A team of Valvoline employees is in the process of readying a pair of classic Dodge Ram trucks for the 49th running of the SCORE Baja 1000 this fall. The Cummins turbodiesel street-legal pickups will be piloted by Formula Drift stars Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck. The builds celebrate the Lexington, Ky.-based company’s 150th year in business—as the company readies for an initial stock offering later this year. This is Valvoline’s first foray into SCORE as a team owner.
Valvoline estimates that 30 to 40 employees will be involved. Many are working during nights and weekends on the project. We were among a small group of media that witnessed the first truck’s build in process last week.
“We wanted to partner with Cummins, because we partner with them on so many things,” said Michael Wedding, a Valvoline application engineer. “We looked to see what classes could run a turbo-diesel. There are really only two.” Valvoline chose the Stock Full class because it’s popular among owners of modified turbo-diesel pickup trucks. According to the company, those owners are especially enthusiastic about its line of Premium Blue products.
The team looked at a range of different models and years, including the new Cummins-powered Nissan Titan, before deciding on the vintage Rams.
Valvoline is also partnering with BILSTEIN and ATS Diesel Performance on the project. The trucks are based on 1991 Dodge Ram 150 Pickups, with the original frame and leaf spring suspension. The drivetrain was updated with a 2002-2003 era components—most prominently the Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel engine. The suspension will use BILSTEIN shock absorbers to tackle the notoriously tough Baja terrain and ATS components to coax more power out of the Cummins engines.
While he’s never entered an off-road competition, Forsberg dreamed of driving Baja for years, but lacked the necessary resources to make it happen. “Valvoline completely surprised us with the offer and we’re very happy to jump on board,” said Forsberg. “Ryan Tuerck and I have been racing together and doing fun things for the past 10 years. To have a new adventure, going to the Baja 1000 with Valvoline, couldn’t be better.”
Ryan Tuerck was a motocross racer prior to his drift career, but has no experience in 4x4 truck racing. “We saw the truck build for the first time yesterday,” said Tuerck. “It was wild. We had a million questions.”
Forsberg entered Formula Drift in 2004, and won the series Championship in 2009 and 2014, piloting a Nissan 350Z. Tuerck has competed in Formula Drift since 2007, and most recently finished fourth in the standings in 2015, behind the wheel of a Scion FR-S. In addition to Formula Drift, Forsberg and Tuerck co-star in the popular YouTube Series, Drift Garage.
The company will release a digital series this fall, with all the details about the new project.
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