Short-Course Vs. Desert Truck

Tucked well within the chassis tubing are the powerplants. A Ford engine built by Pro Power motivates Carl's truck and engine displacements range from 380 to 410 cubic inches, depending on class restrictions and truck weight. From this, the team derives over 800 horsepower and 700 lb-ft of torque. The 442 cubic inch Dougan's Chevy motor in Cameron's truck pumps out about 770 horses along with 670 lb-ft of torque. Both trucks use heavily modified GM Turbo 400 trannies and cooling chores are handled by radiators and fans behind the cab of each truck.

Up front, Carl's truck is of minimalist design with only a discrete tube bumper protruding just forward of the fiberglass front clip. Cameron's truck has a more substantial front guard that may be used to encourage slower drivers to speed up or clear the path. KC Hilites HIDs sit in the grille space and above the roof to light up the night when needed.

Since there is only the driver in the short-course truck, the exhaust for the high-horsepower V-8 is run just inside the 'cage on the passenger side, as shown here with the door skin removed. On the Trophy Truck the exhaust ends just past the cab and dumps downward. This works fine except when you pit with the motor running and one of the crew members has to climb under the truck near the dust-stirring exhaust.

Both trucks use large discs on all four corners to slow them down from speed. The 4,200-pound short-course truck uses CNC brakes on Tubeworks hubs and the 5,500-pound Trophy Truck uses Pro Am brakes. Carl spends a lot of time pushing the binders on the closed course so he uses big 14-inch Tubeworks blade rotors, while the desert truck can brake with a bit smaller 13-inch rotors, despite its greater weight.

When the flag drops and these trucks get up to speed, they're moving fast. Carl's truck may see track speeds up to about 105 mph using a 7.0 to 7.6 drive ratio (underdrive and axle gear set). Desert speed for the Trophy gets to about 120 mph while spinning a 5.14:1 ring gear. The short course truck rides on 35-inch General Grabber SCs mounted on 17x9 Renezeder beadlocks. The desert truck runs taller 37-inch Yokohama Geolanders on 17x8.5 KMC beadlocks.

There's only seating for one in the short-course truck and Carl's Cobra seat provides vertical suspension and is designed to hold him tight laterally since he spends a good bit of time sliding hard through tight corners. Inside Cameron's truck is seating for the driver and co-pilot. Mastercraft 3G seats offer substantial suspension comfort and spinal safety when soaking up the big desert whoops.

Here's a quick look into the cockpit of each of the truck. Both have ample instrumentation to monitor the vital signs of the drivetrain, and both have radios to keep in contact with the track or pit crews. In addition, the Trophy Truck is equipped with a pair of GPS navigation units and many of the gauges and switches are placed more towards the navigator's seat.