THE 2018 SMOKIN’ UP THE VALLEY CHARITY EVENT RAISES FUNDS AND ENTERTAINS
THE 2018 SMOKIN’ UP THE VALLEY CHARITY EVENT RAISES FUNDS AND ENTERTAINS.
For over a decade, Josh Watson and his Diesel Den crew and helpful volunteers have worked hard to put kids first in their annual Smokin’ Up The Valley diesel event.
With days of heavy downpour across the Sweetwater, Tennessee, area preceding the event on September 29, 2018, the crew faced adversity from the start. However, with the goal of donating their proceeds to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital charity, they were not about to give up. Although the previous days of rain brought the attendance down a bit and didn’t do any favors for the dirt circle track, Watson and crew worked hard to put on a great show to reward their supporters and provide as much backing as possible to the children’s fund.
Despite the slower start, the Revolution Autoworks Dyno crew drove in from Kansas to start bright and early pulling trucks across their rollers. More than 20 trucks hit the dyno, but the overwhelming highlight of the event was Dylan Johnson’s 1985 Toyota SR5 that churned out a whopping 79 hp (okay, that might have been a stretch of the hype, but it did feel as if it had to be mentioned).
The attention-getters were the only two trucks that broke the 1,000 hp barrier, with Norma Hall’s 2009 Dodge Ram at 1,271 hp being topped only by David Petrick, whose 2007 Ram pushed 1,400 hp and 1,754 pound-feet of torque.
The show-’n-shine has always been a staple of the Smokin’ Up The Valley event, and despite some of the usual suspects seeming to be nervous about getting some mud on their tires, the 2018 lineup still featured some standout machines. Norma Hall brought along another truck, in addition to the high-horsepower Dodge mentioned earlier; her 2017 Ford F-350 is more of a show truck than an hp monster, and she took home the Best Ford Show-’n-shine award with it. The judges remarked that they wished there had been more Chevys entered to give Josh Howard someone to beat with his eye-catching Silverado 2500, but because he was the only GM, he obviously took home the trophy.
Someone familiar with show-’n-shine trophies is Jason Gunn, whose stunning, restored, red-and-silver 1990 Dodge D-250 again brought him the Best Dodge category victory.
Dealing with saturated and slick clay in the flat of a circle track didn’t stop the Diesel Den crew from setting up a dirt drag competition to entertain the loyal fans who began crowding in that Saturday afternoon. Throwing out an open challenge to anyone wanting to have some fun running the track brought down over a dozen trucks and even some side-by-sides that were ready and willing to put on a show. The trucks were broken into manual and
automatic classes, with the side-by-sides set to run separately. The auto class came down to Corbin Hall in his 2006 Dodge 2500 versus Adam Doan’s 2000 Ford F-250. Hall was able to take advantage of Doan’s loss of traction to take the win. Cody Arnold and his ’96 Dodge 3500 went up against a Dodge 2500 driven by Mark Longworth for the manual class final, for which Longworth came away with the win.
As always, the outlaw sled pull was set to be the headliner of the event as the stands began to fill and the sun started creeping toward the western horizon. The slick clay and “slight” curve of the roughed-in track didn’t stop the heartiest of pullers, who came to compete and also do their part in supporting the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Watson and company opted for seven classes that gave practically anyone who wanted to hook a chance to be a part of the action, as well as give the crowd a good show.
First up were Street Gas and Hot Street, where Benny Pryor Sr. pulled his Dodge just over a foot farther than Scott Jones to win the Street Gas category, while Brian Staudifer’s Ford topped out the Hot Street class of two trucks. Earl Dingus won the 6,500 pounds Tractor class, and Jerry Steadman took home the 10,500-pound Tractor win.
In the Street Diesel class, Paula Boring was the only competitor to break the 300-foot mark—as well as the unique status of being the only puller to hold both first and last place in one class— when she nabbed the top spot in her GMC and her Dodge ended up in last place.
In the 2.5 Diesel class, Danny Swafford, with his Lead Foot Diesel Performance Ford, put more than 10 feet between his truck and the second-place competition to secure his victory. But Logan Shepherd and his Double Dealer Dodge pulled out an even bigger gap between himself and the pack with more than 30 feet between himself and second place in the Open Outlaw class.
Despite the hard-hitting storm just before the event, Watson and his loyal group of volunteers all pitched in to make the best of things, enabling them to donate about $25,000 to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and also put on a great show for about 3,500 fans.
Championing a great cause, as well as keeping a family-friendly, laid-back, run-what-you-brung style makes Smokin’ Up The Valley a must-attend event if you are in the east Tennessee region. Hopefully, we’ll see you there next year!