"What is good for me is not for thee!" DIESEL Motorsports EPA review!

 Recently the EPA has moved back vehicle regulations to 2009 which helps in production and vehicle costs to the consumers. However, they are written as reconsiderations in order to advance production and costs. NO LAWS have been changed on the books! 

All this talk of going back to the way it was in 2005 is just that - a lot of talk. Granted the number of employees, direction and funding has changed at the EPA - DO NOT be fooled! The raids have let up but there was one in Missouri just last month which went after a diesel shop. So there may be less raids and people coming after our diesel trade, but make no mistake it will return.

Whether the reconsiderations change when congress turns over, new leadership or even a push by the big 3 OEMs they will be searching out the shops who thought all restrictions were lifted. 

Even our military and government vehicles have been approved for DPF/DEF delete so they can perform better and get better mileage. So it's ok for the elite but not the consumer? Where did our industry get turned around and controlled by government watch dogs and bean-counters. Motorsports enthusiasts are no longer running our performance companies, but by corporate attorneys and bean-counters.

Let's look back when the attitude changed toward our motorsports industry? Ever since Henry Ford rolled out the first production car home mechanics were tinkering with it to make it better or their own. That spread to other makes and soon the enthusiasts were racing them against each other all across the country.

The motorsports business has now grown into a multi billion dollar business along with parts and repairs for domestic and import vehicles. After the big 3 OEMs got loans from the government to stay in business it seems the regulations started to increase for the vehicles to make them safer and cleaner. The big 3 OEMs started to offer the performance accessories and parts direct to the consumer edging out the US manufacturers. 

So writing a warning to our diesel enthusiasts, don't be fooled and proceed under the caution flag! 

What we also need to cover is the stolen patent technology!  Many of our US companies paid money to patent our performance parts, but that is another blog. . . coming soon! 

Mid Summer Industry Review - Diesels!

 The diesel repair business is strong as ever reported by our local shops across the country. Regular maintenance was put off by many owners during the past years as the economy was quite tight for all of them. Even newer model diesel pickups are in need of repair on a regular basis when they are used for regular heavy duty work.

Most warranties have run out on many of these trucks. I have had regular customers call me and ask opinions on repairs, I always advise them to take it to a local shop for diagnosis. Trying to advise repairs on the phone is irresponsible as telling them to read it on the internet for advise. Let a professional trained mechanic do his job, Same as going to a doctor for your health.

Diesel trucks do last longer if you do regular maintenance on them. Parts for regular maintenance are getting easier to find however, there are a few that is still hard to get from supply chains. Many of the WDs are still drop shipping or taking back orders which hurts the local shops from completing their jobs on customer's trucks. WDs were hurt by the supplies and are still recovering to fill their stock. Please be patient and help where you can to re-supply the shelves at local distributors.

Recovery is here but it takes a while to get back to normal especially in the rural areas or the fly over states. As a manufacturer please keep checking on your distributors to restock, as a distributor please restock your top 100 selling items when possible, and as a shop please be patient (call multiple distributors for parts). 

As for the performance diesel parts the market is picking up some since the economy is improving and that gives our enthusiasts some discretionary income to pay for upgrades instead of OEM parts. Performance parts means stronger or heavy duty parts which makes their truck last longer plus giving their truck more power. Motorsports is always a motivator when making repairs to their trucks. It's the American way to make your vehicle personalized to your liking! 

The rural market is still strong when it comes to motorsports, it takes vehicles to reach destinations in a rural setting where public transportation is not available. The rural people all work from an early age for the rest of their life. Their children are taught to drive early 14-15 years old with many having permits. 

That is why DIESEL Motorsports still concentrate on the rural market tracks for our events. It may be a smaller market per population than the large cities but the concentration of buyers for motorsports products are at a much higher percentage than the cities.

East Coast Diesel Nationals Review 2025

Ever since we had the event moved to June DIESEL Motorsports has had to fight storms which we thought would be for cooler days. We had some pretty hot days when it was held in July. It is now apparent we now had to deal with storms all around us but also very hot days when it does clear off.

