Up First for 2012 - Sled Pull Workshop - May 5th!

That's right a workshop for sled pulling!

How many times have you gone to a pull without testing your truck in front of a sled and then pulled with less stellar results in front of a crowd?

Or . . . you just want to try your truck out to see if you can become a sled puller in our sport?

For many different reasons you can come on this date and pull as many times as you want for $30!

There will be a dyno there for tuning your truck among other experts in diesel performance, SFI safety, and teching. A few vendors of diesel performance parts will be there if you bust something or need something during the day, some of those attending will be Little Power Shop, Champion Oil, and Fuelab among others!

All proceeds and admittance fees go to benefit the Amercian Cancer Society so this is a benefit workshop!

This includes all trucks - diesel or gas, tractors, and to include all clubs and organizations, however each clubs safety rules will apply and the trucks will be tech/inspected for safety.

A great idea started last year by Bungart Motorsports out of Jefferson City, Missouri, Bungart owns and operates 8 sleds around the country.

We decided to add in our financial help and support a great effort to pull (no pun intended) the sport together and benefitting a good cause.

$10 to get in and $30 to pull all day what a day and a chance to see some of the best pulling trucks and tractors in the Midwest!

Thunder in Muncie Returns for 2012! Where it all started . . .

Back for the second year with DIESEL Motorsports® and revived from 11 years ago, "Thunder in Muncie" is back with drag racing, dyno, sled pulling, show-n-shine, and a large vendor row.

Let's start at 8am at the Muncie Dragway just east of Muncie, presented by DPPI (Diesel Performance Parts Inc) DIESEL Motorsports will sanction diesel truck only drag racing. Racing will start at 9am and run until 1pm. Cash purses will be paid to the winners on this 1/4 mile drag strip that is known for record setting diesels.


After 1pm we all truck over to the Gaston Lion's Club Park just north of Muncie a couple of miles where there will be a full afternoon and evening of diesel only activities. At the Lion's Park the dyno from Bean's Diesel will be running at 1pm til they run everyone's truck. This will be a dyno competition with cash prizes paid to the highest HP and closest to estimated HP! A large Vendor Row will be available with some of the largest names in diesel performance including many of DIESEL Motorsport's sponsors.


Show-N-Shine presented by "The Diesel Store" will start at 2pm under the trees at the Lion's Park and will be judged at 4pm - cash prizes will be paid for Best Dodge, Best Ford, Best Chevy/GMC! We will be done before sled pulling in case you want to use same truck for pulling!


Sled pulling tech starts at 4pm with pulling starting at 7pm presented by Pure Diesel Power/the Shields, same as last year PDP will be there with their booth and pulling truck/Black Ice! We had quite a few trucks there last year with Shields, Haisleys, Wright, and Smith trucks among our favorite point leaders.


The crowd was great there last year and expect more this year with the other festivities going on for the day. This will be advertised locally via radio, TV and newspaper among other promotions with local businesses. 


DIESEL Motorsports even have invitations out to the original attendees from the TDR group who was there 11 years ago. This is a historic event with bigger implications this year because of a special announcement that will be made before the crowd at the opening ceremony for the sled pulling!


This event will be televised for FOX Cable Sports with a camera crew in attendance and shooting for a 30 minute TV show that will air in September!


Yes, this is just the beginning to some of those special announcements and line up of events at the shows I talked about a couple of days ago!

A few surprises this year . . . but not letting the cat out of the bag yet!

DIESEL Motorsports has a few surprises for this season but we are not ready to release the information quite yet.

Why do we do this?

It seems everything we do others try and replicate, we love the attention! Three years ago DIESEL Motorsports placed competitors on National TV, two years ago we had live webcasts at events with voice commentators, we developed an Advisory Board for the sport four years ago, and we started the affiliate sport program three years ago.

DIESEL Motorsports continues to build the sport with new programs that are customized for diesel enthusiasts. Do we jump to everyone's reaction or suggestions, no, but we listen and plan for future business.

