What does 2021 have for diesel enthusiasts???

It could be a split view depending on what happens in January, however life goes on regardless of what happens politically. 

We all use diesel vehicles to continue as essential workers delivering food/supplies to the stores, service the streets/town municipalities plus continued construction. They still need to be serviced and worked on in order to keep going for us workers.

We still will upgrade them slightly so they last longer and made to service our needs. Our part manufacturers are getting smarter and getting EPA approval on all parts before sending them out the door. Yes, it makes them cost more (thanks government) and they continue to be made in the US of higher quality materials.

Will we attend truck events when we are not working, you bet if any indication from the 2020 year continues. You can not keep us bottled up in the homes with nothing to do since most of the older forms of entertainment have been tainted. 

If state government continues to shutdown fairgrounds then I see sled pulling falling off on the state levels with only private bigger events holding pulls. This will make the midlevel classes fall off with costs being too much for units to sit in garages. Still the street classes will be strong since we can still drive these and the higher cost trucks will be used only when needed for shop promotions. 

Drag racing will continue strong with the street classes along with a new truck street machine class being introduced this year along with ET bracket and heads-up racing. Show-n-shine will be stronger because we have had time at home to work on our vehicles.

With over eight classes now in show-n-shine it makes sure more people go home with trophies and monies for showing their vehicles.

I do know you can not hold down rural Americans for long, we are too inventive and self reliant. We do what we like to do and find a way to do it,  just like DIESEL Motorsports found ways to continue to hold events last year.

Automotive motorsports is Americana and as long as we have to drive to work, we will continue to participate in motorsports. I promise we won't get political, biased or judgemental toward the love of your vehicle!

Watch for more announcements for the 2021 events this year!

ROI - Rural America motorsports -

 I saw this coming several years ago - motorsports tracks being attacked by suburban sprawl! Right here in Kansas City our long time track closed by residents who bought land by local dragstrip, built multi-million dollar homes and then complained about the noise. They knew quite well what they were building next to for their homes. It had been there for many years with weekend events 9 months out of the year for over 50 years.

Almost all of the famous tracks in CA have been shut down and this is happening as cities sprawl out into the country. DIESEL Motorsports decided years ago to search out rural tracks for competition since pickups are mostly used in the country regions.

Yes, pickups were a favorite for aftermarket sales for years when performance sales fell for a number of years. Then guess what, performance moved into the truck market not only for diesels but gas also for offroad and other competitions.

ONE thing you need to remember! It is still a personal owned pickup and they still want accessories to personalize their trucks plus the performance parts. Used trucks are at a all time high for pricing - diesel and gas! They are really hard to find.

Rural motorsports facilities welcome you with open arms as well as the communities surrounding them. They want your business! They want visitors! They want entertainment!

People who compete at local rural tracks have money because they are workers/essential who want to enjoy their hobby of motorsports. Most won't argue with you as long as you are reasonable.

They show up with their families for a weekend of fun, the shows are much like a county fair. Trucks are everywhere, people are everywhere looking at each other's vehicles, they are eating/grilling  and sharing their experiences with each other.

A perfect location to showcase products for trucks and the best part is DIESEL Motorsports can do that for you in our sponsor's tent. It is expensive to travel to the shows so we can do it for you - or you can have a local shop/store or rep attend the show. They can be part of the sponsor's tent or setup their own area. DIESEL Motorsports hauls displays to each event, DM girls who knows trucks man the booth to tell enthusiasts about sponsor's products.

Have DIESEL Motorsports help you reach the very people who visit rural part stores such as O'Reilly, AutoZone and NAPA Auto Stores. Why do you think they go to rural small towns?

These people still have to travel to towns to work, shop and socialize from age 15 to 90! Towns are far apart from each other along with their homes so you have to drive to get anywhere!

Invest dollars where people are still buying your products!

Reaching Rural America - post-election! DIESEL Motorsports . . .

By Larry Mohney

Contributing Editor 

If you think reaching rural America enthusiasts was difficult before - you are about to see a mass exit from mainstream channels including social media!

