WHAT A DRAG!
2017 TS PERFORMANCE OUTLAW DRAG RACE
In performance diesel motorsports, two simple letters generate awe, excitement and high expectations. Those letters are T and S, which have been synonymous with one of the best annual diesel events of the last decade: the TS Performance Outlaw event. After suffering through rain storms the past couple years that curtailed, delayed or rained-out the sled pulls, event promoters Dennis and Sheila Perry decided to focus on drag racing for 2017. Around 5,500 diesel enthusiasts descended upon Beech Bend Raceway Park Friday and Saturday June 2 and 3, 2017, to check out two days of diesel action on and off the track.
Of course, the six classes of ODSS drag racing on the Beech Bend dragstrip was the headlining event, but the TS Performance crew had more to offer diesel enthusiasts, including a large manufacturer’s midway where top manufacturers, distributors and shops displayed their latest and greatest diesel performance parts. The DP-Tuner mobile chassis dyno crew was also on hand for enthusiasts who were brave enough to put their trucks to the test on the rollers. Both gas and diesel-fueled truck enthusiasts were able to enter the All Truck show-n-shine as well as the All Truck Shootout.
In the All Truck Shootout, trucks would be challenged in three events including a 1/8-mile speed/stop challenge, 1/4-mile drag race, and show-n-shine judging. As it was the newest competition at the TS event, there were only a handful of entries vying for the win with the diesel-powered GMC 2500 HD of Allen Fowler taking the overall win by dominating all three aspects of the competition, finishing with the quickest 1/4-mile time and 1/8-mile speed/stop time as well as the show-n-shine for a clean sweep.
The show-n-shine competition was held on the grounds near the drag race pits. It was easy for spectators to walk through the large gathering of gas and dieselpowered show trucks, with amazing examples on hand. Awards were handed out for Best of Show, as well as Best Dodge, Ford and GM and Best Suspension, Paint, Engine and Interior for both gas and diesel trucks. Wade Flannery took home the Best of Show award in the diesel category while Eric Johnson won in the gas class.
Friday’s drag racing action consisted of qualifying for the ODSS pro classes along with qualifying and eliminations for the ET Bracket, 7.70 Index and 6.70 Index classes. All classes except for the Pro Dragster class competed in 1/8-miles runs while the dragsters were able to run the full 1/4-mile track. Saturday’s racing featured more qualifying/test-and-tune passes in the morning with eliminations in the afternoon for all six of the ODSS classes including the ET Bracket, 7.70 Index, 6.70 Index, Pro Street, Pro Mod and Pro Dragster classes.
In the classes that ran both days Eugene Ogle was the weekend hero for sure, dominating the dragstrip by taking home wins in three of the four classes he entered. Ogle won Friday’s 7.70 Index class along with Saturday’s ET Bracket and 7.70 Index classes to nearly sweep the weekend. The only other driver to even make two final rounds was Banean Woosley, who took home the 6.70 Index class win Friday and finished runner-up to Austin Doidge on Saturday. Kevin Meredith won the ET Bracket class on Friday in a Chevy Cruze Diesel to round out the winners in the bracket and index classes.
Saturday’s Pro Dragster final round looked to be a good race, pitting the two fastest diesel dragsters in a head-to-head battle for supremacy with Wade Moody’s Duramax-powered dragster, with its new turbo setup, against Jared Jones and the Scheid Diesel Cummins-powered dragster. As the lights fl ashed yellow, Moody jumped a little early and handed the win to Jones, but both drivers stayed in the throttle to complete their runs. Moody crossed the finish line in 6.878 seconds at 199 mph while just behind him the billet engine block in Jones’ dragster came apart, blowing the head, deckplate, cylinder liners and turbos off the top of the block and leaving the assembly dragging alongside the dragster by the fuel lines. Fortunately, Jones and Moody both escaped unharmed but it did slow track activities for some time while the track crew cleaned and prepped the track for the rest of the runs.
During the cleanup, the TS Fuel Girls threw T-shirts and other swag out to the crowd and the infamous TS Performance Bikini Contest took place. Once the track was cleaned up, the remaining final rounds were run. Lavon Miller took home the Pro Street win after Dustin Jackson tripped the red light by starting a little too early. Ryan Milliken took advantage of Michael Dalton’s slow reaction at the lights to take home the Pro Mod win despite pedaling through a slower pass than Dalton, who ran a lower ET in the loss.
After the official racing was completed, Milliken accepted a big money call-out from Bobby Ducote of Street Outlaws New Orleans fame to race any diesel for more than $5,000. With a ton of cash on the line, Milliken knocked the tires off and pedaled his Cummins-powered Nova to the finish line behind Ducote’s new Mustang. But something tells us we have not seen the end of this budding small-tire rivalry, and we expect to see Milliken’s Nova get the best of the gasser in the not-too-distant future.
If you weren’t able to attend, you can check out the event highlights here on these pages. Plans for the 2018 TS Performance Outlaw Diesel Drag Race are already underway, so start planning now so that you can attend and/or compete. We hope to see you there. DW
SOURCES
BEECH BEND RACEWAY PARK
270.781.7634
BeechBend.com
DP-TUNER MOBILE DYNO
828.221.0076
DP-Tuner.com
OUTLAW DIESEL SUPER SERIES
OutlawDieselSS.com
TS PERFORMANCE
270.746.9999
TSPerformance.com