I'm not tooting our own horn here, I'm just laying the ground work for what we have coming for the 2012 season. YOU will be surprised!

What many of the competitors and enthusiasts don't see is the marketing and lobbying DIESEL Motorsports does over the Winter months to promote our sponsor's products. A lot of hours and work is done to prepare the market for the season and help our guys sell their products for the upcoming season at the events.

Yes, we ask many different manufacturers develop custom parts for our sport with and in conjunction with local diesel shops that support DIESEL Motorsports.

Yes we are looking forward to the new season!

A successful point series diesel drag racing weekend . . . everyone to the lanes!

DIESEL Motorsports held it's first point series drag racing in Denton Texas on Friday with a good turnout for a Friday evening. It's tough for everyone to get off of work and get their truck ready, family and head to the track.

Every month Denton is holding a Friday night diesel truck night and keeping track of the points while conducting the race. It's small but it's a start and we have to take steps before we walk.

Five years ago there was more diesel drag trucks but the economy, rising fuel prices and newer truck technology has lessened the numbers regionally for high-end fast trucks. DIESEL Motorsports started to build a fast truck program last year with cleaner burns coming from the trucks and the numbers continue to rise for this next year.

We are starting back with the street trucks! That's why so many signed and raced with us last year because DIESEL Motorsports moved some of the purse monies over to the street trucks. Our street truck classes more than doubled last year and now some of those racers are building faster trucks!

That's the result we wished for and now continue to build in some areas of the country with point series racing. DIESEL Motorsports next point series race is in Florida this Saturday. A local shop DIESEL Specialists started the effort by hosting our PRI race and now wants to build the sport for the South.

The Florida point series is held on a Saturday so more trucks would have time to travel to get there. It's warm there, sunny and the track loves diesels!

Next month they start in Ohio and we may have others by the time summer gets here. Sled pulling is strong with the diesel trucks and it's popularity is picking up in other areas. DIESEL Motorsports is strong in sled pulling and the numbers continue to grow even with a bad economy and rising fuel prices.

The racing numbers has started to grow after last year and continue to look strong for this year. More trucks are being built and some of the street trucks are moving up to the heads up classes.

The more areas DIESEL Motorsports can get monthly series started, the more trucks at National events and the sport continues to grow!

Good job Texan's! Looking forward to this weekend in Florida . . . everyone to the LANES!

Performance Business Magazine - DIESEL Friendly!

Everyone should check out the Performance Business Magazine April issue for diesel updates!

http://read.uberflip.com/i/57634

This issue not only features some of our sponsor's products but also highlights some of DIESEL Motorsports news items along with our schedule.

PB was actually one of the first publications to feature diesel performance to their service center and auto part store recipients. I have known the publisher for quite some time and I can tell you they are professionals who want to help grow the industry.

They are one of the few trade publications who mail directly to the diesel shops and service centers across the country.

Many new products for our diesel industry are featured in their publications along with important reviews of the stores and service centers. This month they featured DEI/Ny-Trex, DPPI, ARP, Fluidampr, Champion Oil and DIESEL Motorsports!

PBgets delivered to every store every month and is read by everyone who visits their stores, it's industry content for those who are interested in what's new and what's being done in the business to sell, service and keep the doors open on a daily basis.

DIESEL Motorsports tries to include all of the magazines when discussing the sport, they all have different content and value.

Even when electronic media is dominating today with Facebook, Twitter, texting, and Voxing the magazines still can be held, read and studied over and over for information.

DIESEL Motorsports partners with Bungart Motorsports for 2012!

Bungart Motorsports is one of the country's top builder of sleds for our sled pulling sport, these sleds cost well over $300,000 to build! They own and operate eight sleds all over the United States with over 380 pulls planned for the season.

They will be used at most DIESEL Motorsports pulls this year, their quality sleds and personnel provide a fair service for all pullers. You'll find them at small local fairs to large tractor and truck pulls, with eight sleds they cover a lot of ground in many states.

