Trucks are traditionally associated with hauling stuff rather than track performance but that wasn’t the case at the 4th Annual LS1 Truck Raceday known as the 2012 Truck Shootout. Held at San Antonio Raceway on February 25th, the shootout brought some seriously powerful trucks and SUVs, as well as some killer track numbers.
While all truck brands were welcome even if they weren’t powered by an LS engine, Chevy was well represented with some of the most powerful setups of the bunch. If you missed the fun, check out these videos that we found on YouTube of some of the day’s Chevy highlights. We’ve got seven of the videos of the days best trucks hitting the track.
The Chevy truck in the first video, above the drop, was built by DB RODS and Nelson Performance. It is powered by a 5.3L engine complete with a 70mm Master Power Turbo. It may look like any normal truck but there is nothing ordinary about a truck pulling low 12-second quarter miles and trap speeds around 119mph.
The C10 in this video may not look like much, but it packs quite the punch. Built by DB RODS, it is powered by an iron 370ci. LSX engine complete with a GT91 turbochargers, and Injection Dynamics ID2000 injectors. The power of the LSX is pushed to the ground using a TH400 transmission. Additional features on this truck are a nine-inch rear end and a custom DB RODS 4-link suspension system. This is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, because there is nothing “beater” about 10.5-second quarter miles.
You have fast and then you have rocket booster fast, and this twin turbocharged Trailblazer SS falls in the latter of the two categories. Also built by DB RODS, this 4,500-pound beast is powered by an aluminum 403ci. engine with ported L92 heads strapped to twin MP76 turbo chargers.
The whole setup is controlled from a manual TH400 transmission. To keep the SUV straight, QA1 coil overs are used all around. Handling is key when you have a Trailblazer that can hit quarter-mile times of 9.9 seconds at 148mph and even be known to do wheelies.
Just when we thought we’d seen the fastest truck around, we came across the video of this little Chevy. Powered by twin 82mm Turbonetics turbo chargers matted to a 427ci. LSX engine, this sick truck can pull a blistering 9.2-second quarter mile at 151mph.
Not to be outdone, this pint-size turbo charged S10 held its own at the shootout among the top runners. Although the truck had a little trouble maintaining his lane on the track, he managed to pull one mighty 8.7-second quarter mile at 160mph.
Although there were plenty of SUVs at the Truck Shootout, this video of a second Chevy Trailblazer caught our eye. While the videos above feature turbo charged trucks and SUVs, this Trailblazer gave superchargers a good name. Complete with a TVS 2300 Supercharger, this Trailblazer pulled mid 10-second quarter miles at the event.
A Texas-size truck shootout wouldn’t be the same without a 6.0 nitrous Chevy truck and this single-cab pickup definitely represented its breed well. Even with a sub-par reaction time, the truck launched to the end of the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds and hit a trap speed of 125mph.
When you think about the average quarter mile time for a truck being optimistically in the 15 to 16-second range at sea level, the trucks and SUVs in the videos above become even more impressive. Not only are some of these vehicles capable of similar quarter mile times of a brand new Corvette ZR1, many of them are passing super car status with their racing abilities. Kind of makes you want to go tinker on that race car you have in your garage that you thought was fast until now, huh?