However we can't feel too bad since the track reported it was the first clear weekend from rain/storms in 6 weeks. It was clear but very hot for the 16th year of the East Coast Diesel Nationals. A lot of top quality trucks and tractors showed up for the day where enthusiasts could view racing, pulling, dyno competition,  truck show and vendors.

I want to thank the staff at the Numidia Dragway along with our local DM helpers and regular staff for putting on a flawless event. I also want to thank the sponsors who chose to attend such as Thom/SPAL fans, Scott/TotalSeal Rings, Charles/PPE Diesel and Ken/AMSOIL for your support at the event. Our longtime vendors of Street Diesel Performance and Big Time Kustomz  always brings a nice display of products for the enthusiasts. 

The Truck Show had some very top notch truck builds which made it very difficult to choose who the awards went to for the competition. From old to new the trucks it was easy to see the owners took pride in what they did to their trucks. The Best of Show went to a young man who won it a few years ago and the improvements done to his truck in just a couple of years was unbelievable - he deserved to win again.

Dyno competition from Ken's Auto mid-day called and announced the winner at 1,851.8 horsepower! i asked what if someone else comes up and she announced with confidence no one will come close, she was correct! This was for a Ford F-250 street truck owned by Steven Giordano. 

Racing and pulling are done right next to each other at the same time! Racing had some excitement in the Runwhatubrung Class with several trying ot go heads up racing in the 1/8th mile. ET Bracket had a lot of trucks gas and diesel trying to collect the healthy purse for that street truck class. Same goes for the street truck class for pulling in the Wild Street Class. 

Pulling is always exciting with the Interstate tractor classes with some high HP tractors along with local truck pulling classes! Beautiful weather makes for some high HP pulls that tests the sled for holding them back. Forrester Equipment as always does a great job on the track prep and keeps everyone rolling down the track along with the Allison Sled group.

We want to congratulate the winners for the 2025 event and we will see ya all next year!

