All Speed Motorsports Expo Review - Kansas City MO!

All Speed Motorsports Expo Report

American Royal Building

Kansas City Missouri - February 7/8^th

A group of motorsport businessmen asked Diesel Motorsports last summer if we wanted to join them in a show that would focus on performance automotive so it would encourage enthusiasts to get involved in all segments of motorsports.

I accepted the challenge knowing that we need to keep local tracks busy with new enthusiasts. DIESEL Motorsports contributed by having a truck section with local shops, trucks and information regarding shows. 

This is in direct competition with “World of Wheels” which has gotten smaller every year and does not include local vehicles and performance segments such as race/car clubs or tracks. It tends to include traveling vehicles and older show vehicles with not much performance mixed into the show.

This was the first year for this show so it started out slow but had a very good mix of local race clubs, vehicles and businesses. Saturday was much better in attendance than Friday with a total of 2000 enthusiasts over the weekend. DIESEL Motorsports was quite busy with more people interested in the growing market of diesel HD pickups.

Northeast Diesel helped with a huge display showing a couple of his biggest customers – literally with a 6 door megacab monster truck and a custom 1955 Needle Nose Peterbilt truck. The monster truck owner gave kids a ride on the hydraulic lift that gets him into the truck.

DIESEL Motorsports had vintage trucks, a Dmax drag truck and a local tricked out street truck to show the wide range of possibilities for diesels. In the middle of the trucks DIESEL Motorsports displayed our sponsor’s parts, information and decals to be passed out to enthusiasts.

This show was held in a city owned Agriculture Center with much room to expand in the up-coming years! The show will be held in the last weekend in January for 2021 so make your plans now to attend as a vehicle or a vendor/sponsor for the show. 

This is only going to get bigger every year and to hold it in the middle of the country is a huge advantage for all to make it easily to Kansas City. The winners are listed below along with photos of their vehicles. Looking forward to this show next year and adding to it.

Winners:

Best Diesel: James Knight – The Diesel Pickup Shop/Geneva Nebraska - won best diesel truck with his 61 Ford 12v Cummins

Best Semi: Jamie Johnson from Rust 2 Rodz with 1955 Needle Nose Peterbilt from Marshfield, Mo

Best Monster Truck: Jared Kirkendoll with 2008 6-Door Mega Cab, MegaTruck From Herrick, IL 

Best Race Diesel: Chris Calkins in his 69 Chevy C10 Duramax from St. Louis

Media Motorsports in LA - WTH happened???

Everyone in the LA automotive industry was in a flux of WTH happened last week when the largest publisher of automotive titles we all grew up with was a no-show for the first time!

What happened to the magazines, the people, the industry, the content, and the monies?

A few independents were there with their magazines such as myself representing DIESEL Motorsports and the SHOP magazine. Among many freelancers who used to work for the main-line titles was the newbies SEMA brought in such as youtubers, bloggers, and internet wannabes!

It was a weird week since the main titles were scantly represented or not at all, I felt i was one of the old timers lol.

Everyone including myself asked what happened? Rumors abound such as distribution company went out of business, internet shut them down or Discovery bought out the competition.

What ever happened was sad since many of us grew up with these titles and we spent hours reading what the experts had to tell us about our favorite car, truck or hot rod.

Those many experts were let go over 5 years ago when many over 50 years old were let go or bought out for retirement by the investment companies. That was the beginning of the decline of weak content. Weak content means weak sales in the magazine business, same as the internet business. Those left are now also gone and looking for ways to make a living that has made them a living for many years.

The industry aftermarket companies maybe should look at some of them for content writing or copy for their products. Knowledge is always good business and these folks have a great deal of knowledge about the automotive aftermarket.  Even the internet needs content so it will attract the right followers and readers.

Remember what kept us enthusiasts reading for many, many years!

What I saw after first event and what's coming for 2020 . . .

Yes, DIESEL/TRUCK Motorsports held it's first event the first weekend in January for 2020. We went to almost the furthest tip of the US to West Palm Beach Florida at the IHRA Palm Beach International Raceway.  We did this in order to find the best warm weather for the country and we still got rain on the last day but that is outdoor events. We can not control mother nature!

The turnout on Friday was great with many pickups and fast street trucks. The young crowd came out of Miami around 7-8 pm and brought their best trucks to show off. I saw a lot of custom trucks that was raised, lowered and customized to their taste.

