When the Stars Align

2018 Starlite Diesel Dyno and United Pullers Event
There’s only three or four things that a truck owner can legitimately brag about. Such things include whose truck is fastest, whose truck can pull the farthest, whose truck gets the best fuel mileage, and whose truck produces the most horsepower. The diesel competition circuits all over the country help iron out some of these arguments and guarantee your right to brag to your buddies—assuming your truck has what it takes to win, of course. On June 16, 2018, the Northwest Dyno Circuit, Starlite Diesel, and the United Pullers Association all joined forces and hosted a big dyno and sled pull event in Morgan, Utah, that brought out more than 100 competitors and a big crowd to watch it all go down.

The dyno competition ran all morning long beside the fairgrounds arena, where spectators were able to sit out on the bleachers with a good view of the action while under the shade of the barn roof. Like all NWDC events, the competition is divided based on turbocharger size, with stock GM, Dodge, and Ford classes—obviously for factory turbocharged trucks only. Small Single (under 70mm), Large Single (over 71mm), Small Twin (under 80mm), Large Twin (over 81mm), and Unlimited make up the high-powered modified classes. New for the 2018 Starlite Dyno Competition was a Street Truck Challenge, where competitors who paid the entry fee competed in both the dyno and sled pull to collect points based on their placing in each event. It was winner take all—all the prize money and the bragging rights.

The newest Superflow portable dyno offers great consistency and seemed to be putting out fair numbers for the day, with most everyone who competed going home happy with their numbers. The higher elevation made it a challenge for a few to get turbos to light, but at the end of the day the smiling faces told us it was a successful event. Paul McClure’s lowered LBZ dually made the top Stock GM number on the day at 564 hp. Trevor Lee had the best-running Stock Ford on the day with 703 hp, and Bryon Dodd’s 528 hp was enough for first place in Stock Dodge. The Small Single class is always competitive, seeing just 10 hp divide first and second places, where Court Hales’ 749-hp run landed him the top spot. Tyler Kipp’s 2WD shorty Cummins stole the show for the Big Single class, putting down 1,235 hp and almost 500 hp on second place. The Small Twin class is made up of mostly daily drivers with compound kits used for towing, but Trevor Humphries’ “daily driver” made an impressive 916 hp on fuel only for the winning pass. In the Unlimited class, Tyler Kipp sprayed his 88mm single turbo truck all the way to 2,117 hp for the biggest run of the day.

In the town of Morgan (home to fewer than 5,000 people), the little rodeo arena at the county fairgrounds makes for a short sled pull track, but every seat in the house is full when the first truck makes its run for the open gates at the 250-foot mark. The United Pullers Association has been hosting events here for years and knows just how to set the sled up so these high-horsepower rigs can’t get a big head of steam and end up out in the parking lot. The longest pulls of the night were Trevor Larkin’s Pro Stock truck at 261 feet, where he topped out at almost 25 mph, and the crowd favorite “Barnstormer” diesel tractor, piloted by Chris Taber, which pulled a wheelstand all the way out to 273 feet.

If you ever find yourself in the Morgan area in June, or anywhere the NWDC or United Pullers are hosting an event, do yourself a favor and come out to watch or even compete. Diesel dyno racing and tractor pulling is continuing to grow out West and it’s a great way to spend a weekend with your family or buddies.

DYNO RESULTS (horsepower)

SLED PULL RESULTS (feet)

SOURCES

Starlite Diesel Tuning
StarliteDiesel.com

Northwest Dyno Circuit
NorthwestDynoCircuit.com

United Pullers
UnitedPullers.net

Edge Products
EdgeProducts.com