Diesel drag truck victorious against ‘fastest trucks in the East’

Racing against the “fastest trucks in the East,” Pennsylvania College of Technology’s 1959 B-61 Model Mack drag truck claimed first place in the Diesel Big Rig Bracket 1 division and finished second in the “King of the Hill” grand finale at the Keystone Truckin’ Nationals, held Sept. 21 at Maple Grove Raceway in Berks County.

This is the first No. 1 finish in a sanctioned competition for the college’s Diesel Performance Club and its truck, aptly named “Accelerated Learning.” The Maple Grove event was just the second sanctioned event the club has entered.

“We entered our truck in the Diesel Big Rig Bracket 1 (17.50 seconds and faster), and after hammering through seven rounds of bracket racing with the fastest trucks in the East, we came out No. 1!” enthused Mark E. Sones, faculty adviser for the Diesel Performance Club. “Accelerated Learning put down a new record pass of 13.30 seconds at 106 mph in the quarter mile!”

Their triumph in the fastest semi-truck division placed the Penn College team in the “King of the Hill” event, featuring the winners of each of the five brackets.

“Our driver, TJ Buck, put up a roaring fight against the fastest pickup truck at Maple Grove, finishing only fractions of a second behind him, scoring us second place overall,” said Giovanni A. Barbarossa, president of the Diesel Performance Club. “Who could have ever imagined that a group of college students, none of whom are professional drivers or racers, would keep up with and even dominate the large group of professional racers that night?”

Buck, who serves as the club’s vice president and was driving in his first competition, echoed that sentiment: “We made it all the way to the final race, and you couldn’t ask for a better or closer race. It was close from the beginning to the end, but he was just a better and more experienced driver than me, and that’s OK. None of us ever expected to make it as far as we did. Even people from other teams were impressed by what a bunch of college students could do with our free time.”

In the past three years, the Diesel Performance Club has put its vintage Mack road tractor through its paces and pushed its limits.

“The limitless effort by our students in the past three years has finally made our dream come true,” said Sones, instructor of diesel equipment technology. “After a year and a half of development, test and tune sessions at Numidia Dragway and Beaver Springs Dragway, dyno pulls, and hundreds of hours spent this summer, we finally made it! We truly have made it to the big leagues!”

Opened in 1962, the storied Maple Grove Raceway features National Hot Rod Association drag racing, as well as other types of racing and automotive-oriented events.

Sones says it was at another famous raceway where the inspiration arrived for Accelerated Learning, which has served as a rolling lab for Penn College’s diesel technology students for 26 years. The instructor was recruiting for the college’s diesel and heavy construction equipment technology majors at the Cummins Diesel Nationals at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey.

“One can only imagine the history, stories and the hundreds of students who have had a hand in what has become our ‘Penn College Proud’ promotional truck,” Sones said.

Barbarossa, of Bridgeville, a building automation engineering technology student and graduate of electric power generation technology: diesel emphasis, added: “After more than 25 years of highs and lows in the club’s history, the ambition from the three previous academic years has propelled the truck and its success to the stage that everyone watches. Decades of students, with honorable alumni including Mike Sormilic, Jake Spinosa and Jake Beatty, are the reason for the truck’s success, building the platform for TJ Buck to run its fastest pass.”

Buck, who hails from Warminster and is enrolled in diesel technology and heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis, said he couldn’t have achieved success without the crew.

“It is a great honor to be able to race the drag truck down the strip, but at the end of the day, I am still a small piece of the puzzle for what it takes to race the truck,” Buck shared. “If you want to be the fastest and most consistent team, and win, you need the best pit crew and crew chiefs. That’s what I was given. Without the pit crew, I would have never been able to win our bracket and take home second place overall. It was truly a team effort from all the support I was given.

“It all starts after class in Mr. Sones’ lab, where countless students work to prepare and improve the truck every day. Without that motivation, we wouldn’t be racing. We are also blessed with an excellent administration that allows us to go racing, and most of that is thanks to our assistant dean, Mr. Beishline (Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of diesel technology and natural resources), who allows us use of the lowboy and college trucks to transport our truck and equipment all over. I am very thankful for all of the club members who show up and support what we do. I’m also thankful for my friends and parents for all the support they give me to be able to drive the drag truck at over 100 mph.”

Barbarossa reiterated the praise for “our wonderful administration helping us plan and participate in events, our advisers guiding us all along the way, the students supporting and taking pride in our cause, and our sponsors promoting and fueling our drive for success.”

“I firmly believe that Pennsylvania College of Technology has not only made a name for itself, but it has set a reputation of not to be challenged or underestimated by any means,” Barbarossa added. “The Penn College Diesel Performance Club plans to not break its momentum and keep up the competition on the drag strip.”

The next event for Accelerated Learning and its crew will be on Sunday, Oct. 20 at the October Truck Fest at Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey.

For more information on diesel truck, heavy equipment and power generation degrees and other majors offered by Penn College’s School of Engineering Technologies, call 570-327-4520.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free at 800-367-9222.