DIESEL Motorsport's Payouts Believe it . . . or not!

It seems a few disgruntled racers and bashers are taking this time of the year to start harassing and bashing NADM online using our purse payout as an excuse! They know nothing turns our competitors and sponsors sour than a payout shortage by the promoter. That is because it has happened so many times in the past within our sport and in fact racing!


Not with NADM - EVER! As in the past NADM pays out over 70% of the sponsor's funds back to the competitors in the form of purses and we still payout at the track with checks - EVERY EVENT! The remainder of the funds goes to event overhead which is quite high for the combined events. We rent every track for the day so we can feature DIESEL ONLY events. Only NADM as a sanctioning body can rent a facility using our SFI staff and personnel. We did this because so many have complained about running with gassers at the tracks.


The purse monies are posted before every event and that has been what is paid out. The past two years the racing/pulling has had a sliding scale of payouts just like other promoters have gone to in the industry because of the economy and the number of trucks showing up at events. It was posted at the beginning of every season and DIESEL Motorsports have followed it EVERY TIME! 8 truck minimum is required for the two upper classes before the decline starts and 16 trucks for ET. Been that way from day one and we have stuck with that for two years!

The minimum truck counts comes from when we started out and two trucks would show up in the upper classes, run one time and then claim a large purse check. Not good business when you are trying to provide entertainment for those in the stands. When diesel enthusiasts pay their money to watch they want to feel they get their monies worth! Hard to provide that when a couple of trucks run once, makes for a short day. When you ask for a minimum then they have to run the full qualifying runs which provides multiple runs down the track and provides entertainment for the crowds.


Over three years ago DIESEL Motorsports® started the run both tracks side by side so the crowd could watch diesel only drag racing and sled pulling at the same time! What a perfect concept, everyone knows the higher end diesels want at least a 45 minute cool down for their engines between runs so now they can watch sled pulling and ET racing while the higher end competitors cool it!


Yes we have thought about the entertainment factor in order to keep the fans in the stands, it's the only way this sport is going to grow. Taking it mainstream by getting families in the stands to watch! Those fans buy our sponsor's products!


If upper class racers feel they should have got more then I suggest they tell their fellow racers to show up so they fill the classes. This barrier of not supporting different organizations is only hurting the sport and the competitors themselves since both organizations have a sliding scale payout.


It's just business coming from both promoters, they have to provide entertainment because that is what the sponsors are looking to support. Entertainment provides fans and then fans purchase the industry's products. 


Should the purse be larger? Always the competitor feels that way, why not, they are trying to pay for their trucks and racing/pulling! Don't blame them one bit, but in today's tight economy many of the sponsors have had to cut back on what they spend and where they spend it! Do they get their return on investment when spending it on DIESEL Motorsports? If they are selling enough in the diesel marketplace then it makes sense. 


Luckily our industry has continued a slow growth where many has fallen in the truck aftermarket so the sponsors continue to support it but they are still cautious because of the economy. Don't blame them either, it's their business and they need to survive, we want them to continue to operate. That is why we are constantly changing our operations to help them in the marketplace like the new TV shows, event showcases and certified diesel shop program.


No nothing has changed with us! DIESEL Motorsports continues to follow our path of business and not knee-jerk react with the online bashers and rumor mills surrounding our sport. STABILITY is what we have to offer with a solid business/market plan that has worked the past two years!

DIESEL Motorsports . . . making it a legitimate sport!

When we started NADM almost five years ago we had a vision of making DIESEL Motorsports a National sport! A National mainstream sport that you would see televised because they want to and reported on through business channels as a growing market. Drag racing and sled pulling, it didn't matter which was featured more, whatever the people wanted to watch and participate.

Were we a bit naive about the vision? Maybe! Combine that with the down economy and we had to change our direction at least four different times trying to figure out what direction the sport was taking, what the sponsor's wanted and needed, and what does the consumer want to watch. It's been a tough few years trying to keep a vision intact and rolling along with a growth direction.

Just as we thought the direction was going upward we have been hit with setbacks such as price of diesel fuel going up, change of equipment in diesels (dpf/electronics), recession and another round of diesel fuel increases.

Has it made the industry jumpy, insecure, competitive, and constantly changing of alliances - you bet?!

It's called growing pains when you are making progress!

