EAST Coast Diesel Motorsports 2022 Review!

The Numidia Dragway after 13 years changed our date to a month earlier because of higher paid track rental! So after changing dates I knew we had an uphill battle in front us including the Covid period where many people stayed home! Throw in the hurting economy with high inflation, double fuel prices ($6-7 a gall East Coast) and date change we accepted the challenge this year.

We came out just fine most likely because we have held this event so long over the years and we tripled the advertising budget for more local participates! Beautiful weather of course helps which being a month earlier did help a few degrees but for local they said it was warm than usual 87º which is fine for me coming from 100º! Cool breeze all day along with low humidity it was a sunny great day for a fun event.

DIESEL Motorsports included new classes for 1/8th mile racing for diesel and gas trucks. Over 8 classes for racing along with new classes for the Show-N-Shine which had over 50 trucks of SEMA quality! We moved the gates open time to noon instead of early morning so people could have time to drive to event on Saturday. All afternoon activities included vendors, dyno competition, show-n-shine, Grudge racing, and race classes till 5pm.

DIESEL Motorsports started the pulling around 5:30 pm with 8 classes of pulling which included diesel trucks, tractors and modified multiple engine rails. Pullers with up to 3000 hp trucks and tractors went down the 300 ft track and produced a great show for the crowd.

Since the locals considered it warm many every year line both sides of the tracks with trucks, popups and coolers (tailgating) to watch the activities. The crowd stayed pretty much through the entire day because there is always plenty to see and show the kids with so many activities going on throughout the day.

I noticed from years past a lot of competitors not coming from out of state with fuel prices so high but did notice an uptake of a lot of PA entries. I don't blame them with high fuel prices and towing a vehicle you only get 8-10 miles per gallon hauling. We still had a lot of great trucks and tough competition with many local shops sponsoring the event.

Numidia Dragway is only 2 hours from Philly, Newark, NYC, Baltimore and located in the Eastern part of Pennsylvania! It makes for a great place for truck event on top of the Poconos mountains! We met a lot of new young people and saw many older faces from when the event started! Always a pleasure working this show even though trying to get there flying was an issue this year!

DIESEL Motorsports/Truck Motorsports wants to thank ALL of the fine people/fans/competitors who came this last Saturday to the show! With a change of dates we decided to change a few things up such as classes, trucks, diesel & gas and pulling classes/times! Still the same great gathering of trucks, vendors, dyno competitors and race/pull competitors - it was a fun day!