This tells me the US automotive market is alive and well. Who doesn't still like to buy and customize/accessorize your truck to make it your personal vehicle. These young people did exactly that and then some!

They were all proud of their truck plus what they did to it and wanted to show others! That is the original push of all automotive aftermarket that goes back to the 60/70s!

Now I have to admit the look is totally different but that is progress and modern technology at work. Many people came to our booth looking for custom parts to increase HP/Torque, to get better mileage and asking about maintenance fluids to make their investment last longer.

It was encouraging to see so many people wanting to see pickup trucks race and compete at the drag strip. Next year we will be adding dirt drags for the trucks and UTV/ATVs! We spent a good amount of time asking the local crowd what they wanted to do with their trucks.

We ask because we are here to satisfy the customers and what they want to do in order to keep motorsports alive for the upcoming years! Looking forward to 2020!

ET
Winners
John Sikes - 2013 VW TDi Toureg
Michael Pliska - 2020 Ram

Heads-Up
Jeremy Lewis - 2001 Chevy Silverado
Steven Uanlke - 2006 Dodge Ram 2500

Show-N-Shine
Best of Show
Austin Galit - 2018 Ford F250
Best Dodge -
Craig Sule - 2010 Dodge
Best Chevy
Steve Wooster - 1955 Chevy PU
Best Ford
Farmboy Customs - Mark - 2018 Ford F150
Best Rat Rod
Ashley Austin Meehan - 1975 Cadillac - Dmax
Best Semi
Steve Wooster - 2009 Volvo

What I saw at PRI 19 and what is coming 2020!

This is the 10th year at PRI as DIESEL Motorsports and yes we were more than busy! This year's calm weather along with a great economy has energized the racing industry back again in the Midwest in Indianapolis!

It has been many years in Indy and the crowd was the biggest yet at this location. We had many enthusiasts say they remember to come by our booth, DIESEL Motorsports has been in the same spot for 6 years.

Many diesel enthusiasts came by and picked up info on the 2020 event season along with swag/decals from our great sponsors. The DM girls posed with lots of fans for photos and they also discussed the 2020 season.

I saw many large industry manufacturers now making new products for our diesel HD pickup trucks. As the trucks rise in horsepower and torque many parts require stronger internal parts along with drivetrain parts. A standard diesel pickup truck is now OEM 400 plus horsepower and the trucks are made for pulling or hauling loads.

Maintenance is the top upmost importance on a diesel drivetrain and the products are many with newer fluids being updated for higher heats. This show is for racers/pullers and enthusiasts along with shop owners to view what the manufacturers have to offer them for the motor sport that they favor.

This show is about parts and drivetrains for power and that is why it is heavily attended every year. DIESEL Motorsports even finds regular performance enthusiasts drive diesels and want to learn more about how to get better performance out of their trucks.

The events DIESEL Motorsports has scheduled for 2020 are the same for some longtime show but with a few new venues such as gas classes for HD trucks. NEW events this year in different areas that we had visited years ago and now are returning.

DIESEL Motorsports will be looking for long-term event locations over the next couple of years. This involves the proper track personnel, local support from shops/fans and ease of travel along with proper facilities.

Check out our schedule on our web site or Facebook page and give us a call or message if you want to be part of the shows.

www.DIESELmotorsports.US

https://www.facebook.com/DIESEL-Motorsports-195139160520323/

NO MORE MAGAZINES??? Times change as all things evolve!

BIG NEWS this week as Ten/Source/Discovery publishing announced they will no longer print or publish 19 automotive magazine titles leaving only 3 of their brands. An era has come to an end since they were the largest conglomerate of automotive publishing in the country.

Many of their titles came from smaller publishers who started the magazines, then later sold them to large companies. This evolution started many years ago with many different factors that killed the passion that many of the original publishers vested into what we read for years.

Many of the titles were started by people who loved the sport and employed many editors who knew the sport and journalism. That all changed when the big companies started to buy the titles and it was managed by bean-counters whose only passion was the dollar.

Sure,  modern day electronics was the final blow and I am just as big abuser as anyone since I do everything on my phone, pad and computer. But the final blow was the dollars it takes to produce, fill and sale of the titles. Distribution was a huge problem and many years ago the titles made very little off of newsstand sales. Postal service killed direct subscriptions years ago with again more money being charged for delivery. This was an issue when I worked in publishing back in the 80s.

Next was the paper or lack of which caused shortages and of course higher prices. By then the big companies were starting to take over the titles in the 90s but those were the golden years where the titles made very good money. Before the internet and postal issues after 9/11 along with the bust of 2008 in the market the magazines made very good money.