EAST COAST DIESEL NATIONALS 2025 Winners

Racing

Runwhatubrung Diesel

Dennis Harnish – Champion

Lynard Martin – 2nd

Runwhatubrung Gas

Bill Schneider – Champion

7.70 Index 

Daniel Hurst – Champion

Peter Koppenhaefer – 2nd

6.70 Index

Joey Lamond – Champion

Dennis Harnish – 2nd

ET Bracket

Joey Lamond – Champion

Jake Bachman – 2nd

Sled Pulling

Super Stock

Justin Gordan Champion

3.0 SB

Andrew Kicak – Champion

Jared Brown – 2nd

2.6 SB

Chris Lloyd – Champion

Wild Street

Clyde Weaver – Champion – 323.34

Joseph Bayer – 316.32

Ross Harter – 316.02

Nick Harter – 305.28

Mike Garmon – 304.88

Bryan Rarick – 296.64

Benny Stone – 290.58

Lou DiMattro – 283.11

Trevor Marcom – 262.51

Harlee Hollenbach – 247.19

Dylan Miller – 122.82

Kevin Riggle – 4.00

Interstate 8500LB Tractor

Aaron Eberhart – 325.97

Vern Zerby – 333.80

Vern Zerby – 332.01

Scott Kiskeden – 329.74

Justin Lawtour – 327.67

Vern Zerby – 322.34

Eddie Ocker – 319.68

Gary Cubbage – 315.42

Gary Cubbage – 305.23

Matt Dershon – 305.16

Aaron Eberhart – 300.15

Ray Belack – 170.62

7800 Light Limited

Mark Smith – 362.79

10,000 Pro Form

Mark Culbertson – 312.06

Anthony Hammrick – 311.03

Gary Cubbage – 307.85

Shane Steed – 304.06

Marshall Biedel – 293.92

Chris Pangle – 287.99

Shane Steel – 280.45

Truck Show

Best of Show – Brian Wagner – 2015 Silverado 2500 HD

Best Ford – Tyler Kessinger – F250 2018

Best Duramax/GM – Ethan Good – 2018 Chevy 

Best Dodge – Reuben Lantz – 2016 RAM 2500

Best OBS – Setth Cbek – 1997 F350

Best Vintage – Darcy Brownell – 1989 Dodge W250

Best Ford Combo – Ben Maurer

Dyno

Highest Horsepower – Steven Giordano – Ford F250 – 1851.8 HP

Highest Ford – Clyde Weaver – Ford F-250 – 980.24 HP 

Highest Chavy/GM – Cleason Weaver – Chevy 3500 – 946.85 HP

Highest  Dodge/RAM – Brandon Martin – Dodge 2500 – 1341.82 HP

More photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1134688128692634&type=3

Horsepower Festival Spring Review 2025

DIESEL Motorsports has held this event for close to 10 years depending on the format and time of the year! The owners are the Franks which has always welcomed our organization to the track. Before COVID we always held a truck event but during that time local car clubs called me. They wanted to join us because the bigger cities would not allow them to meet. So I had them come during the COVID years and since our truck guys love motorsports we have kept the format and invited them every year.

This year not only did every one show up but we also had a mission to present the family a memorial plaque built by our local company Midwest Performance Fabrication which has done our great trophy plaques. Mike Franks always loved our trucks coming to his track, we were saddened by his passing from cancer during the winter months. His son Vincent has taken over along with Ruth Franks and still provided us a perfect run motorsport event.

You could not have asked for better weather for the 2025 Horsepower Festival Spring event! A little windy and cool in the morning but by 1pm it was a beautiful warm day for a perfect car/truck show with some top quality vehicles in all categories! Throw in some friendly swap meet people, food trucks and vendors and we have a fun afternoon for those who attended! Plus soome killer drag racing come the evening hours with many different drag cars, trucks, bikes and Jr's running in front of a local fun crowd.

DIESEL Motorsports wants to once again thank the next generation of Frank's for a perfect day of motorsports along with their regular crew which is always nice to our truck enthusiasts.

I also want to thank our crew along with the vendors who made it a fun show to walk and view the many different vehicles. The winners can be seen below and i will post the track classes soon along with more videos of the night. Photos can be found our FB page under albums!

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/DIESELMotorsports.US/photos_albums

US 36 Horsepower Festival Spring Winners:

Drag Racing Cars

Super Pro

1st Jacob Short, Lawson, MO

2nd Travis Morris, Lawson, MO

Semi Nick Bestgen, Osborn, MO

Qtr Jeff Wakefield, Kansas City, MO

Qtr Brad Janousek, Lincoln, NE

Pro

1st Josh Henderson, St. Joseph, MO

2nd Clint Acord, Claycomo, MO

Semi Billie Teeter, Harrisonville, MO

Qtr Tyler Apley, Platte City, MO

Qtr Justin Sprague, St. Joseph, MO

Sportsman

1st Tyler Apley, Platte City, MO

2nd Mike Smith, Cameron, MO

Trophy

1st Benjamin Apley, Edgerton, MO

2nd Emily Gallus, Weatherby, MO

Motorcycle

1st Dakota Bomar, St. Joseph, MO

2nd Dustin Bomar, St. Joseph, MO

Jr. Dragster

1st Colton Koontz, Holt, MO

2nd Reagan Smith, Parkville, MO

Drag Racing:

