East Coast Truck Nationals 2024 Review! DIESEL Motorsports

For the 15th year we have held this event at Numidia Dragway in PA! It has always been a drag race, sled pull, dyno competition, truck show and vendors at the track every year! The size every year has gone up and down depending on weather and the economy. This year was extremely hot with a not so good economy on the country. 

Many of the diesel shops have been hit by the EPA in the past 3 years so everyone is a bit leery about appearing out in public, however the same supporting shops showed up  this year as usual. DIESEL Motorsports always sees some great trucks at this event whether it's racing, pulling, dyno or the truck show - this year did not disappoint! Take some time to look through the photos.

Yes the crowd was not as big as previous ECDNs because of the extreme heat but many still came out because they know it is a fun event. We have done enough of these events to know when it's hot you just have to slow down and take it easy as to not stress people and machines out. 

Even with taking it easy we saw a lot of racing trucks break on runs down the track, the heat is hard on these 1500-2500 hp trucks. Talking to many of them as they picked up their winnings they all had fun and enjoyed seeing each other again after a long stretch.

A huge "Thank You" for all of those fans, competitors and crew who showed up this past Saturday for the 15th East Coast Truck Nationals at Numidia Dragway PA! All of the East Coast tracks surrounding us closed down for the day but not DIESEL Motorsports! Temps hit 96º with comfort index at 101º but we did have a nice breeze on top of the mountain. We originally held this event in the middle of July but moved it to June to get cooler weather - NOT! Hot weather did effect event and operations but we moved a bit slower and did not push items and everyone still had a great time with lots of truck action in all area of the track.

A BIG thank you to Numidia Dragway, the DiMinos and their staff for working through and helping us with this event. More thanks to DIESEL Motorsports crew, Suzet Martin, Interstate pullers/Forrester Farm Equipment for pulling track prep and of course the brave competitors!
Photos are under event photos on DM FB page, as you can see we had some great trucks diesel and gas in areas of competition. All I can say is we had a fun time and got to visit with a lot of people we only get to see once a year!

Photos - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.869078698586913&type=3

