Not rain, not rain delays, not even a blown high-pressure fuel line and small fire could put a damper on our weekend at the Rocky Top Diesel Shootout. We walked away with a new Pro Street record, made two passes in the 4’s, and got the all-important W.


Not that driver Johnny Gilbert can predict the future, but following his recent, 150-mph trip down the track (along with a slew of 5.0x-second time slips), he knew that the right track conditions could yield both more mph and a trip into the 4’s. He was right. With track temp a favorable 88 degrees on Friday evening—and in knowing we were dealing with a stickier racing surface than usual—a more aggressive tune-up allowed us to take full advantage of the ideal circumstances. After the truck dead-hooked and rocketed out to a 1.25-second 60-foot, we dipped into the 4’s for the first time in our Pro Street truck’s history.

 

Better yet, on that 4.92-second blast, we set a new trap speed record in the Pro Street category: 155.7 mph. It took roughly 2,300 hp to set the class’s new benchmark for speed, but believe it or not we did it with several hundred horsepower to spare. The following day, Johnny found himself in the finals and ultimately took the win with a 4.98-second pass on a more conservative tune. Going forward, we’ll continue our attempt to master the fine balance between power and traction while also pushing the truck deeper into the 4’s. Manipulating the power curve throughout the course of each race is what it’s all about, and we think we’ve got the new single-turbo/nitrous setup figured out.

Make no mistake, if we come across a cool, well-prepped track again, we have some tweaks we believe will get us into the 4.80s. Next stop: Scheid Diesel Extravaganza.