We are DIESEL! Who is the real diesel man???

I hear and see a lot of people making this claim! I hear people say I make that claim! In NO WAY do I make that claim in the industry, I'm only a face who travels the industry shows who markets and promotes what the rest of the diesel competitors and fans do during the season.

Not one person makes up what has happened during the past 15 years, I have been here for about half of that time as most people who are currently in the industry. Many of the originals have grown older and are there or they have dropped out of circulation.

Working the events and shows I would have to say it's pretty arrogant  for someone to lay claim to the title, there are a lot of people who are worthy of making contributions in the beginning and even current.

DIESEL Motorsports started a "Hall of Fame" three years ago honoring some people who have made major contributions to the sport. Since Gene "Sleddy" Mohney has been there for the time it started I let him decide who the candidates should be every year. We then discuss with other industry leaders and study the backgrounds of who the people are and what they contributed.

This year that distinction goes to Scott Bentz which was one of the 1st in the industry to set records with his diesel dragster. Scott was the top competitor at every event with his rail that attracted much attention across the country. He is still involved with diesels working at Cummins Rocky Mountain in Denver. Scott is always positive in everything he did including racing his rail in front of the crowds. Scott set records with his rail that no one was reaching even in the early 2000s!

There are many people in the industry who are important for the continued growth of diesel as a sport. It only works when everyone works together and I would be the first to name many ole timers and youngens who help build the sport today.

See what you can do to make it all work with fellow diesel enthusiasts and it will grow. Keep things positive and people will notice while bashing and calling names will only demise the importance of the sport.

I even have seen several women rise to levels of importance in the diesel industry, some are very tough competitors. It's a lot of work with very little rewards in many cases and those who help often wonder why they are doing the work. You gotta have passion for the sport and for the people in the sport.

Who is the real DIESEL man or woman? It is all of us combined, make a difference and hop into the fire!

SEMA 2014 - what happened . . .

I always like to give a report of what happened at SEMA because a lot of our diesel shops and fans cannot afford the time or expense to go out there every year. It is a necessity for DIESEL Motorsports because this is where we converse with current and future sponsors.

We always hold our sponsor appreciation dinner before SEMA on Monday evening, we had 19 people there enjoying the food and company of fellow industry leaders. DIESEL Motorsports briefly presented the plans for 2015 along with a recap of 2014. Many different people talked and discussed the business of diesel motor sports.

The SEMA show opened on Tuesday morning with a healthy crowd of people, we visited the first hall and dropped off DIESEL Motorsports decals for a few sponsors to give away during the show. First stop was Fuelab which was one of the first as you went into the show, then Mahle/Victor Reinz and Flowmaster Performance Exhaust.  Some diesel manufacturers were there but not very many, however some of the mainstream performance manufacturers are now producing parts for the diesel market.

Yes, this shows me the mainstream automotive is recognizing the potential of the diesel vehicles. Not many diesel trucks were displayed at the show, you could have counted them on both hands. The SEMA show is considered more of a bling show for many but if you look there is many things to view for the performance vehicle including wheels and tires.

The manufacturers were excited about the amount of traffic coming through the show and many of our own sponsors committed that many diesel shops and distributors were in attendance and stopped to discuss parts. This too is very encouraging that the business is there to support the manufacturers producing products for our industry.

DIESEL Motorsports saw many people and sponsors during the show, we visit with them on how we can do a better job at the events and what should we be expecting of new products for our diesel market. Many had new items coming out after the first of the year. We will be covering those new items during the month of January, one of the new items out now was a Cetane Boost by CRC along with new wheels by Weld!

One of the highlights of the week was attending the 50th Anniversary Reception for Covercraft/Seat Savers (sponsor) and getting to meet everyone that works producing those great seat covers for our trucks. One of my good friends for many years retired and it was his last SEMA show as a Covercraft Regional Sales Manager, we'll miss Gary at our diesel events.

We saw Karl from Champion Oil receive a distinguished award from SEMA for selling American products to China including our own Blue Flame Diesel Oil. Congratulations Karl!

We met with many new potential sponsors along with interested manufacturers asking about the diesel marketplace. It is our way of spreading the word about DIESEL Motorsports and bringing it into mainstream automotive.

Next show is the Heartland Performance Show in Des Moines IA on November 21/22 at the Convention Center. We will be displaying some local killer diesel trucks along with passing out DIESEL Motorsports decals and literature.