Late July in eastern Tennessee is a great time of year for performance diesel enthusiasts, because that is the time of year for the Rocky Top Diesel Shootout, now in its fifth year. Michael Dalton and his dedicated team of RLC Motorsports employees, friends and volunteers have once again put together a great diesel motorsport event centered on one of the oldest forms of motorsport: drag racing.
On July 27 and 28, 2018, about 6,000 diesel fanatics descended upon Crossville, Tennessee (along I-40 between Nashville and Knoxville) for two days of drag-racing action mixed in with a show-'n-shine, manufacturer's midway vendor displays, motorcycle stunt bike shows and even a concert after the trophies were handed out Saturday night.
Friday's activities got underway around 4 p.m. local time, with test and tune passes for all racers who wanted track time for everything from slow ET bracket-class diesel cars and trucks up to fast pro-class rigs. After the open test and tune sessions, things got more serious, with the Outlaw Diesel Super Series pro classes taking to the track for their first and second rounds of qualifying, in addition to the Quick 8 qualifiers leading into their elimination rounds.
As darkness fell on the warm Tennessee evening, Rawlings Barnes was laying down what was expected to be a great four-second pass in the 2WD Rudy's Diesel Ford Super Duty. However, he lifted a head and got fluid on the rear tires, which sent him into the wall hard on the
passenger side of the truck. Barnes was unharmed, but the truck suffered some major suspension damage to the right front and was loaded on the trailer, done for the weekend.
During a break in the drag-racing action between qualifying and eliminations, Jesse Toler, Tim Diesel (editor’s note: Yes, that is his name) and Dale Kiesgen performed a motorcycle stunt show complete with high-speed wheelies, stoppies, no-hands and countless other death-defying stunts right on the drag strip to the thrill of the crowd. Friday night ended with an all-gasser final round in the Quick 8, where both cars struggled for traction, pedaling the throttle off the line—until the Mustang finally hooked and shot left into the quarter panel of the Nova in the other lane. This sent both cars into a tangled spin. Neither driver was hurt, but the cars were certainly worse for wear.
Saturday brought about a new day of racing and diesel activities with the show-'n-shine competition and a flock of great-looking diesel trucks overflowing the designated area on the far side of the track. Of course, there was a lot more ODSS diesel drag racing on hand as well, with the test and tune passes in the morning and the final round of pro-class qualifying before eliminations got underway. In addition, the motorcycle stunters performed two
shows on Saturday, thrilling the crowds with wild stunts on their two-wheeled machines.
With the dust settled and the racing action finished, the trophies were handed out. The action wrapped up the party that was just getting started as a live band performed well into the night. It entertained all who chose to hang out in the staging lanes in view of the temporary stage that was set up for the show.
As in years past, the crew at RLC Motorsports put on a great event, with great racing action on the drag strip, stunt performances and a live band to help keep the huge crowds of diesel enthusiasts entertained throughout the event.
Check out more of our coverage on the next few pages. If you are in the Crossville, Tennessee, area in July 2019, be sure to come out for RTDS6. You'll be happy you did. We'll see you there.
There's nothing cooler than a diesel BMW doing a burnout and racing down the strip with the rest of the diesel trucks. Trey Sikes entered both the ET bracket class and the 7.70 Index class, making it to the semi-final round in 7.70.
The ET bracket class allows even diesel competition—regardless of vehicle speed, as seen here with this 6.5L diesel Chevy doing battle with a 5.9L Cummins Dodge that runs the eighth-mile nearly 4 seconds quicker.
In a near dead heat, both 7.70 Index class finalists had nearly identical reaction times and ETS. But both broke out, giving the win to Michael Hayes (red Dodge), with his 7.64-second pass—versus Devin Ratliff's quicker, 7.61-second losing pass.
Enrique Gonzales' fire-breathing Duramax-powered Chevy Colorado represented the diesel rigs well in the Quick 8 Shootout Friday night ... but that darned gasser Impala nipped him at the line to advance to the next round.
Cody Mcanally (black Dodge) took the ET final round win at the starting line, cutting a near-perfect 0.0038 light when Ken Phillips red-lit, leaving the line 0.0055 seconds early.
The manufacturer's midway was crowded throughout the weekend with diesel fans checking out the latest and greatest products, along with demo vehicles from some of the top shops and manufacturers in the diesel world.
Rawlings Barnes and his 2WD Ford was doing great and looked to be on pace to run a low-4-second pass. Then, the engine lifted a cylinder head, spraying the rear tires with water and sending the truck into the wall hard. Barnes walked away shaken and sore but unharmed, but the truck suffered extensive front suspension damage from the impact.
… later in the evening, during eliminations, both the Mustang and Nova had to pedal the throttle for traction—with the Mustang coming across the center and clipping the Nova. This sent them both for a wild ride to end the racing action Friday night.
In the early rounds of the Quick 8 Shootout, this gasser Mustang had no problems with traction. But …
Jared Jones took home the Pro Dragster class win in the Scheid Diesel dragster (far lane) with a holeshot victory, getting off the line 0.11 second quicker than Wade Moody. He actually finished the eighth-mile exactly 0.10 second quicker than Jones—who crossed the line first!
The Pro Street final came down to a matchup we have seen frequently over the past couple years—firepunk Diesel's Lavon Miller (near lane) squaring off against Dustin Jackson's 2WD Ford Lightning. Once again, Jackson claimed victory with a 5.09, compared to Miller's 5.22.
Susan Soga (in the black-and-purple '34 Chevy rat rod truck) won the 6.70 Index class final by cutting a great light—taking the win over Zach Pierce and his '03 Ford that made a quicker pass than Susan's Chevy.
In the 5.90 Index class final, Seth Higgens (Kingspeed Dodge) gave the win to Rick Fox (Firepunk Dodge) by red-lighting at the tree. Fox had his truck dialed and would have been hard to beat, no matter what, making a 5.868-second pass (knowing he had already taken the win).
In the Best Other category, there was a plethora of great diesel rigs and conversions. However, Michael Judd's 1949 Diamond T with a Cummins under the clamshell hood stood out among the crowd and earned the trophy.
Derek and Nicole Rose have stepped down into the Firepunk 5.90 class. They have found new joy at the track, finding it is less stressful than the full Pro Street competition. Rose made it to the semi-final round. The Roses bring their new daughter, Jolene, to the track with them to keep smiles on their faces.
Tom West earned the Best of Show honors with his slick 2015 GMC Sierra Denali that he and his daughter enjoy taking to truck shows whenever they can.
Jason Gunn took home the custom-machined Best Dodge award for his ultra-clean, restored 1990 Dodge Ram.
Jason Baggett's high-flying 2017 Ford F-250 won the Best Ford award—thanks, in part, to the cool custom suspension under the big, black Ford.