About 2008 and since then the bean-counters took over and the internet went into full swing with the same coverage with added videos not every month but every day! Tough to compete with instant news, photos, and videos. Yes they claim they are going to media but the passion is gone and this is being managed by bean-counters.

Where are the editors, writers and enthusiasts who originally helped build these titles? Retired, unemployed and many finding other means of work, the number will be large with the dropping of 19 titles! You will see much of the same stories republished from years ago with a few updates. That's right the stories from past issues are the property of the big companies. I have seen a few of my stories republished from 3-5 years ago and they were not even updated.

Who will fill the void? The bean-counter re-published sites?

I think the enthusiasts will see through this pretty quick! What will the companies with products do with their advertising dollars that supported all of these titles? How will they reach their prospect consumers?

I may have some answers that I have been working on for about 3 years since I saw this coming for some while! Reaching the rural market enthusiasts who is still driving and using their vehicles for work, fun and family activities?

See me at PRI booth#1835 Diesel/Truck Motorsports 2020 - still reaching out to enthusiasts through modern technology with old motorsport passion!

What sled pulling classes are running 2020? DIESEL Motorsports

We get asked every year what classes are running for sled pulling?

DIESEL Motorsports (NADM) tried for many years to standardize the classes so trucks could cross state lines to compete at different fairs and state club pulls. One Standard so local shops or clubs did not favor their local pullers and to make a fair ruleset for all.

SFI Techs inspected each truck so it was a fair ruleset for all classes and trucks at NADM events. It worked fairly well until local pulling trucks didn't like not having the advantage. Then everyone started making their own rules for local fairs.

Next the two tractor pulling associations decided to let trucks pull with their own set of rules. Then the trucks got too many and too popular so they decided to change the rules where it cost the trucks too much to compete. Now the ruleset is split into about three different ways depending on what part of the country you live and compete.

And guess what! Fewer pulling trucks because no one could afford the higher cost of class rule change. So the pulling has come full circle back to different rules for different clubs and areas and with fewer trucks at the events.

This can be seen at all levels and states where pulling just 10 years ago was double the size of competitors. Now the trucks were lower power and cheaper to operate back then and that is the largest difference.

DIESEL Motorsports over the last 2 - 3 years has tried to bring Work Stock and Hot Work Stock back to the levels of when it was fun to drive to an event, change tires/or not, and drive back home in the same truck. Without the beginning puller the sport will not grow more for the future, this is why we introduced the lower classes.

Classes (that we know of)

Pro stock - Modified
3.6 SB
3.0 SB
3.0
2.6 SB
2.6
2.5
Hot Work Stock
Work Stock

There is differences even between the classes so check local clubs or pull rules for verification! DIESEL Motorsports has tried to include all classes and rules within our ruleset but it is hard to stay up with all states and clubs because they now all differ.

So what has this history told us over a 15 year period! Everyone wanted trucks to be the top classes but no one wanted to stick together to obtain that goal. Trucks are still number #1 with DIESEL Motorsports because we are not governed by a tractor board but we are expanding to a few tractor and gas classes this year!

So look for future info . . .

SEMA 2019 - what to expect . .

Heading to the SEMA show today so I will be posting the next few days the lifted trucks and special new parts for our pick-up trucks!

As always the trucks produced for SEMA Show will be lifted with special fancy suspension elements along with ridiculous large wheels with little rubber for tires. These look great for show but as many of you know very hard to use on your trucks out here in the real world. It only takes one small chug hole to ruin your day!

The trucks have great pain schemes or wraps on them along with very nice bumpers, winches, steps and lights. All the accessories you can imagine buying for your truck. It is definitely eye bling for your truck.

As far as performance, the truck's drivetrains are pretty much stock unless the truck is older (pre-EPA approved) so most of the hoods are closed. You will see some performance parts displayed and possible motors displayed so you can see the parts.

The custom made vehicles are made just for the SEMA show and none other will compare! Some of these vehicles are unbelievable with many hours of custom fabricating and performance drivetrains.

The SEMA show has become a large car/truck show with vendors inside showing parts and vehicles. If you can get there early or stay till late you can talk to the experts at the booths. During the day is almost impossible because of the crowds stopping to take photos with their phones or just milling around wondering where to go next in the show.

It is the best of the best showing custom built vehicles! Photos coming in the next few days!