Some think that Meacham Evans is a newcomer to the diesel drag-racing world. In actuality, he has been racing longer than most of us. Up until recently, Meacham had raced bracket classes. He took his ’02 single-cab Dodge Ram where no other racer had ventured before. He had the desire to push the limits, and he did.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Meacham at a recent diesel event, and we discussed the “Frankenstein of the Pro-Street” truck that he built.
1. How did you get your start in the diesel industry?
Meacham: I was in the restaurant business for 22 years. I worked at O’Charley’s, Cracker Barrel, and owned my own place. That was enough. The restaurant business is tough, so when the time came, I got out.
I became a licensed contractor and built one development in Lebanon, Tennessee. That’s when I bought the ’02 Dodge Ram truck that we now race.
My wife and I had a big talk one day. I told her that I just wanted to do something different. So I got a job at the local Dodge dealership as a mechanic for $10 an hour. I had never done mechanic work before. I didn’t even have tools for the job. I took the job to learn all I could about diesel trucks. After working there for almost a year, I decided to open my own place. One of the best technicians at the dealership, Scott West, and I partnered up to start Cedar City Diesel.
2. What information are you willing to give us about one of the most unique race trucks on the diesel circuit?
Meacham: Like I said, it was my daily driver for years. We went all-out on it. It had twins and ran an 11.78 in the quarter with the VP pump. I was tired of running bracket races and decided I wanted to run heads up. I called Van Haisley with Haisley Machine. They built me a full roller motor. The reason I chose Van is because I knew how meticulous he is with the Cummins motor. Van has so much more knowledge about this motor than I did. It seemed like the logical choice for me to let him build the motor. Besides, why try to reinvent the wheel, right? But as it turns out, we did try to reinvent the wheel. We took a 24-valve head and had it remilled to accept John Deere injectors with Komatsu tips. I think the current setup of the injectors is eight holes at 25 thousands (.025-inch). I had concerns with running a P-pump on this truck. With the history P-pumps have with racks hanging, the thought of one hanging at 140 mph scared me to death. After Van and I talked, we decided to run a Sigma pump on the truck. We took the original Sigma pump from the Haisley Machine pulling truck Rock Hard Ram. This motor runs so smooth, I just couldn’t be any happier with this setup.
We made some modifications to the turbochargers recently—we’re trying to push the envelope. I live in Tennessee and so does Keating Shelly (Keating Machine). Keating and I talked about what to do—he had a concern that I couldn’t spool the truck with an automatic transmission. After several hours of discussing what to do, I finally said, “Just do it. The Sun Coast transmission that Scott West built will handle it.” So far it’s handled it great, but then again we haven’t pushed it real hard.
3. What does the future hold for this truck?
Meacham: I don’t think there are any four-wheel-drive trucks that are going to beat Earl Stucky’s 12-valve. There is just too much weight difference. Team Stucky plays by the rules. They are the team to beat.
4. What is the magic mark you’re looking for with this truck?
Meacham: Launching straight, getting a full pass, and not breaking. And I definitely want a nine. Jimmy Smith ran a 9.75—that’s the number to beat with a four-wheel-drive.
5. So we can say a 9.74?
Meacham: 9.7499999 (laughing).