For a year that doesn’t’ seem like much good has amounted, the diesel motorsports side of the world has accomplished quite a bit. In fact, just this past weekend in Gainesville, Florida, Brian Gray of Grays Diesel took his 7.3-Liter Power Stroke-powered drag truck into the 7-second quarter-mile range. This is the first Ford pickup to break into the 7’s ever and for a shop that specializes in the 7.3-Liter engines, they are ecstatic.

Per Gray’s latest post on Facebook, this 7-second pass was somewhat unintentional. Because of their 1/8th mile racing focus, they had no intention of running it out the back door in Gainesville. “We were all waiting in the staging lanes waiting to make our run and because of a ton of oil downs, we waited for over two and half hours,” said Gray. “After that amount of time and with the oil downs, the right lane was pretty much ruined from what we saw.”

In the beginning, it seemed as if people almost doubted this truck. Not because of the way it looked but because of the powerplant it was equipped with. No real faith was given to the 7.3 but Gray and his team are hellbent on making this the nastiest one ever. I’d say they are clear on their way with the strides they’ve been taking as of late.

Andrew, a crew member of Gray’s, had the idea of seeing what this truck would do past the 660′ mark. “Andrew said if it still felt good after the 1/8th, just run it out,” Gray said. “So, I did. I can’t wait to do it again because we stopped the clocks at 7.962 at 164.25 mph.” Gray is excited to have the title of the first Ford diesel-powered pickup in the 7’s but he’s excited for what is to come next because this pass was virtually a wash from the get-go.

“Due to a bad shock setting that killed our 60′ time and leaving the line with only 740psi of nitrous pressure, this pass was doomed. Our poor 60′ and running on low power, we still managed to run a 7-second pass. In fact, our 1/8th mile time was over 3-tenths of a second slower than normal,” Gray said. “On top of that, we found burned up converter clutches the previous pass which means we really have more in it. I would say look out for low 7’s when we put it all together.”

With less power than usual and a much slower 60′ time, this truck still managed to make this time. Not bad for a 7.3, huh?

Gray wishes he could’ve been chasing this before but he and his team have been so focused on the Outlaw Diesel Super Series they haven’t really attempted this. I have a feeling they’re going after it now with the taste of 7’s fresh on the mind. Gray thanked all of the companies on board that put their trust in this HEUI-powered machine and looks forward to their next track day. “Huge shoutout to everyone on board including Hot Shot’s Secret, SunCoast Performance, Nitrous Express, Line2Line Coatings, Gray’s Diesel Performance, and CP Carrillo. What are your thoughts on the first Ford pickup into the 7’s being a 7.3? Let us know in the comments below!