East Coast Diesel National Winners: 2022

Racing

ET Bracket – Diesel – ¼ M

1. Dennis Harnish – Quarryville PA – 06 GMC/R-.062/DI-11.75/ET-11.790/MPH-110.72

2. Doug Brarens – Stroudsburg PA – COECummins/R.091/DI-19.40/ET-19.571/MPH-68.73

ET Bracket – Gas – ¼ M

1. Joey Lamond-Effort PA-03 Chevy/R.169/DI-12.60/ET-12.653/MPH-106.54

2. Jason Hoover-New Holland PA/R.104/DI-13.50/ET-13.716/MPH-93.41

6.70 Index – Diesel 1/8 M

1. Eric Snow-Newark CT-01 Chevy/R-.171/DI-6.70/ET-6.702/MPH -103.78

2. Susan Soga -Kutztown PA – 1934 ChevyRod/R.144/DI-6.70/ET-6.799/MPH-100.08

7.70 Index – Diesel 1/8 M

1. Dennis Harnish – Quarryville PA – 06 GMC/R-.254/DI-7.70/ET-7.794/MPH-36.30

2. Brandon Aungst – Pine Grove PA – 12 Dodge/R-.362/DI-7.70/ET-8.006/MPH-87.70

Quick Truck – Diesel 1/8 M

1. Pat Trichilo – Carbeich PA – 05 Dodge/R-.394/ET-6.448/MPH 21.64

2. Susan Soga -Kutztown PA – 1934 ChevyRod/R.106 ET-6.752/MPH-103.17

Runwhatubrung – Diesel – 1/8 M

1. Pat Trichilo – Carbeich PA – 05 Dodge/R-.243/ET-6.524/MPH 20.88

2. Dalton Ness – Shade Gap PA – 94 Dodge/R-.529/ET-6.341/MPH-112.60

Sled Pulling

WorkStock

1. Tommy Hassler – Bethel PA – 08 Ford – 326.33 FT

2. Ben Gelsinger – Robesonia PA – 05 GMC – 319.64 FT

3. Jake Stewart – Robesonia PA – 06 Chevy – 319.45 FT

HOT WorkStock

1. Tommy Hassler – Bethel PA – 08 Ford – 357.97 FT

2. Seth Ulmer – Lock Haven PA – Chevy – 331.99 FT

3. Ross Harter – Avis PA – 06 Chevy – 328.34

2.6SB

1. Riley Andrews – Pifford NY – 90 Dodge – 261.71 FT

3.0 SB

1. Jared Brown – Wmspt PA – 98 Dodge – 296.22 FT

2. Griffin Sullivan – Moodus, CT 01 dodge – 274.61 FT

Super Stock

1. Tommy Hassler – Bethel PA – 08 Ford – 316.76 FT

2. Calvin Miller – Guys Mills PA – 02 Dodge – 300.26 FT

2WD 6200lb Trucks

1. Ian Erricker – Poolesville PA – 314.51 FT

2. Eddie Ocher – 8-up – 305.09 FT

3. Dale Forrester – Scotland PA – 23 Ford – 296.19 FT

8500 lb Modified Turbo

1. Justin Latour – Brooklyn CT – Addicted – 342.21 FT

2. Jason Forrester – OOZ – 335.14 FTT

3. Cole Forrester – Papa Smurf – 318.49 FT

7800 lb Modified Tractor

1. Andy Forrester -Boss 9 – 341.47 FT

2. Kevin Stouffer – Ruff N Ready – 325.83 FT

3. Ian Erricker – Unstable – 325.11 FT

Mothers Show-N-Shine

Best of Show – Erik Pariseau – Budd Lake NJ – 2012 Dodge Ram 2500

Best Dodge – Sheldon Horning – Denyr PA – 1993 Dodge W350

Best Ford – Hugh Kapalkq - Wyoming PA – 2003 Ford F350

Best GMC – Jeremiah Zimmerman – Selinsgrove PA – 2008 Chevy 2500

Best Rat Rod – BJ Keiffer – Watsontown PA – 1930 Ford

Best Import – Steve Berry – Northid PA – 2016 Nissan Titan XD

Best Vintage – Dayton Cote – Sanya PA – 1991 Dodge W250

Best Semi – William Stewart – Weatherly PA – 1995 Peterbilt

Best Dump Truck – John Robinson – Pennsburg PA – Orange Tri-Axle Dump

Best Work Truck – Chris Coleman – Pennsburg PA – Crazy Train Dump Truck

Ken's Auto Dyno – Highest HP – Justin Burke – 2006 Dodge 2500 – 1413.03 HP

Ford HP - Ben Brenner - 822.60

Chevy HP - Troy Hall - 603.30

Photo of event:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5611216345579217&type=3

Automotive Aftermarket - What is going on?

 Having been in the business for over 35 years it is amazing how much has changed and most of it I predicted years ago but no one listened. I was even call a conspirency person by some industry leaders who have now left the business with thousands in their pockets.

I have always had the ability to forecast business trends and that is why I change our company's direction every few years. You have to change with what the market is calling for in purchases.

You learn that from being on the front line of your business, not by asking or surveying past participates. The people who are living and working the shops knows what people are wanting and buying.

We are dealing with a current world of hard to get supplies/parts, wholesale pricing and faster deliverability! 

So what is so difficult about this scenario? 

It produces a topsy turvey environment to do business and survival only comes from the strongest and most persistent. It is time to strike out and take a chance on new markets if they are calling! If you don't someone else will and bypass you.

Is this harder to do now? More than ever but the rewards are much higher now than the past. You get to keep going for another year and then some.

