THE CONTENDER

With a solid platform to race on, it was time to make horsepower. Part of Kenny’s savings effort also involved building the engine he wanted; in this case a high-revving 6.7L-based powerplant with a 5.9L crank, which ended up at

6.5L of displacement. The bottom end is considerably stout, with an Industrial Injection Gorilla Girdle, Carillo rods, Diamond pistons, and ARP 14mm head studs. A Hamilton cam with 207 degrees of duration on the intake and 220 on the exhaust bumps Manton pushrods, which in turn moves the valves on a fire-ringed head from Freedom Racing Engines. Almost every part of the longblock has been changed, from the Banks side-draft intake to the Fluidampr balancer.

Kenny has always favored compound turbos for their high-boost potential, and the setup on his drag truck is no different. The “smaller” of the two chargers is a 76mm S400, while the big honker is a 91mm S500. Both combine to blow through a Banks intercooler and are wastegated at 80psi of boost with a 45mm Turbosmart wastegate. On top of all that air is a progressive Maximizer 5 kit from Nitrous Express, that features a

The huge amount of work that went into the back of the truck is visible through the non-existant bed. Kenny back halfed the entire truck, and created a stout 4-link setup with 0.120-wall links and 7/8-inch heim joints, a center wishbone, and Afco coil-over shocks. The rearend is the factory AAM1150, and has been equipped with 3.73 gears and a spool.

Kenny opened up a huge amount of room in his engine bay by relocating every cooler he could find to the rear of the truck. A custom radiator keeps the truck itself cool, and twin BD Double Stack transmission coolers keep the fluid temps under control no matter how many laps Kenny makes.

Sticky Hoosier DR2 tires rocket the truck down the dragstrip. The 325/40R18 drag radials mounted on Moto Metal wheels are responsible for 60-foot times in the 1.30s, and Kenny runs the tires at an incredibly low 10psi in the rear and 15psi up front.