a big part of Sacramento’s diesel extravaganza, with both local and national vendors. BD Power was one such company on hand, and they had a whole new line of turbochargers to show off.
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This Baja-inspired Mercedes diesel was a first for us! It looks like just about as much fun as one could have with an old Mercedes and the owner reports that it does “pretty well” in the dunes. Definitely a vehicle that won’t get confused with anything else!
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Flying the S&S Diesel Motorsports diesel flag was Pure Metal Works’ wild twin-turbo Duramax-powered ‘55 Chevy truck. Inside and out, the craftmanship on this ride is truly amazing.
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Sponsored by Raybestos, the dyno was one area that was almost always packed with spectators. For a few bucks participants could actually see what they put down on a Superflow dyno, rather than just seat-of-the-pants guessing.
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Dustin Hamm brought his wild Pro Street Camaro for the show n’ shine. Built nearly a decade ago, the ‘67 still has the style and Duramax power to wow the dieselheads.

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Tucker Larrieu had one of the more built GMs in attendance, and the dyno numbers to back it up. He said he was “being conservative” with his Wagler Competition engine and was hoping to make 850 to 900hp on the compound turbo Duramax. One short pull later, and 959 hp was the result.
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In keeping with the Duramax theme, this regular cab rolled the rollers to the tune of 850 horsepower. What makes it even more impressive is that the engine is stock internally other than head studs, and has 384,000 miles on the clock.
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In keeping with the Duramax theme, this regular cab rolled the rollers to the tune of 850 horsepower. What makes it even more impressive is that the engine is stock internally other than head studs, and has 384,000 miles on the clock.
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We’ve been talking up Duramaxes a lot here, but they’re not indestructible. Especially when you’re one of the quickest stock engine LMMs in the country! Brandon Serpa has went 10.29 at 132 mph before this little “mishap” (probably a cracked piston) occurred.
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Pure Addiction Diesel’s Travis Turner pulled off a win in the 6.70 Class with his Cummins powered Ram.
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In addition to the serious racers, there were almost 80 trucks out at the track who were there just for fun. This hard-launching Ram only went 93 mph, but ran a decent 14.64-second E.T.
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We expected the Cummins contingent to hit hard at the drags and we weren’t disappointed. Chad Pickering went all the way to the finals in Pro Street in his triple-turbo Dodge and ran a close 6.13-second E.T. to Rick’s 5.97.
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One of the heaviest of hitters was Rick Fletes and his Duramax-powered Chevelle wheelie machine. The street-driven, street-legal ride was able to crank out low 6s all weekend, culminating in a 5.97 in the finals in the eighth-mile. Seen here warming up the tires in the Banks Power Burnout Box.

Thanks To The Event Sponsors!

Thanks To The Event Sponsors!
We want to give a huge shoutout to all the event sponsors that helped this event happen.

Raybestos Powertrain
Dyno Sponsor

Atturo Tires
Official Tire

Belltech
Awards Sponsor

Banks Power
Burnout Box Sponsor

Pure Addiction Diesel
Performance Dyno Strappers

Black Smoke Mafia
These Guys Helped with EVERYTHING

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