That's right, the rural crowd is a patriotic people with many having served in the services. Many are small town backgrounds which include conservative views and ethics.

Many have already fled to alternate sites which are not controlled by big tech as to what they post and in fear what they say are being captured for other uses. You can call it conspiracy theory if you want but the migration has already begun.

So how do you reach these NOW harder to reach than ever enthusiasts?

ONLY by getting in front of them locally at rural shows and show support in their lifestyle! DIESEL Motorsports has been doing that for 14 years (starting 2021), they know us and trust we protect our members list. 

We hold family style events with a big emphasis on what they are interested in and that is pickup truck motorsport competitions. We bring mainstream products and companies to them so they can see how they can add them to their trucks. 

They will go to local shops they trust so they can order the products to either have them installed or install the parts themselves. Trust is a big word and way for these enthusiasts, so how do you reach them?

Diesel Motorsports can reach them for you and yes, I am registered on all of the alternate sites along with having shows in their backyards. We are talking a migration of in the millions during the past month.

Think it was tough before, it just got a lot harder for big company's marketing/advertising departments.

KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid - marketing/advertising to rurral America! DIESEL Motorsports

 Let me expand on this concept. . . 

In automotive the engineers demand their product be fully explained to the public, lawyers agree so liability is not a concern, and top management agrees if both of these think the same.

Did they ask the sales or marketing department will people respond to the literature or message projected about the products? 

Did anyone ask the end user would you respond to this message or materials?

Did everyone assume people would respond to their messages or materials?

 

I ask these questions all of the time when I was hired for years as a consultant. Years ago I learned from a old time direct mail writer what and how people responded to when reading mail. Those simple words used in the english language that people respond to and take notice still apply today with electronic media. 

Even more so now because of the way our youth have been taught in school which is shortened english, math and other subjects. 

The quick response language is not even good english (he-he) when analyzed by professionals. But it get results every time because people respond to these golden words for action. Combine those words with your product's benefits and you may have a winner.

Again . . .  capture first then educate! If you don't capture them they will NEVER find out how great your product or services are for their use. 

Rely on your marketing managers to find out how the end users react when viewing product/services. Let them find out how the customers can benefit from the product/services. Let them convey that information to the sales managers who in turn will get the feedback from your customers.

If you don't have the right people in place to accomplish these tasks then either get them or give me a call to help you. I have done this for many years and know what works best for which demographics and sections of the country.

Yes different parts of the country have different needs when it comes to automotive and vehicles. The landscape and weather conditions will alter the way people use their vehicles thus causing the differences. 

Next on the list is truly reaching out to the rural people away from the cities.

Reechout Marketing - KISS - DIESEL Motorsports Rural America . . .

 When I ask for materials to present to people at our rural events many of the companies just send us the regular catalogs or brochures their departments produce. This is great because anything is better than receiving nothing.

But . . . if you REALLY want to be effective - Keep It Simple Stupid - KISS! Yes it works every time at shows, benefits, benefits, and more benefits for using your products/service! 

 

Something that relates to their vehicle and why they should consider the product or services - all explained in less than 5 seconds! I know that sometimes it is impossible but it should at least get them interested before they read on for more information.

Remember that demographic getting in to our sport (18-35) comes from an electronic age. They quickly read in small bits and gather information quickly online. If they want more info then they will read further, but first you need to capture them.

Attention spans become shorter and shorter being trained in schools for quick electronic response times. This should reflect in your efforts to get your message out to people. I know the research and engineer people want the info to be out there and correct.

However, that can be covered after you capture their attention. Think of your materials like a web site with quick outline of benefits and use of your products/services.

Reechout to your potencial customers quickly and effectively . . .

Reechout Marketing - rural America - Diesel/Truck Motorsports

 What is Reechout Marketing? Into rural America throughout the country during 2020/21!

It's back to the basics of reaching your potencial market, do your research first. Marketing is research into the markets you do business, find out currently where is your product selling? Track existing sales through shipping and checking with distribution, warehouses and dealers.

