THE GREATEST SHOW IN DIESEL

SCHEID DIESEL’S 2017 EXTRAVAGANZA

People ask: what’s it like at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza? Every year, it gets harder and harder to answer that question in a way that encompasses the experience in Terre Haute, Indiana. An estimated 15,000 participants and spectators attend SDX every year, and this year’s competition was fiercer than ever. Scheid’s Extravaganza kicked off on Friday, August 25th, with the Purdue Diesel Club’s Show N’ Shine, a manufacturer’s midway, and dyno competition. Sled pulling got started at 11 a.m., where a number of pullers would try and qualify for the PPL’s big show later that night. On the dyno, the rollers were spinning throughout the entire day, where a number of street trucks surprised us with four-digit power numbers.

Sled Pulls

There are a few big differences that happened with the sled pulling competition in recent years, the main changes being the morphing of the 2.6 and 3.0 turbo classes into 3.0 and 3.6 smooth-bore turbo classes. Open driveline rules (Rockwell and SQHD axles) were also allowed, which kept breakage to just a handful of trucks. While common-rail powerplants have done well in the past, updates to 12-valve technology have boosted mechanical trucks back to the top, as all of the winners were mechanically injected. The classes at Scheid are as diverse as they can be in diesel competition. In addition to the 3.0/3.6 trucks, there were Super Farm tractors, Hot Rod Semis, and the top dogs of the diesel truck pulling world–Super Stock diesels. Both nights also saw exhibition runs by the impossibly loud Wagler Performance two-wheel drive Super Modified truck. “That thing ain’t no diesel,” was a common sentiment, but it is–albeit with a big screw blower in place of normal turbochargers.

DW-1801-SDX-002 — A vendor’s row is also a big part of the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, as Scheid had their own P-pump swap kit for those who get tired of replacing the VP44 injection pump on their Cummins engines.

The Pro Pulling League’s classes started on Friday night, where the best of the best would battle to see who could come out on top. In the Diamond Eye Limited Pro Stock Diesel 3.0 Class it was Rob Wright in All Attitude, who’s won either Friday or Saturday night for the last five years in a row! After qualifying during the afternoon pulls, Eric Widman’s Big Red came in Second, with Josh Land’s The Crippler finishing third. Saturday would see Rob Wright (surprise!) winning again, followed by Adam White in the O’Bryant Diesel entry, followed by Mac Cottrell in Cantankerous.

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DW-1801-SDX-003 — Haisley Machine fields or sponsors a number of pulling trucks in the 3.0,3.6, and Super Stock classes. They had one of their 3,300-horsepower Super B engines on hand, so that onlookers could see just what powers the top-class pullers.

In the Diamond Pistons Pro Stock Diesel Truck (3.6) class, Friday night had Jacob Bair putting it on the whole field with a 311.51-foot pull, which meant he was handily ahead of Jared Cox in Boosted Outlaw, and Jim Greenway in the FASS Ballie Diesel truck, which both pulled 302 feet and some change. On Saturday Jared would get revenge, beating the Chapter 11 entry of Norman Newswanger and the Scheid diesel truck driven by Brad Ingram, with a 318.32-foot effort. In the top truck class, the ARP Super Stock Diesel class, competition was fierce, as 16 trucks made the call to compete. On Friday, Scheid Diesel’s Kent Crowder was the spoiler by winning their own event with a killer 338.32-foot pull, followed by Cody Hastings in Against the Grain, and Shane Kellogg driving Trump, respectively. The story was different on Saturday Night however, as the field flipped, and Van Haisley in Rock Hard Ram and Josh Deeter in Up in Smoke would go into a pull-off. After the dust settled, it was Josh on top, with a 325.78-foot pull, beating out Van’s 317.15-foot run.

DW-1801-SDX-004 — Looking for an education in diesel? Vincennes University has a Diesel Technology program that can lead directly into a job for graduates.