A good group of guys who operate close to Jefferson City in Missouri, they always show up on time with proper equipment and personnel to put on a great pull.

That is the reason we have partnered with them to put on their annual Sled Pull Workshop on May 5th!

All of the entry fees goes to the American Cancer Society so this is a benefit with all equipment and personnel operating for free for the sport and charity. Many of the sponsors will be there as vendors and many different pulling clubs will be represented at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia.

All those invited are trucks, gas or diesel, tractors, club rules will apply for those attending, teching will be done for safety!

This was done last year with a great turnout, this year a dyno has been added! So if you want to test those over the winter upgrades on the dyne, talk to industry manufacturer experts for tune-up advice, or test your truck with a sled pull, then this event is a must come-to-show!

Of course, Bungart Motorsports will be there to talk to if your event needs a sled, but their schedule is filling up quickly.

  

Back in the Saddle . . . ready for the season!

Yes, I have been absent for a few days, been down in Dallas, Texas getting ready for our series to start down there plus attending the second Keystone Big Show. These shows are important for our industry because the more companies that see us, the more that what to become involved in DIESEL Motorsports.

We passed out over 5,000 advertisements and 3,000 decals during a 8 hour period, so we saw a lot of people at the show. Diesel shops and auto part stores from a 6 state area around Texas came to the event along with some from Canada (they wanted to go where it is warm). As always Keystone put on a good spread for all of the attendees including the vendors.

Visited many of the local businesses in Denton who support our October show which is on October 6th this year, they are happy to be involved again and look forward to coming. We even had one of the sponsors from last year hooking the trucks during sled pulling, I asked him what he was doing then? He said having fun, I like doing this kind of thing! He said he hadn't so much fun in months!

Attending DIESEL Motorsports and becoming involved is addicting and lots of people are having fun at the events.

This is a busy time for us because we are making the arrangements for the shows for the upcoming season. Some of you have been involved in doing one show a year and know how many hours it takes to prepare for that one day event, try doing several of these plus being involved in many more around the country?

We have several people who are working daily making preparations for the season, we are looking forward to seeing all of the enthusiasts again.

How to save on fuel - MPG????? in DIESEL Motorsport!

The price is going up again and you own a diesel truck, what can you do to save on fuel?

On a diesel make sure your engine is properly tuned, that means no excessive smoke or lope, tune for efficiency.

Check your injectors, do they need to be replaced?

Check your fuel system, is your injection pump getting the proper pressure or fuel delivered to it?

Does your filters need to be changed, including fuel, air intake and oil? Yes, all of them help efficient mpg.

Proper maintenance helps maintain the most efficient miles per gallon while driving but then the obvious is listed below!


Drive Sensibly

Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	5–33%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.19–$1.23/gallon

Observe the Speed Limit

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.

You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.30 per gallon for gas. (Guilty as charged, I'll be watching myself now)!

Observing the speed limit is also safer.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	7–23%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.26–$0.86/gallon

Remove Excess Weight

Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2 percent. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	1–2%/100 lbs
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.04–$0.07/gallon

Use Cruise Control

Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.

Use Overdrive Gears

When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.

Note: Cost savings are based on an assumed fuel price of $3.72/gallon.

As the Spring and Summer months approach us and every time we pull into the pumps, think of what was posted today!

If maintenance is needed contact your local diesel service center, better to be prepared now!

Spring has Sprung, Spring Forward . . . DIESEL Motorsports!

It always feels good to brush the doldrums of Winter off and look forward to spring, warmer days, more people getting out and more sales!

Some of the manufacturers have already started to tell me they had great sales this past month, and the current month is looking very strong in diesel performance parts.

Our DIESEL Motorsports drag series starts in a couple of weeks and we look forward to some great days ahead of us. Now is the perfect time to start making those final upgrades to your truck for competition and testing your truck on local tracks.