 

Then replicate the same efforts into other areas that have the same demographics. Right now multiple auto chain stores are reporting increased sales in rural area stores. Rural people still have to drive daily to and from jobs, many are essential workers and they start at an early age.

These people are hands on DIY workers who take pride in fixing their own vehicles. They make the time to repair or upgrade and personalize their rides. 

Without magazines, tv or radio how do you reach these people? All the young people (16-35) stream all news services, programs and music to their phones or tv. Many can not get cable or use it but they have internet access through services or phones.

The young rural people do socialize on the internet through different groups. That is how we get them to come to our rural truck shows. Knowing the people and what they respond to is what we do best!

Holding rural events with activities they like and do themselves gives DIESEL Motorsports the opportunity to display manufacturer's products and services. These enthusiasts are smart people who like to learn about new products for their vehicles.

A directed message in a short amount of time that is positive is next . . .

 

Horsepower Festival 2020 - during Covid Pandemic!

Yes, we held an unscheduled event during Covid Pandemic because people were calling us to host a overall Motorsports event including a little bit of everything! Plus not just diesel trucks but gas trucks, cars, rods, jeeps, anything in a car/truck show, PLUS food trucks, PLUS Music, PLUS swap meet, PLUS dyno competition and an evening of drag racing on US 36's 1/8 mile dragstrip!

 

It was a blast of a Saturday all done in one day! But that is what we are known for holding multiple motorsports functions at one location in one day! We have found it is more exciting for people to attend and be entertained. Only thing missing was sled pulling and it may be added next year.

 

Over 3.500 people came in to enjoy the day with over 100 vehicles in the car/truck show and over 100 vehicles racing made it an action packed day. Yes, good ole Missouri weather had a hand in it since it started out sunny and 70º and by end of drag racing it was in the 40ºs with a brisk wind but people still came out to watch from a 4 state area.

Look at the links below for videos and photos of the event, there was a lot to take in for the day and people were walking everywhere on the 200 acre facility. Winners are listed below and a few went home with purse monies and trophies for the competitions. The DIESEL Motorsports booth was busy all day passing out sponsor's swag and information on their products with goody bags provided by ARP!

The car show was handled by All Speed Expo and DIESEL Motorsports did the truck side of the show with judging and presentation of the trophies sponsored by Joey Arrington Speed Sport. Joey was at the show to greet enthusiasts and displaying his new gas and diesel engines along with many of our sponsor's products. Many other vendors were there to sell their products along with some bargains at the swap meet area.

Revolution Auto was there with their dyno providing all wheel dyno services and the opportunity for people to see how their vehicles put out horsepower and torque. Many tried to win the purse money for the highest horsepower!

 

We will be back next year with a similar event at the same location, time may change a little but we hope to keep this kind of fun going for the sport!

Horsepower Festival Winners October 3rd at US 36 Dragway in Osborn Missouri sponsored by Joey Arrington Speed Sport/Diesel Motorsports/All Speed Expo! Started out a beautiful Fall day with lots of people attending and I have to say committed because it was down in the 40s by the end of the drag racing! Thank you all for coming to view and compete! See photos in DM photo albums!

 

Horsepower Festival

October 3rd

US 36 Dragway

Osborn Missouri

 

Car/Truck Show Winners

 

Truck Winners

Best Vintage

Jerry McFee

57 Chevy Truck

Best Jeep

Tyler Smith

2000 Jeep

Best Rat Rod

37 international

John Betzer

Best Dodge

39 Dodge Truck

Harold Gibson

Best Chevy Truck

84 Chevy

Adam Ruoff

Best Ford Truck

83 Ford F350

Kenneth Drake

Best of Show Truck

47 Ford Rat Rod

Brent Duncan

 