The pulling spectacle at Scheid’s includes everything diesel, and in addition to the trucks, there were a number of tractor classes in action, as well as the wild Mac Trailer’s Hot Rod Semis. The big semis saw a two-night winner, as Casey Smith in Macksimus Prime II took the win both nights. He was followed by Ryan Debroux’s Playin With Fire and W.T. Miller’s Bad Addiction the first night, followed by Bad Attitude and Magnum Force the following night. In the tractor classes, Super Farm had a wild six-tractor pull-off, that ended up with Ryan Anderson in Checkin’ Out on top, followed by Don Slama in Fast & Furious and Jason Viney in All Cranked Up. The Protect the Harvest Pro Stock tractors saw Brad Moss in the TS Performance Young Buck take the win with a wild 341-foot pull, followed by the ever dangerous Greenline Express driven by Ross Boersen, and Nasty Stuff piloted by Nick McCormick. Saturday night was an all Boyd and John Deere affair, as the Green Streak X and Green Streak driven by Mike and Andrew Boyd went 1-2, followed by Dustin Hart in the Beyond Limits tractor.

ODSS Drag Racing

Saturday and Sunday saw drag racing at Crossroads Dragway, where the Outlaw Diesel Super Series (ODSS) was in full swing with bracket, index, and heads-up classes. At the drags, there was everything from bone stock trucks running 12-second eighth miles, to the 2,500 hp Scheid dragster, which slipped and slid down the track to an astounding 4.43 at 167 mph. RLC Motorsports also brought a rail of their own, and there were two diesel-motivated Nova’s and a number of other Pro Street trucks on hand that rocketed down into the 5-and-6-second eighth-mile zone. The E.T. Bracket and Big Rig classes saw double winners, as J. Graves took Big Rig and Joey Moore took the Jamo E.T. Bracket on both Saturday and Sunday.

DW-1801-SDX-005 — The Show n’ Shine presented by Purdue Diesel saw dozens of trucks on hand, many of which were downright classics, like the ultra-clean OBS Ford.

The quicker index classes got a start on Saturday, with K.Frey taking an impressive 7.701 win on a 7.70 dialin, while in the 6.70 class, S.Higgins took the victory with a 6.88. Sunday would see the addition of Pro Dragster, Pro Stock, and Pro Street classes, which were won by Jared Jones, Ryan Milliken, and Dustin Jackson, respectively. The competition in 6.70 and 7.70 was fierce again on Sunday, as Larson Miller would take the victory in 7.70, with R.Newbury taking the victory in 6.70 with a close 6.90 to 6.94 victory (with identical 0.16 lights) over Rick Fox.

DW-1801-SDX-006 — Fords and Dodges seemed to dominate the show section, and then there were some that were both–like this compound turbo Cummins-powered Excursion.

DW-1801-SDX-007 — This beautifully done Ram looks like a show truck, and it is, but its also a very capable off road race rig. Nice to see an extremely well built show piece that actually gets used.

DW-1801-SDX-008 — Plowboy Diesel had their ‘70 Dodge powered by twin Cummins engines on hand for the second year in a row, and this time it was running! The innovative ride had twin radiators in the bed, and a massive single front intercooler for both engines.

DW-1801-SDX-009 — VP racing just released a new diesel racing fuel, and what better place to promote it than SDX 2017?

DW-1801-SDX-010 — Suncoast Diesel was another vendor with a bunch of new innovative parts, that can take Dodgebased 47 and 48 four-speed transmissions to virtually any power level.

DW-1801-SDX-011 — One of the biggest draws of the pulls was Wagler Competition Products’ blown 2wd puller, which was designed to run heads up against the alcohol Super Modifieds. The nitrous-huffing and ear-splitting V-8 pulled out to the 300-foot mark on Saturday night, proving they might be on to something.

DW-1801-SDX-012 — Josh Land was one of the 3.0 pullers that made a good showing in Limited Pro Stock, as The Crippler finished in Third Place on Friday night.

DW-1801-SDX-014 — CW Cartmell’s Most Hated is normally right towards the top, but struggled this year with a best of 9th, proving just how strong the pulling field is at Scheid’s.

