BLACKOUT IN THE COUNTRY XVI

Beans Diesel Performance Tennessee Event

If you are looking for a fun filled day of virtually everything diesel performance the crew at Beans Diesel Performance/Bean Machine has you covered with their annual “Blackout in the Country” event hosted at the Woodbury, Tennessee shop about an hour from Nashville. The event, now in its 16th year keeps growing and is now one of if not the largest events in Cannon County with gearheads and diesel enthusiasts of all ages and walks of life showing up to spectate or even participate in the day of diesel festivities. The gates opened at 8:00 am but we were told that lines were down the road out to the main highway by 6:30 or 7:00 am and by 9:30 am the lines to get in stretched for a quarter mile or more in each direction on the main highway proving that the Blackout in the Country is a diesel happening worth attending if you are in or want to be in Tennessee.

With the dyno rollers spinning and the burnout pad open from early in the morning along with the show-n-shine competition and vendor alley there is something for everyone to see and experience. Then the multi-use dirt track that Ryan Bean and his team built hosts both dirt drag racing and sled pulls starting in the afternoon with the drags then transforming for pulling action into the evening. Non-stop diesel action was on tap for the 4,000 plus spectators that attended this year’s event.

After heavy rain the night before the event some of the parking areas and the gravel driveway were pretty muddy but that did not stop the diesel fun even when the burnout pad took on a lot of mud dropped off truck tires as they made parade laps around the building with bigger and bigger burnouts each time. More than one truck literally blew out the rear tires while sending plumes of tire and diesel smoke high into the air. There were even some gassers that got in on the fun including a salvaged late ‘80s or early ‘90s Mercedes and the crowd favorite Nissan pickup piloted by Michael Anderson that blew out multiple tires throughout the day.

The show of force on the Dynocom Racing chassis dyno was quite impressive with eight trucks breaking the 1,000 horsepower barrier including the nearly 1,700 horsepower dyno pull of Kendrick Byler and his 2013 Ram 2500 toward the end of the night that topped them all. Of the 62 trucks that spun the dyno rollers throughout the day only 18 failed to deliver more than 500 horsepower with Brandon Holden and his 2010 Ford F-150 heading up the tail of the field with a 287 hp dyno pull from the 1/2 -ton gasser pickup. Dodge/Ram trucks posted the top four dyno runs of the day with Travis Peden’s 2003 Chevy 2500 taking the fifth spot with a 1,400 hp dyno pull as the highest power GM truck. The Blue Oval gang did not represent themselves very well on the dyno with the top Ford placing 28th with just under 600 hp from Isaac’s 1997 F-350. Hopefully the Ford guys will step up next year and put some trucks into the top 10.

While trucks took turns spinning the dyno rollers and burning rubber on the burnout pad throughout the day spectators were also able to walk through the vendor midway to see the latest and greatest products in the diesel world on display and talk to various representatives about how they can upgrade their rigs. There were also several food vendors on hand with many regional specialties including plenty of Tennessee-style BBQ dishes. The show-n-shine competition was located nearby where many diesel enthusiasts were able to check out some of the coolest and most unique diesel rigs in the region with custom machined awards being handed out for Most Unique to James Brugmann for his 1947 White W923 cab-over-engine flat bed. Joseph Pitts was awarded the Best Engine award for his 2015 GMC Sierra Denali 2500 HD while Best Paint went to Tyler Jeffers for his 1987 Chevrolet K-10 and Best Interior was awarded to the unknown owner of a great looking second generation Dodge Cummins truck. The Best Overall show winner was Tyler Williams and his ruby red lifted 2018 Ford F-450 that is a real head turner.

As if this much diesel activity was not enough, the diesel performance overload continued with dirt drag racing put on by the team at KOI Drag Racing who brought out their portable timing system and lights to mimic a traditional dragstip on the dirt track at the Beans Diesel Performance/Bean Machine campus across the driveway from the shop and dyno. The dirt drags featured four classes of racing action with a combined 4WD Manual transmission and 2WD truck class as well as a Work Stock class, Hot Street class and Modified class. When the racing dust settled at around 4:00 PM Josh Key won the 4WD Manual/2WD class, while James Judd won both the Work Stock and Hot Street classes and Wes Cavinder won the Modified class.

After the dirt drags were finished the action pivoted to the other end of the dirt track where the sled pulling action would take place. With the timing and staging lights removed and the track surface reworked the trucks went to work trying to drag the Southern Express Pulling sled down the track starting just after sunset. A field of 23 competitors hooked giving diesel fans a healthy dose of pulling action without running into the late-night hours. Pulling action took place in five classes and even included a Hot Rod Tractor class with two competitors so fans could get a gasser tractor feel to go with all the diesel truck activity.

Josh Hodges delivered the longest pull of the night taking home the Work Stock class win by dragging the sled nearly 370-feet at 32 mph. The slowest hook of the night went to Benjamin Eby in his AM General 6X6 truck that pulled the sled over 314-feet at the pace of a brisk walk in the Run What Ya Brung/Open Class as the class’s only competitor. Other winners on the night were Louie Saltsman in the 3.0 Class, Alan Harrell in the Hot Rod Tractor class and Josh Hodges doubling up by taking the win in the 2.5/2.6 class to go with his Work Stock win.

If you are looking for a packed day of diesel fun of nearly all forms, there may be no better event to attend than the Beans Diesel Performance/Bean Machine Blackout in the Country event. They certainly cram a ton of diesel performance into a small spot making for a great day of diesel adventure for spectators, competitors and diesel enthusiasts from far and wide. Be sure to follow the Beans social media channels for information on the 2022 event, it promises to please as much as the sixteen previous events, we’ll look for you there!

DIRT DRAG RESULTS:

SLED PULL RESULTS:

DYNO RESULTS:

* Go to the Bean Machine/Beans Diesel Performance Facebook page for full results.

SOURCE

Beans Diesel Performance/Bean Machine

615.563.7800
www.bdpshop.com