If you are an automotive aftermarket manufacturer, now is the time to look around and see what is happening on the front lines. If you keep listening to your beancounter you may be in a downward trend.

I know a lot of young energetic automotive aftermarket guys who are tearing up the market with their localized products.

Our business may be coming back to US soil in a underground sort of way!

BIG TEXAS Truck Show 2022 Review

 Most of us forget or don't know how BIG Texas can be when traveling by truck. Some of the people who came to our event in Amarillo Dragway drove further than I did coming from Kansas City (8 hr drive) and they lived in Texas. Montana/Idaho my be the big sky country but Texas is the BIG horizons country. It seems like you can see forever across the landscape.

Many of the trucks who came to the event whether diesel or gas was high-end performance trucks that were nice looking machines. Many have been displayed at the SEMA show the year before and some on TV shows.

Being a first year show in the middle of nowhere was not a big show but something to build on for the future. This area and longtime track has good vibes since it was built in 1959 and have held many drag races in the past.

It needs some updating but the young staff is doing their best to bring it up to modern standards with a new timing system installed before we got there. We raced both days with lots of fast times and a best reaction time of .0072. 

The town has a lot to offer as a visitor such as the Cadillac Ranch (Cadillacs buried up-rite in the ground) and the Big Texan Steakhouse and hotel.

DIESEL Motorsports met a lot of young enthusiasts who own their own shops that build some very interesting trucks for show and performance!

We look forward to coming back to this location and build for future events.

Winners are listed below along with photo links:

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5484940481540138&type=3

Winners:

Quick Diesel

Winner - Russell Longo

R/U - Vince Neiderhauser

Quick Gas

Winner - Gary Quals

R/U - Genaro Chavez

7.70 Index

Winner - Lane Wright

R/U - Larry Knapp

ET Bracket

Winner - Bobby Banks

R/U - Fred Miner

Friday Best Reaction Time

Bryan Tucker - .0072

Dyno Competition

Highest Horsepower

Russell Longo – 1138 HP 1926 Tq

2006 Ram 2500

Best Dodge – Dakota Sargent – 1096

Best Ford – Isaih C – 533

Best GMC – Vince Neiderhauser – 696

Mothers Polishes Show-N-Shine

Best of Show – Carlos Molina – 2021 Ford F-150

Best Dodge – Chris Blair – 2000 Ram 1500 12V

Best GMC/Chevy – Cordale Ussery – 2013 2500 GMC

Best Import – Luis Lopez – 2014 Toyota Tundra

Best Performance Truck – Dakota Sargent – 1998 Ram 2500

Best Vintage Truck – Trevor Tedrick – 1983 Chevy C10

Best Work Truck – Bobby Banks – 2022 Chevy

We the People . . . want racing!

 "We the People" has a nice ring to it doesn't it? As we are struggling to deal with the new direction of automotive aftermarket which includes racing I see two divisions! 

The cities want EV clean driving vehicles and the rural areas want fun loving fossil fuel vehicles they can enjoy. As many of you know I travel frequently in all areas of the country and I see many large cities along with hours of rural America.

The cities have way too many people traveling to work or to do business and need EV vehicles to cut pollution . . . but they won't use public transportation. I have asked many big city leaders and politicians and the answer is always the same . . . the people won't use public transportation. They want the freedom of driving!

The rural people have to travel long distances to do business and need vehicles that can endure harsh conditions which why fossil fuel is the choice of many. They will continue to use fossil fuels because of the ease of use and the reliability for everyday work. When fuel prices go up many of the products people use in the cities prices will go up as many of us have seen in materials, products and groceries. 

The "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" is being put into play without the resources to do so in our country. I'm being told by industry leaders who are trying to supply the new EV push is that the technology will provide the answer and shortcomings for the industry. 

In the meanwhile how many businesses, corporate and small, with this hurt or destroy? I have said for years the automotive aftermarket is rural America not the cities as past marketing experts have followed.

This past weekend I followed some of my rural racing facilities (weather permitting) and they were packed with people and competitors who are traveling great distances to enjoy a weekend of racing!

