Diesel Performance Club’s ‘Accelerated Learning’ truck back on drag racing circuit

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s “Accelerated Learning” is at it again, and this time, the Diesel Performance Club’s 12,000-pound 1959 B-61 Mack truck advanced to the seventh-round finals of the Maple Grove Raceway’s 2025 Keystone Truckin’ Nationals. Narrowly missing the top prize by a margin of only .079 seconds, the crew has now celebrated two back-to-back years of success for a project 25 years in the making. 

The truck was introduced to the college in the early 1970s to move heavy construction equipment and was donated to the club after it was retired in 1998. Hundreds of students have worked on “Accelerated Learning” since that time, and it finally made its drag racing debut in June 2024 at Numidia Dragway’s East Coast Diesel Nationals.

The club has continued to test, improve and fix the big rig to ensure it has what it takes to race against professional teams from across the country.

“After weeks of our own version of Friday Night Lights at local dragstrips, experimenting with technology, design and battling the laws of physics, the Diesel Performance and Heavy Equipment Service & Operation clubs, Penn College students and alumni totaling nearly 60 in support of our competition effort made the annual trek to Maple Grove Dragway in Mohnton,” said Mark E. Sones, diesel equipment technology instructor and Diesel Performance Club adviser.

The format was changed for this year’s Sept. 19-20 competition, he added. All “Big Rig” diesel trucks were placed in one competition bracket, rather than 17.50 and slower and 17.50 and faster categories. More than 100 trucks competed for top big rig honors. 

TJ Buck, of Warminster, who received associate degrees in diesel technology and heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis in May and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in applied management, was back behind the wheel. Buck serves as the Diesel Performance Club’s vice president.

“TJ and crew were on their game all day, consistently putting our truck in the mid-13.30-second range at 105 mph in the quarter mile, pass after pass,” Sones said. “I have always compared this sport to a high-speed game of chess. It’s not the fastest truck that wins; it is based on consistency, time predictions and reaction times.”

The difference between last year’s performances at the East Coast Diesel Nationals and the Keystone Truckin’ Nationals (14.16 seconds at 103 mph and 13.30 seconds at 106 mph, respectively) and the most recent appearance for the truck is all about experience, Buck said.

“Last year, we were just a bunch of underdog college students that had no idea what we were doing or what real racing really meant. We were just happy to be there,” he said. “I have logged more than 20 hours of racing and testing time since then, which made a big difference with our confidence. It is such a rewarding experience and an honor to be the one racing the truck. Building and maintaining a race truck is no small feat. In fact, it takes a team, and to be the one person that is responsible for providing everything that we are capable of is just such a high honor for me.”

Buck spent countless nights – and the occasional sleepless ones – considering various problems and possible solutions.

“Getting to drive the truck down the track and make a good pass reminds me of how thankful I am of everyone that comes together to prepare the truck and act as the best pit crew anyone could ask for,” he said. “I hope the passion that I have in the drag truck is never forgotten and continues to grow with each new class of students.”

The team will head to Great Meadows, New Jersey, on Oct. 18 for the October Truck Fest at Island Dragway.