10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

June 2006 - Performance Zone

A NEW KING IS CROWNED
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

April 22 was another great day at Alban Engines Power Day 2006 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland – the horsepower Capital of the United States of America. That’s right there are more high performance owner operators in the Washington D.C. area than any other part of this great country. Like many of you out there, these guys thrive on getting as much performance out of their semi trucks as possible.

They are all friends who work together, compete against each other and help one another at drag races, dyno events, truck shows, you name it. They never have an unkind word towards one another, they always congratulate the winner and they come from many races and nationalities. But the camaraderie they share with each other is amazing, and what joins them together is their love of diesel engines with high-performance power.

Alban Tractor Co. is the Caterpillar distributor for Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Delaware and West Virginia. Gary Shields, Eric Payne, Steve DeLee, Ted Pepos, Gary Beavers, Dan Loveless, Jimmy Howard, Mike Law and Scott Allen are all employees of Alban Tractor who donated their time to make this event possible. Also, a special thank you goes out to Tony Losiniecki and David Davis who ran the electronics of the Taylor Dynometer.

The very first Alban Engines Power Days was held back in 2002 and the winner of the King of the Hill award went to Mutt Tayman, who put 1,013 horsepower to the ground with his 1979 Pete 359 powered by a twin turbo KTTA Cummins engine. Then in 2003, John Chase put 1,260 horsepower to the ground with a 12.7 liter Detroit 60 Series and his friend Ralph Dineen put 1,220 horsepower to the ground with another 12.7 liter Detroit 60 Series. I know it’s hard to believe that a 12.7 liter Detroit can develop that much power, but these two trucks rattled the building. Yes, the ground was shaking when their trucks were on the dyno! Also that year, Bradley Owens developed 1,069 horsepower with a 550 Cat. Bradley was the first to have an electronic Cat put over 1,000 horses to the ground.

For the last two years (2004 and 2005) there was no event, as Alban Engines was busy building a new facility. To help celebrate the grand opening of their new facility in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the decision was made to bring back the Alban Engines Power Days event. So here are the winners from this year’s event, held April 22, 2006.

John Hamilton from Battle Creek, Michigan put 907 to the ground with a 3406-E Cat in a Freightliner. David Blankenship put 733 horses down with an NTC Cummins Big Cam. The roar of a high-performance Big Cam Cummins is an awesome sound, and being that this is the engine I learned most of my performance techniques on, I had shivers running up my spine when this truck was on the dyno.

But the King of the Hill award went to Shane Sharp of Westminister, Maryland, putting 1,074 horsepower to the ground with a 3406-E Caterpillar engine in a 1997 Peterbilt dump truck. This victory was on his daughter Miranda’s 11th birthday, so they celebrated both events that evening. His dump truck is used in the wintertime to plow snow at a speed of 25 mph for the Maryland Dept. of Transportation. He also hauls sand, gravel and asphalt in the spring, summer and fall seasons. Shane has a twin brother named Heath who drives a 1987 Marmon dump with a high-performance 400 Big Cam Cummins. The name of their company is Sharp Bros. Trucking, and they run six trucks.
The boy’s truck of preference is the Marmon. They currently own two and are in the process of purchasing a third one. Shane and Heath have been riding in a semi truck since they were two years old because their mother drives a Kenworth powered by a Cummins and their father drives a Peterbilt powered by a Caterpillar. All of their childhood lives they knew they wanted to drive, so now its trucks, Harleys and the newest edition to their fleet, a 1993 Silver Eagle Entertainer’s Coach. The Sharp Brothers not only use this coach for personal travel but they also rent it out as a limousine to groups of people that want to travel around without having to worry about the driving. Shane is the driver and Heath is the navigator. Their next “job” will be chauffeuring 18 women to a Kenny Chesney concert. They know it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

To exist today in business, you’ve got to be sharp – and the Sharp Bros. certainly have their act together! I want to mention another set of twin brothers I know with the same last name as the Sharp Brothers. Pete and Pat Sharp both work with me at Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh. Pete is the Vice President and works the truck shows with me and his twin brother Pat is our fuel pump, injector, turbocharger and MVT cam follower technician. So there you have it: two sets of twins with the same last name and they both work in the trucking industry. And both sets of twins honestly do live up to their last name!

Next year the Alban Engines Power Day will be held at their newest facility in Winchester, Virginia. Come out and enjoy the day with us. We need to see some West Coast trucks there! We know you have the chrome, but do you have the power? If you have any questions about high-performance diesel engines, feel free to call me at (724) 274-4080, send me an e-mail to bruce@pittsburghpower.com or visit www.dieselinjection.net. Thanks!