Even with high fuel prices they are coming to what they want to enjoy and that is either watching or competing in racing. 

We the people want racing to continue on all fronts, circle, drag, pulling, offload, and road-course racing. Billions of dollars support the race industry with jobs, distribution and income for many families! 

Don't be fooled by the appearance of what is being presented but by reality of going to a local track and see for yourself!

Keystone Nationals Review 2022

After a 2 year hiatus because of COVID the Keystone Nationals were back to normal with some of the best pulling tractors, trucks and rails in the country for a 3 day event in Harrisburg PA. This is a great event that pulls many of the rural community in together in one spot for sled pulling indoors with the help of exhaust tube and filtration system.

Over 250 entries over a 3 day period with lots of exciting moments during the pulls every night and all day on Saturday.

Saturday was a larger crowd with starting competitors with pedal tractors pulling a smaller sled along with smaller competitors of 10 and under age group. Then it jumped to the larger arena with tractor classes that had qualifying pullouts for the Saturday night finals.

The Hot Workstock National Championship was supposed to pull at 12 noon but the track conditions needed some improvement for DOT street tires so they rescheduled for 2pm letting some larger tractors pull before them. This flattened the dirt more and made for a solid track for the street tires of the Hot Workstock trucks.

This is a street truck that has limited turbo inlet of 2.60 with street legal modifications done to the truck. We had trucks from a 6 state area surrounding the pull. Being indoors with a shortened track of 252 ft instead of 300 ft causes some setting adjustments along with the tube exhaust taking some of the power so they had to jump on the acceleration quickly.

The class actually saw 3 of the trucks with a full pull and running into the end barrier on the wall which made it an exciting class for the crowd. This caused a pull off for the 3 trucks with heavier settings on the sled. 

This class was sponsored by Diamond Advantage/Navistar and locally Hassler Diesel. The winners and competitors are listed below.

1st Runs

Lyndall Steiner - 237.62 - 8

Tanner Kels - 240.23 - 6

Seth Ulmer - 239.19 - 7

Wesley Kless - 251.24 - 4

Jacob Wagner - 11.00 - 10

John Costa - 255.30 - 3*

Ross Harter - 221.54 - 9

Shawn Bell - 240.98 - 5

Tom Hassler - 256.37 - 1*

Drew Slayback - 256.04 - 2*

* Runoff was decided by track officials since all 3 went over Full Pull of 252 ft.

Runoff Run - more weight added

Drew Slayback - 233.72 - 1

John Costa - 227.24 - 2

Tom Hassler - 223.06 - 3

The trucks provided great entertainment for the crowd and with some displays of power. They will remember this group of trucks for a long time! DIESEL Motorsports will return this class to the East Coast Diesel Nationals on June 25th!

Congratulations to the winners!

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5327116890655832&type=3

South Coast Gator Nationals 2022 Review!

 When you are handed a lemon you make lemonade!

When you are cold you go SOUTH - way south! 

 . . .  Like Palm Beach Florida in February when the rest of the northern plains and country are frozen over with sleet and snow!

For the 2nd year DIESEL Motorsports moved south for a 2 day sled pulling event along with dirt drags and a truck show at the PBIR track in Florida. I flew from 7 inches of snow with wind chill of -10 degrees to 80+ degrees and sunny in one day! 

It did not take much convincing for many of the Interstate pullers from PA/NJ area to also come south for a weekend of pulling tractors and trucks. The track is a little rougher than they are used to for pulling but they made adjustments to the sled so we all could have a fun time pulling.

The dirt drags held during the afternoon hours on Saturday was a great show from many different local competitors and their trucks. Shortly after the dirt drags the Mothers Show-N-Shine was judged with some great looking entries including one of the trucks who quickly knocked the dirt off from the dirt drags.

It was a great two nights of pulling with many new records set for Southern Florida pulling. The fans were great at cheering the pullers who made the full pulls or greater than 300 feet! Winners are listed below from all activities.