We all know the price of diesel and gas is going to rise so make plans now to attend what is local and close for your diesel events. Our schedule can be viewed on our web site, the National events can be viewed by clicking NADM at the top of the event schedule.

The events by DIESEL Motorsports are family oriented so you can bring the entire family and enjoy the weekend. We have the events in areas where the family can enjoy some other local sights if you want to make the trip a vacation get-away. Make sure to call for details.

At Thunder in Muncie, there are several things to visit in the area including the Indy 500 Museum, see some of the oldest race cars in history including diesel Indy cars from the 30s.

Near the East Coast Nationals (15 mins) is the oldest amusement park in the country and it's free to get in, Knoebels Amusement Park. Plus local Hersey Candy factory/city, Strasburg Train - one of the oldest trains in the country plus museum.

Salt Lake City has one of the oldest buildings in the Nation to view including the Mormon Museum and square. Come early to see the races at the Salt Flats just a few hours West of the RMR.

In Columbus Ohio there is several museums, covered bridges, Lakes within minutes of the racetrack and the largest Air Force/Space museum in the country just an hour away at Dayton (plan a full day for it).

Dallas has many museums and areas of interest to visit and see. One of my favorites is the famous Grassy Knoll and museum, full of history that has made our country. Just 3 hrs North of the track is the Oklahoma Memorial which is humble and quieting to say the least.

And of course Orlando in December, commercialism at it's best! Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, Universal Drive while the husband attends the PRI show and our race in the evening!

Plan now and make one of our events a destination for 2012!

Diesel Drag Race Series starts soon!

Something different this year! Not just diesel drag racing at our events but diesel drag racing at different tracks around the country once a month that earn points with a yearend purse for the winners!

Over 25 races(dates) are scheduled for 2012 at three different tracks, Ohio, Texas and Florida tracks. This was implemented at the request of local clubs and diesel shops, it's our way of trying to build the sport of diesel drag racing.

For those who don't know the diesel sled pullers outnumber the drag racers by three times. Why? 

It's easier to hold a sled pull because all you need is dirt and a track. They can be held at any rodeo arena or fairground. Diesel drag racing requires a full blown drag strip which is expensive to rent. Sled pulling has been a sport since the days of using horses, then tractors and now diesel trucks. From June 1 to the end of August, from Missouri to New York, you can find a sled pull in any state every night of the week and sometimes four or five per weekend.

The tracks we work with are willing to let the diesels run at their cost and keep track of the points for DIESEL Motorsports. We are doing this as a prototype to use for every state as long as we find tracks who want to work with us. 

If you want to have your local track participate and have at least ten diesel trucks who will show up regularly then have them contact us. 

DIESEL Motorsports is trying to build the popularity of the sport the right way, with a structure to build on for future events with a local track.

NEW Exhaust Products . . . DIESEL Motorsports!

Every year I ask for new products I see and need for our diesel enthusiasts. It is amazing how our faithful sponsors step up every time and make those products I request. Exhaust is very important to our industry and we have a great sponsor for that product.

Flo-Pro Performance has been around a long time and make perfect fitting products for our diesels. Now they have come out with two new products that should be a must for all diesel shops.

One I have already written about but now they released it, which is the 4 & 5 inch turned up exhaust tips. These can be carried to the track and clamped on during competition, then removed before going back to street. They are being required by DIESEL Motorsports this year because of the issues with fogging the lights and inaccurate readings from the track equipment, not to mention diverting any debris from a blown turbo.

Too many tracks have complained about the smoke fogging the lights and their crew members on the line. We had one track wrap his white dividers with plastic so they would not be smoked to black during competition. With a simple turn-up this can be avoided and help with making the tracks like our competitors. Don't you think that is worth the few extra bucks one of these costs!

Now we all like the stacks coming out of the beds which is a dead give-away for our young diesel enthusiasts customizing their trucks. Because of how well Flo-Pro's exhaust system kits fit we asked them to provide us with stacks. Not only have they just released those but in black chrome which is very attractive and gives a different look to the truck, especially those with blackout taillights and headlights.

