In a couple of weeks I will be headed down to Charlotte to announce at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals and that got me thinking about one of the most fun days I have ever had, which came a couple years ago the day before the race kicked off. That day I hung out with Eric Yost and his pals, including Ryan Lohr. To say that Ryan knows how to show a gearhead would be an understatement. When he showed me his dad’s old Corbitt racing rig and then invited me to take a ride in the truck featured below I was delighted.

I have ridden in a few fast big rigs while “on the job” for BangShift like the famed “Thump Truck”  but sitting shotgun in this baby was an experience in and unto itself. Why? Mainly because of the giant engine we were literally sitting on top of. This truck is powered by the original race engine that was used in the Corbitt we showed you yesterday (and that you can see at the link above). This is a 903ci Cummins V8 engine that has been hot rodded (mainly in the fuel system) to within an inch of its life. The guys spin it to 3,500 RPM, which may as well be a formula one redline for this engine. With a one inch fuel pump, zero fuel button, and a shimmed governor lots of people would say that these guys are living dangerously, but after my ride I can tell you that it makes insane power.

The 903 Cummins was around for years as a fleet engine for big trucks and they power lots of military stuff like Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other armored machines. Horsepower ranges (stock) were from about 250 for the first naturally aspirated versions up through 350 with turbos and there are military versions rated for 660 and we even read about a 760hp version that was being talked about but we’re not sure ever came to life. Ryan thought that this one was making 700-800 as it was set up. Judging about how had the thing ran, I am not going to argue it. This is a sleeper extrodinare!

Once Ryan had the truck up and rolling and though, fourth gear (or so) he could lay into the throttle and the truck would totally plant your backside in the seat all the way through to the next gear. The most hilarious part is that being a diesel and having the majority of the power on tap at the lower end of the RPM scale, the truck would kind of pull the opposite of a gas engine in the fact that the acceleration would flatten at the top of the gear and then ramp up strongly at the bottom of the next. The 903ci V8 engine was screaming out of a single straight stack, just like in this video and it is a LOUD bastard. Loud in the good sense, though because the mill’s unique sounds were certainly getting the attention of passers by as we terrorized the countryside.

In this video, you’ll hear Ryan or his dad (we can’t see who is driving) wind the motor up, dump the clutch in 7th gear and proceed to cool some tires for about a city block. The one thing I kept thinking as we left that afternoon was, “I NEED one of those!”

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