ECDN Winners

Racing

ET Bracket – Gas

1st – Bill Lamond

2nd – Michael Card

ET Bracket – Diesel

1st – Jake Bachman

2nd – Jake Spinosa

7.70 – Index

1st – Joey Lamond

2nd – David Hurst

6.70 – Index

1st – Dante Delaney

2nd – Dennis Harnish

Quick Diesel

1st – Andrew Kayhart

2nd – Chris Calkins

Show-N-Shine Truck Show

Best of Show Diesel

Mark Vandalia – BTK

1997 Ford F250

Best of Show Gas

William Jones

2000 Ford F-250

Best Vintage Ford – Ben Maurer – 2016 F-250 7.3L

Best Semis – Ben Maurer – 1986 Ford C7000 tilt Cab

Best Ford Diesel – Chuck Wood – 2024 F250

Best Ford Engine – Will Garber – 2012 F250

Best Ford Gas – Troy Mead – 1994 F150 XLT

Best Dmax – Jeremiah Zimmerman – 2008 Dmax

Best Dmax Modified – Brandon Bennett – Dmax

Best Chevy Vintage Gas – Josh Kalinewski – 1971 Chevy C-10

Best Vintage Dodge – Nicholas Garofalo – 1999 Ram 2500

Best Dodge – Nick Brawley – Brawley Brothers - 2011 Ram 2500

Best Modified Dodge – Ryan Magura – 2002 Ram 2500

Best Engine Dodge – Bryce Brawley – Brawley Brothers – 2006 Ram 3500

Best Rat Rod – Kip Whalen – 1936 Chevy Rat Rod

Sled Pulling

Wild Street

1st – Tom Hassler 312.55

2nd – Todd Young 311.08

3rd – Benny Stone 307.82

4th – Ross Harter 301.22

5th – Lula Henford 301.17

6th – Nick Harter 292.58

7th – Mitchell Paloshey 286.35

2.6 Class

1st – Andrew Kicak 345.16

2nd – Derrick Smith 337.89

3rd – Jesse Young 325.28

4th – Tom Hassler 323.02

Hot Work Stock

1st – Ross Harter 321.84

2nd – Nick Harter 290.76

2WD 6200 Truck

1st – Ian Erricker 316.64

2nd – Dale Forrester 150.27

Tractor 8500 Modified

1st – Jason Forrester 326.43

2nd – BJ Wilkins 310.06

3rd – Brad Peters 309.32

4th – Macey Kiskadda 267.42

5th – Scott Kiskaddon 208.19

6th – Logan Smith 206.24

7th – Vernon Zerby 195.93

8th – Vernon Zerby Z Unit 126.81

Tractor 7800

1st – Andy Forrester 336.62

2nd – Don Haley 336.37

3rd – Keerstie Robinson 334.52

4th - Jason Weikel 334.03

5th – Ian Erriker 319.75

Dyno Results

Highest HP – Jeremy Eckert – 1117.48

HP Dodge – Pecora – 759.63

HP Chevy/Dmax – Becker – 754.61

HP Ford – Scheib – 665.72

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Wapak Truck Festival 2024 Review!

 What a fun packed weekend in Wapakoneta Ohio at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds! Friday found DIESEL Motorsports setting up for the Friday night Dirt Drags and the burnout contest! The burnout contest was unbelievable what these guys put their trucks through on the concrete pad in front of thousands of people! The longest burn used up the entire pad to blow both tires.

Because they had so many entries in the burnout contest the dirt drags ran behind an hour but it gave us time to line up more trucks to run down the track. For the first time at the track it went great and the crowd loved the action on the 200 ft track! Winners are listed below in all of the classes.

Saturday found DIESEL Motorsports watching the parade of trucks going to the Truck Show with over 80 entries. The UNOH Diesel club had a great display and they brought over a dozen students from the diesel club to help us with the dirt drags and the tug-a-truck! Good to see the youth getting involved with truck motorsports.

The truck tugs started around 3pm with a large crowd watching from both grand stands. They ran well into the night with over 110 entries, the list of winners will be posted soon. The dyno ran some high power trucks with some high horsepower reports and a couple of exciting blowups from trucks.

The ATV/UTV races on the new built course offered some great entertainment before the tugs and truck show! So this was an action packed weekend in this little local county fairgrounds. Everyone had a great time whether you camped/RV or drove to the event the crowd was enthusiastic the entire weekend.

Until next year with even more fun motorsports activities planned.

Wapak Truck Festival 2024 Winners

Dirt Drags

Street Diesel Truck

1st – Logan Frey

2nd – Fred Painter

3rd – Gabe Koston

Street Gas Truck

1st – Bryson Smith

2nd – Nathan Buchman

3rd – Blake Davis

Modified Diesel Truck

1st – Lewie Latham

2nd – Zeb Rupe

3rd – Ashtin Frey

Modified Gas Truck

1st – Brandon Mitchell

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...

US 36 Horsepower Festival Spring review!

 This first show of the year has been held at this track for several years and we expanded it during covid since it remained open. Most of the activities surrounding the Kansas City area canceled all of it's events so the local clubs called me and wanted to bring their cars to our truck event.

The truck guys loved the mixed motorsports and it has been the same every year! Car and truck show along with drag racing plus food trucks and vendors at the event. It is like a county fair with motorsports.

The afternoon is filled with cars and trucks rolling in while they enjoy good food/drinks and visiting the vendors. A beautiful Spring day makes it relaxing for all those that attended.

Over 70 show vehicles and 1500 fans strolled through the drag strip looking at vehicles. All waiting for the drag racing that took place after 6pm, the normal classes ran from the track with many visiting vehicles! 

Over 100 vehicles raced down the track while 2000 plus watched from the stands during the evening hours.

DIESEL Motorsports wants to thank US 36 Dragway for cohosting this event with us along with our many sponsors and staff who help us all day long! Below are the winners!

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=DIESELMotorsports.US&set=a.842389767922473