This comes from a company who embraces the sport and what we ask from them. DIESEL Motorsports appreciates their participation!

Trade Shows - What good are they for the Industry? DIESEL Motorsports!

I just finished attending the Keystone Big Show which moved to Atlantic City this year! Great improvement from before and an excellent opportunity to visit with existing industry leaders for diesel plus the opportunity to get other manufacturers interested in our industry.

We appreciate Keystone Automotive inviting us every year and setting up a booth, but they know we help their vendors push their products within the diesel marketplace. It's part of our businesss to find out about our sponsor's products, their benefits and how they are used by our diesel enthusiasts. We push the best products to our enthusiasts every day and help them sell them, it's just good business.

DIESEL Motorsports does not own a store or web site that sells products, that would be a conflict of interest with the very diesel shops we strive to help push sales. It's all about pushing the sport and diesel industry, that is how it will grow.

This last weekend's show was a great success with lots of dealers who were asking about DIESEL Motorsports, I think a lot more people were there from the last years and it showed at the reception following the show.

We will be at the next one in Dallas in two weeks pushing our sponsor's products and talking about DIESEL Motorsports.

It just helps the industry if more and more people and manufacturers find out about our sport.

I know another one of our industry giants holds a simiar show on a cruise that was held last month that pushes products in the diesel industry that is very beneficial but we have never been invited to that event.

DIESEL Motorsports will continue to push diesel part manufacturers no matter who they are and where we are during the entire year. Grat show Keystone Automotive and thanks for supporting our sport!

Spreading the Word . . . Diesel Motorsports!

Part of our job as a sanctioning body for Diesel Motorsports is spreading the word to the rest of the industry about our sport. Taking it mainstream!

The more people hear about our sport the more popular it becomes and everyone benefits. We are the only group who lobbies and promotes the sport within the automotive marketplace. The next few months are spent at trade shows throughout the country.

We pass out flyers about the events and promote our sponsor's products at the shows including talk first hand about the sport while we show them videos.

You would not believe the number of people who have never heard of diesel truck racing or pulling, they always ask if it's semi trucks.

It's all part of educating the masses about our sport and getting more companies interested in Diesel Motorsports.

Driving people to our sport and letting everyone know how fun one of our events can be for the entire family.

I'm in route to one today, as I type this at the airport!

Less is Bigger & More is Better . . . DIESEL Motorsports!

What a contradicting statement, but it is true when describing the thought process when we structured the 2012 schedule!

Every year DIESEL Motorsports holds a closed door Advisory Board meeting with our sponsors right before SEMA in Las Vegas. We discuss a number of items but mainly the direction of the sport and the next year's activities.

This last year we forecast that fuel would be rising again being an election year, therefore the Board asked where was the best concentration of diesel trucks and what shows showed the most promise? Knowing that people would not travel as far when fuel prices are high we strategically placed the shows in areas that could produce good shows and moved some of our smaller events to local clubs and groups (affiliate program).

So we are planning on putting more time and effort into the combined BIG shows this year by increasing advertising, marketing the events and more planning to make the shows more exciting and family oriented. We have a couple of plans to entice larger purses and better payouts for the 2012 competitors in both pulling and racing along with some great year-end point incentives.

We also launched drag racing point programs at three different tracks for 2012 including monthly points and a year-end run-off with year-end purses. Those along are over 25 races and planning to add a couple of more tracks this spring.

Our affiliate program is expanding every year by adding new groups and new events to the mix for pulling and racing. Affiliate programs are for local clubs or groups who adopt our rules or classes and maintain a safety level equal if not better than the National standards for DIESEL Motorsports.

This is all in the interest of building our sport and helping our sponsors stay connected with the fans and competitors of DIESEL Motorsports.

So look forward to Bigger National combined DIESEL ONLY shows and more affiliate shows in your areas. Check the listings on our site regularly because it changes all through the year.

See you at the events!