Courtesy of Engine Builder by Evan Laux

There’s something to say about separating your hobbies from your career. It’s good for a lot of people, but others might get burnt out dealing with the stresses of a career that might surround a particular passion. Jordan Blackard is one of those guys who decided to keep diesel trucks as a side passion rather than a career, and he’s better for it.

Blackard grew up with a diesel mechanic father and went to college to be a diesel technician, but after a year in the field, he decided it wasn’t for him.

“I grew up around it and love it to death, but I just hated every second of it when I was doing it daily,” Blackard says. “I’m not sure why, but it’s always just been better for me as a hobby, and now that I make alright money in a new career, I can indulge these hobbies now.”

Jordan is a plumbing material salesman by day, and an up-and-coming diesel builder by night. For years, he’s been tinkering on different trucks, but now he’s carving out his first diesel race truck build.

“A lot of guys think you need tens of thousands of dollars to get into this sport, which is probably true at the higher levels, but you can start running races with a modest build,” Blackard points out. “The biggest thing for the Outlaw Diesel Super Series and the health of the sport is getting people out of the stands and in the staging lanes.”

A few years ago, Blackard stumbled upon a 2nd Gen 2001 Ram 2500 that was being sold by Chase Fleece of Fleece Performance. After a few years of casual driving and fixing it up, he decided in 2022 to get working on a race build.