Mothers Car/Truck Show

Trucks

Best of Show – Robert Jenkins, 1975 Chevy K20

Best Chevy – RJ Hallwell, 1979 Chevy El Camino

Best Dodge – Nick Hotzlev, 2013 Dodge Mega Cab

Best Ford – Terry Kruder, 1961 Ford F100 Unibody

Best Work Truck – Justin Shelman, 2002 Ram 2500

Best Import Truck – Aaron Despain, 2024 Toyota Tundra

Best Semi – Robert Jenkins, 1987 Freightliner COE

Cars

Best of Show – Dalton, Jordan, Myra Dreler, 1969 Chevy Impala

Best Ford – Ron Sells, 1968 Ford Fairlane

Best Chevy – Steven Beshears, 1965 Chevy Camaro

Best Pontiac – Andrew Schenkart, 1986 Fiero

Best Survivor – Ray Hallfwell, 1999 Corvette

Best Stealth Machine – Ryan Weidmeyer, 2011 Mustang GT

Best Jr Dragster – Abby Kerus, Jr Dragster

Best 70s – David Bloom, 1979 Corvette

Best Clean Machine – Steve Lamar, 1973 Chevy Nova

Best 50s - Roger Murray, 1954 Chevy Bel Aire

Best 80s – Kale Anno, 1983 Chevy Monte Carlo

Drag Racing

Sportsman

1. Brian Schroeder

2. Jeff Wakefield

Trophy

1. Ryan Skaggs

2. Brody Hendrix

JrDragster

1. James Sloan

2. Abby Kerns

Motorcycle

1. Todd Daily

2. Nickolas Myers

PRO

1. Hayden Webster

2. Dean Penn

Super Pro

1. Steve Rivera

2. Dean Penn

Truck ET

1. Austin Murphy

Truck HDS

1. Chris Caulkins

2. Vince Neiderhauser

Sponsors for 2024 who support our sport! Reaching rural America . . .

 Over 17 years we have had our sponsors who help us financially put these shows on all over rural America! Some have been with us all of the years also we have some new sponsors even this year. Companies have their products and services to sell to our truck markets so to reach new customers they rely on DIESEL Motorsports to get the message out!

DIESEL Motorsports endorsement is a product guarantee that we have researched the products/services for our trucks and have verified from garages that they will work. We have turned down many companies if their products were not acceptable by many garages. I'm not saying all are perfect because there will be failures but for the mast majority the products are of top quality in our industry.

Many of the national companies will not guarantee products/services if they are used in competition (which is a national standard) so always check with your shop before assuming your build comes with coverage. Most companies I have found are very reasonable regarding their product's quality even when used in competition but some users run to the keyboards and start trashing immediately (this helps no one). Most companies have now disconnected from forums and internet reviews because of false claims which hurts the real claims so another reason that if you read it on the internet it is not true.

The companies that are our sponsors are the highest rated in the industry and we have made sure to communicate with them many times during the year either by calls, email or at industry shows. The companies also attend some of the shows so they can find out directly from you about their products/services. Come to the shows and talk to them about what they have to offer, you will be surprised how much they care!

So since they are making an effort to support our sport please ask for their products/services by name when visiting your local shop or store/online!

Sponsors:

ARP Bolts: https://arp-bolts.com/

Mahle Motorsports: 

Mahle Gaskets:

Clevite:

PPE Pacific Performance Engineering:

SPAL Fans:

Auto Meter: 

ThermoTec:

Total Seal Rings:

Callies:

Alliant Power:

DPF Restoration:

Amsoil:

Epartrade:

Racing Junk:

MyRacePass:

Mothers Polish:

The Travel Shark:

A Diesel Original leaves our times way too early! RIP Dave Radzierez!

This past Thursday our diesel community lost a person who has left us with many stories and memories - Dave Radzierez of Stroudsburg PA! Dave passed Thursday having some health issues leaving a daughter and grandchildren which we are sending our condolences and prayers. 

Dave Radzierez was known recently as the XDP Diesel monster truck owner and driver plus as a professional driver for the monster truck circuit including Bigfoot 4x4 truck! To us he was a good friend who championed many firsts in our diesel community which carries a lot of stories.

Dating as far back as 2003 Dave started as a sled puller with his trucks in our circuit. As a first Dave designed and built the first tilt body sled pulling diesel truck - "How Do You Like Me Now"! Competing in many sled pulls Dave was always a crowd favorite with his personal friendly attitude toward everyone.

Dave was bigger than life and lived it that way everytime I saw him! He was respectful and always knew how to have fun without disturbing others. Like when he was the first in diesel trucks to do street burnouts during the original Thunder in Muncie event in front of the hotel! He gave it eveyrthing that truck had and put on quite the show!

When I asked him to drive to Las Vegas in 2007 for the sled pull there he was happy to load it all up and drove from Pennsylvania to compete. He even came a few days early so he could display his pulling truck in front of the Mesquite Hospital so everyone could see it. 

When he called and told me he had bought a monster truck and converted it to a diesel, he asked if I could help him find sponsorship for the truck if it came to our events. I told him I would help and we found the funding for him. Dave always called to ask what more he could do to make people satisfied with his performances. 

Dave Radzierez will go down in diesel history as having the first diesel monster truck! 

