CARL'S 4WD SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN RESULTS -- 6/14/2005

W: Randy Christy, Granite City, IL; 1991 408 S-10, 0.220, 11.785/114.64
RU: Phillip Blackburn, Springfield, IL; 2003 403 Silverado, 0.307, 12.017/112.92

Randy Christy may have driven his 408-cubic inch small block Chevy-powered S-10 pickup to its third straight title in the Carl's 4WD & Performance Super Truck Showdown, but the newest division in Gateway International Raceway's Tuesday program was the crowd-pleaser of the entire event. One solitary vehicle had the fans cheering in disbelief and every time it ran down the quarter-mile, everybody on the property knew they were witnessing something extraordinary. . .even Randy Christy.

That one vehicle was a 6,600-pound black behemoth driven by Springfield, IL, racer Phillip Blackburn. Using a 403-cubic inch DuraMax diesel in a 4WD 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD on stock 31-inch-tall tires, the smog-belching beast pulled to the starting line for its first run at 7:02 PM. In a blast of black smoke, onlookers gaped as the scoreboards rang up a 1.69-second 60-foot ET. GIR's grandstand erupted with cheers when the boards showed the results of the first run: 12.730 seconds at 103.95 miles per hour!

Over the course of qualifying, Blackburn and teammate Nathan Barnett made three more runs. If the first pass wasn't astonishing, the next 12.737/103.89 certainly was. So were the 12.79/103.40 and 12.78/103.67 blasts which followed, but the best was yet to come. When announcer Rich Tivitt informed the crowd that Blackburn and Barnett were "coming back with the juice," nobody left the stands. Inserting two 20-pound nitrous bottles in the diamond-plate tool box behind the cab, Barnett stood back as the black HD again lumbered to the line with no burnout whatsoever and launched. The crowd roared loudest of all when the scoreboard showed a mind-boggling 12.026 at 110.93 mph!

Christy was the quickest qualifier at 11.65/114.45, but even the Granite City local was impressed. "That thing is definitely incredible, isn't it?" said Christy as he stared at the Silverado in front of the grandstands. "That absolutely has to be the quickest diesel of that size in the world!" Indeed, most talk centered on the 11-second diesel pickups which have become popular in outlaw racing, almost all of which are lightweight and use smaller body styles. Blackburn, however, was humble. "We race in the Diesel Hot Rod Association and there are others which are quicker," the Springfield invader noted, "but not many of them are street trucks. We drove this here; it's my plow truck. We plow a lot of snow with this thing." Barnett added, "You can see the plow mounts on the front. It's got a full interior and weighs just over 6,600 pounds with a tank of gas and the nitrous bottle. Huckstorf Diesel out of Franklin, Wisconsin, sponsors us but, other than programming by TTS, we did all the work."

In the final round, Christy grabbed a holeshot and held on for an 11.78/114 win, but the crowd was even more amazed by the 12.017 at 112.92 mph posted in the runner-up effort by Blackburn. "I know not many folks were watching me, but I ran without nitrous tonight and that 11.65 was the best no-juice run it's made," Christy said. "By the way, did I mention this thing's still for sale? $6,000? A bunch of people have called, but nobody has taken it yet. Tens on nitrous...easy!"

The fun wasn't over yet. Blackburn wheeled the monster into the staging lanes after the final round for one more shot at the 11-second zone. With the crowd watching intently the black HD charged to a 1.66-second 60-foot ET and a 12.009 at 112.67 mph! If nothing else, it was definitely a show. Blackburn's performance also warranted its own new SCSS Series Record classification. It's a record not likely to be broken by anybody but Phillip Blackburn.