Courtesy of Engine Builder
The diesel side of our industry has really been cranking up its game to 11 recently. As such, there are a ton of folks going faster than they ever have before in diesel-powered vehicles, and one of those people is Mattie Graves.
Mattie Graves competes in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series (ODSS) dragster class, and is the only female doing so in a class that already has very few competitors in general. We caught up with her during the ODSS weekend at the 2022 UCC competition where she was competing along with the help of her family and support from her dad’s diesel shop, Hollyrock Customs, located in Hollywood, MD.
From a young age, Mattie was always by her dad’s side when it came to cars, trucks and racing, so naturally, it wasn’t long before she expressed an interest in driving. What started as casual Friday-night racing at the local track in her F-350 soon turned into high-octane drag racing thanks to a last-minute purchase of a dragster off of Facebook Marketplace.
Mattie is still a fairly new competitor in diesel drag racing, but she’s proving herself out on the track and closing the gap on other much more tenured folks. In tandem with getting more track time and passes, Mattie and the team are experimenting with a new setup this year for the twin-turbo Duramax engine housed in the back of the dragster.