Dave later built better versions of the same truck and improved the suspensions, tires, power and appearances. As Dave did more shows and got involved in the monster truck circuits he could afford a new build truck and even designed newer systems for it. Dave was a innovative fabricator and builder of the trucks. He ended his monster truck career as the XDP monster truck performing at many events and making the crowd happy! He was considered one of the most talented drivers in the circuit.

Many of us have stories and memories surrounding the events and appearances at the shows. Not only myself but many can tell you never loan your car rental to Dave since no matter what vehicle it was he turned them into a race car. I remember in Alabama he was driving my rental and he missed the exit so he drove under the pass, cut across the median and went up the opposite lane exit in less then 2 seconds. Gene and myself screaming the entire way and all Dave could do was grin and tell us he didn't miss the exit. 

Living life to the fullest I just talked to Dave last summer when I was in Pennsylvania and we talked for over an hour laughing about what we have done together over the years. We had made plans to do a couple of shows this year or help each other at the shows.

Many of us will miss Dave and his laughter when we are at shows this year! 

2024 Season Schedule is done so make your plans now!

DIESEL Motorsports has posted our schedule for the year which is listed below so make your Spring/Summer plans now! A number of new events with some date changes so make sure to check them out. As more tracks are starting to disappear because of suburban sprawl or economy it is more difficult to find proper facilities.

Different activities depends on the track/facility so make sure to check under the activities which changes per location. Many of our old events have stayed the same such as the popular East Coast Diesel Nationals at Numidia, PA with truck drag racing, pulling, dyno and show-n-shine competitions all day long!

The long time Thunder in Muncie at the Gaston Lions Club Park since 2001 has moved dates and activities which now includes dirt drags, show-n-shine, sled pull and vendors in August on the 10th.

So make sure to check out each event with the clicks below.

Spring Horsepower Festival - Osborn MO May 11

https://www.facebook.com/events/1056541812260674/?active_tab=discussion

WTF - Wapak Truck Festival - Wapakoneta OH - May 17/18

https://www.facebook.com/events/382511574183750/?active_tab=discussion

East Coast Diesel Nationals - Numidia PA - June 22nd

https://www.facebook.com/events/733017582083671/?active_tab=discussion

Thunder in Muncie - Gaston Lions Club Park - August 10th

https://www.facebook.com/events/1871245219958839/?active_tab=discussion

Horsepower Festival Fall - Eddyville Dragway IA - Sept 21

Route 66 Performance Expo - Cowan Event Center Lebanon MO October 12th

Sponsors for 2024 - 

PRI Show 2023 - DIESEL Motorsports - what did we see?

Performance Race Industry Show 2023 is in the books so how did Diesel Motorsports do at this event and what did I see for results?

As far as attendance it was up and pretty much back to normal levels for Thursday and Friday pre-covid. Saturday was lighter most likely from people going out on Friday evening but still not bad. 

As far as the quality of the people coming by the booth it was quite encouraging and very positive for our sport. A lot more diesel businesses and manufacturers were present this year. When we started coming in 2009 DIESEL Motorsports was the only representation in the show and was for many years.

Glad to see so many different motorsports and performance groups gather at the show to discuss business. including the startup of the EPIC engine building series by AERA magazine (Mahle, Total Seal Rings, etc) the day before PRI. I attended it and saw many old faces from the past attending the seminars which lasted all day. Very good information including question sessions for the experts, more diesel engine builders should attend this.

I was especially happy to hear new SEMA/PRI president announce separation from all government agencies at the PRI breakfast! We do not need to let the fox in the henhouse! I have been telling them that for over 10 years! Performance and motorsports is Americana and part of our industry, plus a multi-billion dollar business many of us depend on for a living. 

You could tell by the business being done in the building how big our industry has become in sooo many different factions of motorsports. 

DIESEL Motorsports had many new tracks and venues stop by and wanted to arrange for new shows, plus many new companies wanting to do business with us. 2024 will be our 17th year in operation making us the oldest sanctioning body for diesel pickups and motorsports.

Finally people are coming back to shows not afraid of the virus or other fears the media has used to keep people bottled up. The downtown area was hopping all three nights and people getting to visit with each other about our industry.

I talked to many new faces and old in the industry over the two days about upcoming years and business in those years. Yes, it is work, but work we enjoy standing on your feet for over 12 hours and talking with people. 

Many award banquets are held during the show which we attended as many as we could but time is always an issue. Even our own sponsor ARP won the top SEMA MPMC award for the year, way to go Chris Raschke! 

Looking forward to the 2024 PRI Show!