Same thing happened with the UFC/Tapout business a few years ago. It started out on the streets, took some heat for being unruly, had some liabilities tied in with it - and then a group of business people took it to the next level! They insured for liability, added some very tight but safe rules, attracted the crowds through different promotions and lined up major mainstream sponsors.

Did they leave behind a few from the old group of fighters and street scrapers, yes they did but added a ton of new devoted fans who love the sport.

A very similar momentum is happening with DIESEL Motorsports, more and more are hearing about the sport and our efforts into making it a automotive sport. Will it ever be prime time, don't know since it has only been a few years but we are getting noticed by the bigger Fortune 500/100 companies at the larger automotive trade shows I attend.

Is there a few who don't care for our direction? Always is but they can't argue with success and offering a safe environment for those who enjoy participating in the sport.

DIESEL Motorsports has insured all of our events for liability and safe rules for competitors. Large companies look for creditability and stability when looking at motorsports. NADM has offered those attributes while growing and setting a direction that works in the marketplace.  It's a marketplace that includes sled pulling, drag racing, dyno events, diesel shops, Warehouse distributors, manufacturers of diesel products, publications that cover our sport and diesel pickup owners who want to see the activities.

It's a broad spectrum of business and DIESEL Motorsports finally feels the upward swing!

New Products coming for Diesel Motorsports . . .

Fall is always a good time for companies to release new products. I'm at the PWA conference this week which is the first of many Fall industry shows and conferences, and there are many manufacturers with new products for the diesel industry.

It's always exciting to hear about the products they have worked on for the year and use the Fall shows to launch the products. Many of the manufacturers have had a tough year but they are still looking for new markets and producing new products to sell to the diesel crowds.

I come to the shows to look for such products and convey the information back to our members. Soon as I get back I'll write about some of the new products.

It is encouraging to see the interest in Diesel Motorsports from the many different manufacturers because they have started to hear about our sport through the industry.

This tells me we have finally started to slowly make our way into the mainstream. A goal NADM has had since we started it.

It is also good to see the PWA growing again and getting the activity back for the automotive warehouse distributors.

Ohio is full of diesel performance trucks!

I just left the National Trails Dragway in Hebron OH after holding the Buckeye Diesel Blast II. The weather couldn't have be more beautiful and I have to let a not so kept secret out - OH has some of the hottest diesels in the country!

From June 1 to September 30 there is a truck pull somewhere in the state every night. Drag races at three different tracks have been conducted a couple of times a month for the past six months for the diesel trucks. Add that to the farming economy surrounding the area and it spells high performance diesel trucks.

Every time we hold an event here you see new trucks that was just finished and ready to race or pull. The number of diesel shops and distributors for this area are quite high which tells you there is enough performance and regular maintenance to keep them busy. In fact some of the top names for diesel performance are located in OH!

I would have to say it's a toss up between OH and IN when it comes to top builders which tells you there are diesel trucks there that produce some horsepower and torque.

We saw many of those trucks today racing and sled pulling, racers whose names have long been top runners like Dean, Moody, Handwork, Block, Bohatch and Pullers like Miller,Hallien, Haisley, Smith and Gainer.

Top diesel competitors who show up every time for the sport, put on a great show and tells us thanks afterwards. True sportsmen and women(Ross) that put hours and hours into their trucks only to have to do it again after they run for more repairs. They do it because they love the sport and consider it their favorite past-time.

Throw in the tractors that came and pulled and the great crowd that came to watch, that adds up to a positive image and fun weekend for Diesel Motorsports!

Diesels are thought highly of in Ohio and it shows at the events!

Support your local club or organization . . . DIESEL Motorsports!

There are now many, many different local diesel clubs and organizations! They are popping up in all states where enthusiasts tend to gather, most started at the local diesel shop on a dyno day or open house.

This is a good thing for DIESEL Motorsports®, it shows us the sport is growing and we are here to support those who want it.

We actually have several groups and events as part of our DIESEL Motorsports affiliate program, some ask for marketing support, some funding, some insurance, some consultation, some paperwork/organization and others just because they want to help the sport grow!

As long as it is an event where diesel trucks or vehicles are included in the show we are interested. It is also helpful for our sponsors because they are represented at the affiliate events through DIESEL Motorsports®.

Local clubs need your help, it takes a lot to put these events on and most of these people are doing it because they love the sport, very few are getting paid or very little. By volunteering your help it will make our sport grow and most of the time you will have fun doing it plus meeting new people who are diesel enthusiasts.