This will have to be relocated next year since the PBIR(Moroso) track has been officially sold and scheduled to be tore down for warehouse space. Many years of racing and motorsports history has taken place at this location. So sad to see this happen but as they say the show must go on. . . 

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=DIESELMotorsports.US&set=a.5252003261500529

Winners:

DIRT Drags

8,000 Street Truck

Championship – John Say

2^nd Champion – Brian Beckerbu

 

8,000 Pro Truck

Championship – Serena Alexander

 

Mothers Show-N-Shine

Best of Show – Jessica Barker – 2022 Ford Super Snake Shelby

Best Ford – Kyle Bair – 2017 F-250

Best Dodge – Tim Canary – 2019 3500

Best GM/Chevy – Charles/Ricky Carroll – 2019 2500

Best Import – David Kirkland – 2010 Toyota Tundra 

Best Rat Rod – Ashley/Austin Meehan – 1975 Dmax Fleetwood Cadillac

 

DIESEL Motorsports Sled Pulling

 

10,500 Altered Farm Tractor

1. Tommy Eppard – 316.34
2. Lawrence Hayman – 304.35
3. Sawyer Baum – 299.02
4. Rob Bell – 277.42

 

7,500 Modified Tractors

1. Don Deane – 336.05
2. Mike Schoenemann – 278.37
3. Dale Forrester – 252.36
4. Mike Schoenemann-238.07
5. Ian Erricker – 233.53

 

10,000 Pro farm Tractor

1. Doug Hayman – 330.38
2. Levi Leizear – 299.43
3. Ryan Miller – 297.13
4. Bob Shipe – 286.52

 

6,200 2WD Trucks

1. Ian Erricker – 328.15
2. Dale Forrester – 327.83
3. Mark Culbertson – 293.42
4. Chelcie Forrester – 267.82
5. Eddie Ocker – 266.66

 

8,500 Mod Turbo 

1. Scott Kiskaddon – 319.77
2. Matt Smith – 318.23
3. Matt Smith – 312.75
4. Jason Forrester – 310.52
5. Mark Miller – 302.08
6. Andy Keyes – 296.00

What we should be looking for in the next year 2022! DIESEL Motorsports plus . . .

 What should we expect for the new year starting this weekend? 

My predictions after living in this great country of ours and being self employed for most of my working life:

• The industry and markets in automotive are changing before our very eyes, as it should with technology advancements.  The younger people (18-35) better understand the electronics but are quickly learning what many of us have known all along - build a stronger drivetrain so the electronics will not break it!

• The existing administration wants all small garages, shops and businesses to diminish with more regulations being brought on them. Only our state governments can stop this based on structure of powers, quit wasting time on Congress and start with local state's government. The atmosphere is so caustic right now in DC neither party is going to help save our automotive history and sports.

• Suburbia will be in decline for automotive aftermarket and the rural areas will increase. Why do you find auto chain part stores in all of the small towns? They still have to drive to get to work, school and entertainment. Suburbia youth are not even getting driver's licenses until their 20s.

• Sometimes in 2022 there will be a glut of new vehicles in the market since the chips will catch up with production - then the prices will start dropping in order to move them. Right now people are rebuilding their older trucks because it is still cheaper than buying new and even if you can find new trucks.

• Part shortage will continue as long as our government allows outside manufacturers to short us. We ALL should seek building everything in the US again and not be held hostage on parts that were patented and designed here in the first place. The intention of outside sourcing is to drive our economy down to their level - it's always about the dollar.

• People love automotive, that will never end! They will look for new outlets to be involved, some old and some new avenues will become the norm! Fixing along the way what the bean-counters have destroyed or mismanaged! The true enthusiasts will return!

• Yes, we will be moving some events around this year because of multiple factors such as weather, track contracts and new opportunities! That is why I put tentative schedule untill the end of January, we get at least 20 requests from the PRI show to do events in new areas. We just can not get them all because of budgetary restraints but if something looks interesting and makes sense we will try it out. My local old farmers and the Almanac says a long cold, wet winter and spring so yes, I listen to experience.

• Yes, we will all be here this time next year! I will reprint this next year on this date and let's see what has happened.