Semi-Truck Drag Racing Is One Of The Wildest Things You'll See Today

There's lots of smoke and spectacle from the big rigs in this video

40:06

Chris Bruce

By: Chris Bruce

Nov 3, 2023 at 2:41pm ET

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There's a wonderfully absurd quality about semi-truck drag racing. Big rigs are supposed to haul heavy loads over long distances on highways. High speed and rapid acceleration are not usually qualities you associate with them. But, not these machines. Tuned engines mean they belch clouds of black smoke while taking on the track.

This video is 40 minutes long and is tightly edited to focus on the runs. We'd suggest scrubbing through it to see the wide variety of trucks on display, but there are a few highlights that are worth seeking out.

The first drag race with semi-trucks pulling trailers happens around eight minutes and 33 seconds. It's an exciting twist on the usual formula. The big rigs haul three bundles of logs that weigh many tons. This run is entertaining because the truck on the left makes so much torque that you can see the hood twist.

There's a similar run at 18:11 where the semi on the left flexes and twists as it leaves the line. Plus, both competitors make quite a bit of black smoke as they cover the distance.

If you want to see some particularly fast runs, go to 21:33 or 35:36 in this video. We don't see the trucks' quarter-mile times, but they look much quicker than the other runs in this clip.

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Another highlight is how these trucks sound. It takes big turbos to provide boost to these rigs. When they are making power, the whistling sound can make them sound like a jet flying down the track.

One of the wildest-looking rigs is at 27:41. It has a big turbo inlet sticking out of the hood and an orange flame paint scheme. There's no missing this machine, especially with the exhaust in front of the passenger side of the windshield. The same truck appears in several portions of this video.