Truck Classes

Heads-Up

1st – Brandon Chivington – Lee’s Summit, MO Tyler Williams – Blue Springs, MO

2nd – Tyler Williams – Blue Springs, MO

ET Truck

1st – Pete Gilbert – Gladstone, MO

2nd – Todd Tucci, Plattsburg MO

Car/Truck Show

Best of Show – Brandon Patrick – 1928 Ford Model A Rat Rod/Diesel

Best Gas – Don Bird – 1926 T-Bucket

Best Dodge/Diesel Truck – Kevin Neal – 2001 Dodge Ram 2500

Best GMC/Diesel Truck – Jared McElfresh – 2002 GMC 2500 HD

Best Dodge/Gas Truck – Al & Terri Roscoe – 1980 Dodge D-100

Best Ford/Gas Truck – Rusty Williams – 1953 Ford F100

Best GMC/Chevy/Gas Truck – Brady Anno – 1983 Chevy K-10

Best Shop Truck – Danny Coones – 1953 Ford F-250

Best Rat Rod – Ian Longner – Ford F100

Best ATV – Dakota Beemer – Polaris Ranger 1000

Cars

Best 70s – Kurt Omenski- 1971 Pontiac Tempest T-37

Best 60s – Steve Hurst – 1964 Ford Fairlane

Best 50s – Ben Mefford – 1955 Chevy /Stella

Best 40s – Art Brant – 1941 Willys

Best 30s – Ron Clemens – 1937 Lincoln Zephyr – V12 Flathead

Best Camaro – Roy Proctor – 2023 Chavy Camaro SS

Best Corvette – Chris Richardson – 1966 Chevy Corvette

Best Mustang – Jessica Silvey – 2017 Ford Mustang

Best Muscle – Walt & Jan Carpenter – 1966 Pontiac GTO

Best Station Wagon – Gary VanPelt – 1966 Dodge Coronet Wagon

Best Convertible – Fred Schmeckel- 1971 Chevy Chevelle

Best Import – Hector Paez – 2020 Subaru WRX

DIESEL Motorsports Hall of FAME! 2025

DIESEL Motorsports started a HALL of FAME many years ago with many recipients over the years! We thought it would be a good idea to publish those who help build this business from the early years from 2001 to current. 

The original “DIESEL ONLY” event was held in Muncie Indiana at the Gaston Lion’s Club Park in 2001! Before all other diesel events there were none and “Thunder in Muncie” was started by Eric McBride (DHRA) from nearby Albany Indiana. 

Thunder in Muncie was started because at the time no drag strips, fairground, and tractor pulling groups would allow diesel pickup trucks on the tracks. They were disbarred from competing in all competitions. 

Thunder in Muncie is still held by DIESEL Motorsports on May 3rd at the same location as the original, the Gaston Lion’s Club Park. This year a special dedication will be held in the club house placing a plaque with all the DIESEL Motorsports Hall of Fame recipients! 

Many of the people current diesel enthusiasts most likely have not heard of since it was over 20 years ago some of these people have not been active or some have even passed. Many great people who in their own way helped build the multi-billion-dollar business it is today and for the future. 

All were picked for their passion for the sport and diesel technology. Many were picked for being the first as a diesel competitor or vehicle. What seems a norm today, for these people it was a first!

In the beginning there was only 2 to 3 events for diesel vehicles in the entire country. By 2010 there were diesel truck events everywhere in many different states whether it was fairgrounds or drag strips. I used to tell people around 2012 that there were sled pulls starting in June till the end of September almost 5 days of the week in each state from Kansas all the way over to New York! Most included tractors and trucks but I knew teams in each state that traveled after their work 4-5 days of the week to sled pulls.

Covid curtailed many of the activities in all of motorsports including the diesel activities and they are slowing coming back to local facilities. Below is the complete list of those inducted from past years along with this year’s inductees that will be presented this year at Thunder in Muncie on May 3rd.

DIESEL Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductees

Dave Mitchell - 2012

Scott Bentz - 2013

Nowell Thomas aka HVAC  - 2014

Gene Mohney aka SLEDDY - 2016

Brady Williams - 2017

Eric McBride aka DHRA- 2018

Ron Knoch - 2020

Bill McKnight - 2023

Dave Radzierez aka DIESEL DAVE - 2024

Bruce Block - 2025

Jim Layden Aka LUCKY DOG – 2025

Place: Gaston Lions Club Park, May 3rd

303 N Sycamore St, 

Gaston, IN 47342-8050