Car Winners

Vintage Car

1956 Chevy Gasser

Gary Nelson

Best Import

93 Toyota MR2

Jeff Antill

Best Tractor

70 Cub Cadet

James Niles

Best Chrysler Mopar

1967 Barracuda

Vince Vinder

Best Ford

1948 Ford Anglia

Art Brant

Best GM

1965 Chevy 2

Gary Alexander

Best in Show Car

1965 Rambler/ American

Chris Hans

 

Best Club with most members

Bob’S Garage Car Club

 

Dyno Winner

Donnie Brown

 

Evening Drag Racing

 

DIESEL Truck Wars

1st - Vince Neiderhauser

2nd – Kirk Urich

Super Pro

1st Ralph Morris, Lawson, MO

2nd Cody Martin, Kansas City, MO

Semi Kyle Benton, Lawson, MO

Pro

1st Billy Teeter, Harrisonville, MO

2nd Mario Andrade, Madison, MO

Semi Dave Bremer, Rockport, MO

Semi Brent Hawkinson, Frankfort, KS

Sportsman

1st Jimmy Lynn, Trimble, MO

2nd Tyler Apley, Platte City, MO

Trophy

1st Tom Willard, Kansas City, MO

2nd Barney Mullins, Leavenworth, KS

Jr. Dragster

1st Ryan Owen, Maysville, MO

2nd Colton Koontz, Kearney, MO

 

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=195139160520323&set=a.3692620724105465/set/?vanity=195139160520323&set=a.3692620724105465

 

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsvUt63zQTM

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7GhGv9YG7k&t=311s

 

 

NO SEMA NO PRI - what are we going to do?

 So for the first time in my career there is no industry shows in the winter months for all of us to get together and visit about industry business.

What does this do to our automotive aftermarket business?

Anytime you can not communicate efficiently your business is going to be hurt. As much as we complain about the cost of the two shows and going to the different locations we do get a lot of business done there in a short amount of time.

Even if it is talking briefly at a booth or a drink or dinner, it gives us a chance to talk to each other about how we are successfully doing business. We talk about how to improve our businesses and hearing about our shortfalls from each other during discussions.

Yes, it is very beneficial! 

So it fits perfectly in to the script for the year 2020! Figure out how to do business differently in order to progress and move forward. This year has been a challenge on all fronts and for those who think quickly and knows how to search out new direction they have come out ahead.

We have had to change countless items in our business so we could complete our work and get positive results this year. In fact, many changes have been bountiful and much more successful than the old ways. It is a time to change and think about how to reach people to sell products and services.

Gorilla marketing is the old term, I'm changing that term to 2020 Reechout Marketing (yes I purposely misspelled it)! 

One positive item is NEW is always good! Two is you as companies have saved a ton of money by not doing shows that was budgeted so you can do NEW marketing!

I will follow up on how we can progress and move forward . . .

East Coast Diesel/Truck Nationals Review! DIESEL Motorsports 2020

What a great show during these turbulent times with a great turnout by young truck enthusiasts from many states on the East Coast. It was a hot day but many enjoyed watching some fantastic trucks racing, pulling, dyno and show-n-shine. People came out to enjoy the show but brought their popups, lawn chairs and coolers to honor social distancing. Both sides of the track over a 1/4 mile long were lined with fans and families watching the trucks race and pull.

The fans looked at over 40 plus trucks in the show-n-shine with SEMA quality vehicles for them to inspect and talk to the owners. The truck owners are putting a lot of pride into these trucks. I couldn't believe the quality of fabrication and building of these trucks, it made it very hard to judge and properly picking the winners. Appreciate Greg Alberalla of WrenchWorkz for helping with the judging of the trucks, took us well over an hour to look at them all.

The dyno run by Ken's Auto had trucks lined up all day long to test their performance additions to their trucks, they want to know how much horsepower and torque was added by their builds. They had over 45 trucks and worked well past the show ending

in order to get everyone in for the day. It was over 95 degrees so the 5 guys they had crawling under those trucks that day well earned their money for running the trucks.