Just coming to the event and participating helps with the numbers and making the event look good to the sponsors. By not showing or coming to race or pull all you are doing is making sure that event will not happen again. Think about it, if it fails and no one comes will the promoter or track want to do the event again. They lose money doing it and the sponsors will not support it if the event does not have fans watching.

We know money and the economy is tight but consider the sport and do you really want it to grow regardless of who is putting on the event. I have urged pullers every year to go to a local pull at Platte City in July, we have nothing to do with the event, I do not know the organization that puts it on, but I hope they have a successful event every year and it grows. If our National Association can send even a few pullers to the event then we succeeded in helping the sport grow. From what I hear it turned out great this year, I have gone in the past but only as a spectator in the crowd.

If I see a small event in a area we are not currently putting on events while cruising  the web, I occasionally call them and see if they need assistance. DIESEL Motorsports does this just to keep in touch with people who want our sport to grow in areas we are not embedded.

It all works better if the different local clubs and organizations work together in order to make the sport grow - DIESEL Motorsports®!

Can DIESEL Motorsports weather the storm???

Everyday we wake wondering what will be in the news that will effect our lives and business. . . what will we do next?


We started DIESEL Motorsports in the worst economy in decades, we wanted to grow a market segment that involves HUGE diesel fueled vehicles when everyone was looking at small hybrids, and we wanted to expand the pickup truck market when all truck aftermarket products was falling off in sales - we say bring it on!

We have weathered the storm and continue to grow the numbers, continue to grow the market, continue to grow the number of events and we are going into our fifth year.


More and more used diesel trucks are being converted to our market segment by a younger crowd to middle age workers who use the trucks at work. As the older market has more discretionary income newer diesel trucks are being bought with aftermarket products being added to them. Their secondary used trucks then are sold to our youth segment for further upgrades and modifications.


It's a cycle that DIESEL Motorsports help cultivate by offering larger purses for the lower street divisions where younger street driven diesels can win bigger money competing. Those funds they win can then be used to purchase performance upgrades. The older competitors then spend more to keep a level above the upcoming trucks in competition and the sport continues to grow.


The message is you can weather your own storm and figure it out yourself as to how to make it work for your business. Our economic system still allows you to work freely in the markets and develop new ways to conduct business and make a profit.


DIESEL Motorsports will and have weathered the storm by keeping a positive realistic approach to the diesel marketplace while developing new programs that further advance product sales, shop sales and expand numbers in competitors/fans.


To understand the direction don't wonder how you can be involved, get involved and ask how it can work for your business, shop, and services?

DIESEL Motorsports Rules Change - NOT!

One of the goals of our original mission in forming NADM/DIESEL Motorsports was keeping the rules standard for all diesel enthusiasts Nationwide. The biggest complaint to us was how every one holding diesel events change their rules to favor local racers or pullers by inserting rules regarding equipment on the trucks.

While some consider our rules to be too wide of a berth they are very specific to include equipment along with safety rules that ensure fair competition among trucks. We do not favor manufacturer's equipment, but try to include all when specifying rules surrounding performance parts on a diesel truck.


This way a truck can be built using DIESEL Motorsport's specifications and most likely be able to run in many different venues and competitions. The less the competitors have to change the equipment the better for them financially. It's hard enough to keep a truck running when competing in multiple DIESEL Motorsport's competitions without worrying about changing equipment to fit the rules.


NADM/DIESEL Motorsports have made very little changes in the rules over 5 years! The changes that have been made were mostly SFI safety rules regarding equipment.


Some changes in the race and pull classes were made based on truck counts and on the advancing technology in competition. Still very few changes over a 5 year period considering what has evolved in the performance parts.


Why do we continue to do so, stability! By keeping the stable standards in DIESEL Motorsports the truck owners can build the trucks for longterm competition. They don't feel like they have to spend new money every winter in order to compete! Like I said before it's hard enough just to keep what they have built running from event to event.


There is always some new change or class that someone asks that we include in our competitions, and we do take a serious look at the requests! But in order to change the entire Country's standards we need to see the numbers change dramatically before making changes. We are not saying they are wrong or it's not exciting, we just need to be careful because of what we change effects so many diesel enthusiasts across the country in large numbers.


What's ahead in change for 2012 - not much in the rules! Slight changes in classes based on truck numbers but if you haven't noticed we like to be stable on the rules and classes - Nationwide!