DW-1801-SDX-016 — The 3.6 puller Boosted Outlaw had one of the most unique engine combinations we’ve seen, as the Cummins was put at approximately a 30-degree tilt to clear the hoodline. It must not hurt, as driver Jared Cox took the win on Saturday.

DW-1801-SDX-015 — The Haisley Machine entry driven by Jacob Bair put on a show on Friday night, putting a huge amount of space between him and second place with a 311-foot pull in the Diamond Pistons Pro Stock class.

DW-1801-SDX-013 — We didn’t see too many common-rail trucks in the finals of the PPL pulls, but Tony Burkhard was one Duramax who made it, finishing a best of 10th in the Saturday night pulls.

DW-1801-SDX-022 — The normally 3.6 Grin-N-Bair-It truck jumped up a class and is now a Super Stocker, despite having portions of its factory frame intact!

DW-1801-SDX-021 — In a World where wraps are becoming more and more popular, real paint is still the rule among many sled pullers. Cody Hasting’s beautiful Against the Grain Super Stock pulling truck has some of the most amazing artwork we’ve seen, and it runs pretty good too–finishing Second on Friday night.

DW-1801-SDX-017 — One of the most competitive tractor classes is the Protect the Harvest Pro Stock class, which was won on Friday by the always-competitive TS Performance Young Buck John Deere, driven by Brad Moss.

DW-1801-SDX-018 — We got a sneak peek under the hood of one of the Hot Rod Semi’s while we were in the pits, and boy are they from a different World. How about four turbos (one set of compounds per side) on this highly modded V-8?

DW-1801-SDX-019 — W.T. Miller’s Bad Attitude Hot Rod Semi finished well, with a second-place finish on Saturday.

DW-1801-SDX-020 — The Macksimus Prime pulling team brought two trucks to Scheid’s, and garnered a win with Macksimus Prime II on both nights.

DW-1801-SDX-023 — Josh Deeter had to work hard for his win on Saturday, as he had to make a second pass in the pull-off with Van Haisley before being declared the victor.

DW-1801-SDX-028 — Dustin Jackson’s Lightning weighed in at 4,520 pounds, just 20 over the class minimum. The tripleturbo Cummins-powered ride won Pro Street with a 5.27-second elapsed time.

DW-1801-SDX-024 — It wasn’t all just mechanical trucks in the Super Stock class, Kyle Michael’s Duramax-powered Climax took fourth place on Saturday night.

DW-1801-SDX-026 — The ODSS has two index classes, 6.70 and 7.70 brackets where competitors would run as close to their index without going under. Many trucks like this impressively fast GM double-classed, giving the driver double the chance of winning.

DW-1801-SDX-025 — The Outlaw Diesel Super Series was on hand with plenty of dragstrip action including cars, trucks, and even dragsters! RLC Motorsports brought out a brand-new Duramax digger, and made some licensing passes in the low 5-second range.

DW-1801-SDX-029 — Lavon Miller had the low E.T. during Pro Street qualifying at 5.11 in his killer 4,500-pound 4×4, but would fall in the finals to Dustin Jackson.

DW-1801-SDX-030 — The Pro Stock class was a shootout between two Novas, the Cummins-powered ride of Ryan Milliken, and the early shoebox of J. Richards. Milliken took the win on a slick track, with a 5.97-second run.

DW-1801-SDX-031 — The Scheid Diesel dragster was by far the quickest and fastest vehicle on the property. It still holds the record for the quickest diesel eighth-mile (4.10) and quarter-mile (6.32) elapsed times.

DW-1801-SDX-032 — Joey Moore took the win on both Saturday and Sunday in the Jamo Exhaust-sponsored E.T. Bracket class. On Saturday, he ran a crazy 10.02 on a 10.01 dial-in, with a 0.02 light!

After three days of action and 15 miles of walking, we were still left with the herculean task of summing up an event like this. Why come to Scheid’s? Because there’s more power in one place than you’ll see anywhere else. The show trucks are more creative, the drag vehicles are faster, and the crowds are bigger. Scheid’s isn’t just an event, it’s an extravaganza, and one you’ll remember for a long, long time.