Racing was exciting all day long with some great trucks running in four classes: ET Bracket, 12.0 Index, Heads-up and DIESEL Truck War class. ET Bracket always has a large number of vehicles because everyone wants to test their trucks to see how fast they can go but this class you really don't have to go fast but estimate how consistent your truck can go down the 1/4 mile. 12.0 Index was very popular this year with everyone trying to get as close to 12.0 time in the 1/4 mile on every run down the track. DIESEL Motorsports added a new class that will run at most event this year, DIESEL Truck Wars! It will be 1/8th mile racing running two trucks against each other 2 out of 3 runs, then the same in the final, best 2 out of 3 runs. It makes for a fun test on can the driver consistently win at the lights and can their truck hold together for numbered runs down the track.

Pulling had some high quality trucks run the 300 feet in front of a big crowd. With extreme heat 90 degrees plus wind the track dried out quickly even though we had packed soaked it with 8,000 gallons of water. It had not rained on the mountain for a number of days and the ground soaked up the water quickly so the trucks had a hard surface to pull on for most of the day. Track improvements are already in the mix for next year along with possibly running in the evening in order to avoid the day's heat. The trucks that came are favorites every year and it's not about just the pulling but the entire event with so much to do for the fans and families. Some great distances were recorded on the pulls and the HOT Work Stock top 4 prequalified for the Keystone Nationals in early Spring 2021!

I want to thank the vendors and sponsors who came for the event along with Numidia track personnel and our great DM crew for working through such a hot day. We can not pay them enough and it has to be the love of the sport. Everyone was so thankful for us putting on the event, even though yes people get paid to come in it feels good as two owners to have people thank us for the hard work that goes in to these shows. It has been many years since people have thank Gene and I for putting on the show, we appreciate praises. Yes it took more than just us to make the show happen, insurance company, track owner, local people who help us setup the day before and many more in the community.

Appreciate the vendors who braved the heat all day in order to give the crowds things to look at and buy during down times.

Vendors
Street Diesel Performance
Reiff Diesel
Justgetdirty.com
Garofalo Enterprises
South Jersey Custom Metal Designs
WrenchWorkz








East Coast Diesel National Winners:

Drag Racing
DIESEL Truck Wars – 1/8th
Champion – Evan Moser – 5.808 – 126.87 mph
Runner up – Susan Soga – (B)

Heads-Up – 1/8th
Champion – Evan Moser – 6.065 – 97.36 mph
Runner-up – Andrew Terry – 809.25 – 63.38 mph (R)

12.0 Index ¼ mile
Champion – Joey Lamond – 12.315 – 104.62
Runner-up – Peter Brillis – 12.326 – 109.32

ET Bracket – ¼ mile
Champion – Joey Lamond – 12.0 - 12.20
Runner-up – Cameron Oswald – 15.10 – 16.066

Sled Pulling
2.5/2.6 Class
Stauffer – 326.33
Slingluff – 317.25
Slboda – 315.85
McGowan – 299.36
Zechman – 298.43
Schuman – 291.99
Rarick – 291.83
Hassler – 286.42

HOT Work Stock
Costa – 348.23
Hassler – 322.93
Harter – 322.93
Wagner – 313.20
Wenger – 310.54
Campbell – 298.88
Hawk – 298.18
Bertrum – 288.56
Walton – 278.42
Orwan – 261.33

Work Stock
Fessler – 317.17
Gelsinger – 314.20
Wenger – 313.81
Clark – 310.23
Mardock – 306.59
Stewart – 305.05
Hass – 288.35
Bertrum - 286.48
Vogel – 285.76
Miles – 279.79
Shane – 269.75

Hot Tractors
1st – Steve Beckly
2nd – Adam House
3rd – Cole Forrester
4th – Adam House
5th – Eddie Ocker

Show-N-Shine (over 40 entries)
Best of Show – Brian Wagner
Best Dodge – Brian Durf
Best Ford – Jason Fry
Best Dmax – Rio Bomba
Best Vintage/Rat Rod – Hunter Zimmerman

Dyno Numbers
1st Dodge : Justin Burke, 06 Dodge 2500. 1606 HP / 2299 TQ
1st Chevy: Ryan Klingel, 03 GMC Sierra. 625 HP / 999 TQ
1st Ford : Bobby Bertrum, 17 Ford F-350. 547 HP/ 1241 TQ

Thunder in the Bunker - 1st event since Covid Lockdown!

