Just a few short weeks ago, the nose of Michael Cordova’s rail was steam-rolled by a pickup truck in the staging lanes, causing major front-end damage. The wheels, A-arms, tie rods, steering box, and carbon fiber nose were completely destroyed, with the final Outlaw Diesel Super Series race mere weeks away. Many would have thrown in the towel, but Cordova, aka The Ninja, used speed, stealth and indomitable spirit to push forward against all odds. Since creatures of the night do not sleep, Cordova was able to get the car patched up in time for the season finale at Wagler Motorsports Park.
It was a tough two rounds of qualifying for the team on Friday. An aborted pass in Q1 and a low-pressure fuel leak in Q2 left the Cordova Clan with one more shot at qualifying on Saturday. Fortunately, they hit the mark with a 3.95-second, eighth-mile pass that put them right to the top and earned a buy for first round of eliminations. Being a solo run, the stars were aligned for a record pass, so S&S MoTeC specialist, Andre Dusek, loaded up the spicy tune for E1. Short on mercy and full of power, Michael “The Ninja” Cordova slayed the outright diesel eighth mile ET record by running a 3.877 at 191.08 MPH. Wrecked to a world record in under a month is a huge accomplishment that would have not been possible without the support of Hammertech Race Cars, 1X Precision, Wrenchworkz, and many others, including Michael’s wife, Lauren Cordova. Records are great, but winning is better, and the team did just that by moving on to win the Pro Dragster class of the Wagler Fall Nationals.
S&S Diesel Motorsport is honored to be a small part of their program by providing fueling, electronic control, and calibration support for the Freedom Racing Engines Cummins power plant!
This story was originally published on October 6, 2023. 