Thunder in the Bunker

Bunkerhill Dragway, Indiana

Friday June 26 & Saturday June 27

After a long period of inactivity with any kind of motorsports we were quite ready and excited to get back to the state where the original “diesel only” event was held back in 2001! The original show was started by Eric McBride (Diesel Hot Rod Association) and Larry “Gene” Mohney (DHRA/National Association of Diesel Motorsports) and it was known as Thunder in Muncie. For years the event was held in two different locations, Friday night at the Muncie Dragway and Saturday at the Gaston Lion’s Club Park. Eric McBride was inducted in to the DIESEL Motorsports "Hall of Fame" during the weekend for lifetime achievement.

This year DIESEL Motorsports moved the event to another location so all activities could be in one location. Bunkerhill Dragway is only about 30 miles from the original location on Highway 31 just north of Indianapolis. One of the original dragstrips in Indiana (1956) and used to be home of NHRA Division III. Currently a private owned IHRA track with lots of history behind it and DIESEL Motorsports plans to put a bunch more in front of it.

The drag strip at Bunkerhill Dragway is currently 1/8 mile but has plenty of hook left in it according to our racers who were running low 6s with their trucks. Well maintained with paved return and pit roads with plenty of greenways to park trucks, trailers and semis. Bunkerhill Dragway even had a checkered flag painted on the pavement at the Winner’s Circle.

We had plenty of space for the vendors by their new restaurant/concessions with full clubhouse and bar. What a great place to hold an event where we can do so many functions with room to spread out. Having an air conditioned clubhouse where people can get out of the heat for a relaxing lunch or drink is a great option plus we had additional food trucks/vendors outside.

Friday night was open drag racing with lots of vehicles running down the 1/8^th mile track while people watched the show from the wide-open spaces along the track. I saw many families with kids sitting around their lawn chairs enjoying the show with their families and friends. It was good to see people getting out after being shut up for so many months. A good size crowd watched a large assortment of vehicles racing along with even semis!

 

Trucks were running in the 6 and 7 second range for the 1/8^th mile which is pretty good for those heavy pickup trucks.

Saturday started out good with a delayed opening because of the early rain. Forecast did not look good but after being closed down for so many months the track and DIESEL Motorsports wanted to get the event in for the day. We got about 3 rounds of racing down the track when a round of storms just popped up on the radar and dropped over 3 inches of rain on the facility. The four days of prepping the pulling track by local Zach Howard and ZZ  Diesel was soon a large mud puddle. We had pulling trucks already there and was expecting a large crowd for it, but all was not lost. There was a benefit pull just 15 minutes away on Sunday for a little girl, they raised over $6000 for her, we announced they could go there to pull the next day for a good cause.

Yes, everything was cut short because of the rain and storms (lasted all day and night) but that is the outdoor event business. It gave us a good base to work on for next year with some improvements like Friday evening cash prizes along with dirt drags plus more activities inside the clubhouse such as local music/bands and awards.

Sunday was a rainout date, but most went home after the rain and only a few trucks showed up, not enough to open the track and more storms were coming. The track and Diesel Motorsports decided to cut our losses and come back to battle another day with Mother Nature!

It was great to get out and just see old and new people, to converse with everyone and watch the trucks compete. The concern over Covid was mildly discussed among people and people took personal responsibility by social distancing around each other on a large viewing area at the track. Many brought lawn chairs and sat with family members, the grandstands had a few people in them but apart from each other. DIESEL Motorsports provided free masks, hand sanitizer and antibiotic wipes at the DM sponsor tent!

Not what we had planned for the first event after the Covid lockdown but it sure felt good to host an event again!

Now on to the next event which is July 18^th at Numidia Dragway in Pennsylvania – the East Coast Diesel Nationals! 

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