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Reaching new records to rival their gas-powered counterparts, diesel motorsports has established a powerful niche that pulls in more customers year after year.
Traditionally, most racers would use a diesel engine to pull their race car to the track, and a gas engine to race. But times have changed…in a major way. Diesel motorsports now represents a large and enthusiastic market, with a wide variety of engine builders, aftermarket providers, and sanctioning bodies providing products to racers and a great show for fans.
The majority of diesel racing happens at drag strips, with a strong second presence at pulling competitions. Diesel has also found some surprising success in sports car racing, when Audi proved that a diesel-powered prototype could compete at the highest levels. In fact, Audi’s R10 TDI prototypes won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans three years straight, from 2006–2008.
That said, the mass market for diesel motorsports in America remains almost entirely limited to straight-line power contests.
“We get to see heads turn when our competitors go down the track and click off four-second passes,” said Gregg Jolly of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series (ODSS), Terre Haute, Indiana. “Most people are amazed at what these diesel-powered vehicles can do. We are sometimes almost twice the weight of our gas-powered counterparts. It speaks volumes for the technology involved in today’s racing scene.”
FROM STREET TO TRACK
Diesel motorsports makes sense in the larger context of racing. When racers rely on their diesel trucks for daily work and pleasure driving, then use them to get to the track, it’s just a matter of time before they end up on the strip.
“It has always been about the street truck,” said Ron Knoch of DIESEL Motorsports, Kansas City, Missouri. “Who doesn’t want a big bad diesel truck driving down the street? That’s Americana! We have fun doing what we do because people love their trucks.”
The recognition of diesel’s racing potential starts with the home-based racer. “The diesel racing market is driven by grassroots enthusiasts,” declared Brian LeBarron of Fluidampr, Springville, New York. “There’s still this incredible time-honored tradition that you can innovate, fabricate, and go compete on Saturday night with your friends. Best of all, most pro teams are very approachable, welcoming, and willing to share their knowledge for the benefit of growing the sport.”
TRUCKS ARE KING
While diesel-powered vehicles appear in a variety of motorsports, including autocross, road racing and rally, the bulk of diesel motorsports happens in trucks, mostly in drag racing and pulling.
“Diesel trucks are unique because they’re so versatile,” LeBarron said. “You don’t take a circle track car down the drag strip, but with a diesel truck you could modify the same vehicle for drag racing, sled pulling, or dyno competition. The Ultimate Callout Challenge is wildly popular because it pulls all three together in a single weekend competition. Competitors are required to use the same truck for each segment. Engine and drivetrain swaps are permitted. It requires an incredible amount of prep, skill, and grit for teams to survive the event. The fans love it.”
As noted, many amateur competitors still drive their heavily modified diesel trucks every day. “If someone told me 10 years ago that they daily-drove something that made 1,200 horsepower and it was a diesel, we’d look at them somewhat sideways,” stated Blake Carter of SunCoast Converters, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. “Today that’s something that you can do. To see people crack four digits on a vehicle they drive to work every day is not uncommon.”
MAKING DIESEL POWER
Engine builders are central to diesel motorsports, and many builders specialize in a particular line: Cummins, Duramax, or Power Stroke. Meantime, diesel performance business owners see automakers developing a range of new diesel engines and quickly move to augment those developments with their own high-performance parts.
“We are committed to advancing the use of the GM Duramax engine platform in competition,” declared Guy Tripp of SoCal Diesel, Valencia, California. “That includes the various 6.6-liter V8 engines as well as the 2.8-liter four-cylinder and the latest 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder model. The latest V8 offering from GM is the Duramax L5P engine. It is a significant departure from previous platforms.”
SoCal Diesel manufactures parts and components, and also creates fully prepared competition engines.
“Over the last 15 years we have tried to stay up to date with the latest technology, whether in the front office or on the production floor,” Tripp said. “We have introduced the diesel racing community to the EFILive tool, CNC-ported cylinder heads, billet stroker crankshafts, and alternative firing order camshafts, just to name a few things. Among the many racing components we have already developed and put into production for the new L5P engine are ported heads, camshafts, and billet crankshafts. We will continue to develop and explore that engine platform in the future.”
Scheid Diesel Service Company in Terre Haute, Indiana, has tabbed Cummins as its brand of choice. “Our niche would be working with mechanically injected Cummins engines in diesel drag racing as well as sled pulling,” said Gregg Jolly, also with ODSS. “We work on multiple facets of high-horsepower diesel engines from building pumps, injectors, turbos, to machining solid billet aluminum engine blocks in-house.
We have a bit of a diversified list of things we do day to day, whether it’s keeping the family pickup on the road, repairing injection systems on the farm tractor, or giving that weekend warrior a few more ponies under the hood. We are constantly trying to find the limits of performance parts on and off the track, and we work on anything diesel.”
Both Jolly and Tripp see opportunities for future growth in this segment in the form of new products from automakers and demand for aftermarket solutions.
“Performance enthusiasts are always looking to compete with the latest and greatest offering from the various OEMs,” Tripp said. “GM continues to offer exciting new diesel engine platforms, which will assuredly make their way into competition.”
“I believe the aftermarket segment is going to have to push innovation,” Jolly added. “We have seen numerous class records shattered over the last two years. All of this is going to force chassis builders, shock, tire, and transmission companies to figure out how to get all the power to the ground.”
IT’S NOT JUST DIESEL ENGINES
As Jolly stated, the opportunities in diesel motorsports are not limited to engine builders. For every engine built, there’s a transmission and potentially a transfer case that has to handle the increased power. There’s also at least one axle that has to get that power to the ground.
The chance to become part of the diesel performance market extends to all parts of the motorsports industry.
“I think the strongest segment for the drag racing world is our aftermarket suppliers,” Jolly said. “As these racers find more and more horsepower in their engines, it is going to force our aftermarket companies to produce stronger parts to withstand the torque that these machines put down. All parts—from drivetrain to suspension—will have to be constantly evolving.”
For example, Hot Shot’s Secret in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, specializes in formulating high-performance lubricants, including racing oils for diesel engines, transmissions, and axles. The company also provides specialized fuel and oil additives for diesel drag racing, and products for street use.
“Aside from the racing vehicles in particular, it is also very common for the race teams to haul their race vehicles and gear to and from race tracks using diesel trucks and pushers, which are also large consumers of our diesel oils and additives,” noted Kyle Fischer. “We are proud to manufacture racing oils for all three of the major diesel powerplants. Our gas and alcohol drag racing friends are now recognizing what these diesel drag racing teams are achieving.”
SunCoast Converters manufactures high-performance transmissions, and its reputation is growing in the diesel world, according to Carter. “SunCoast is synonymous with racing because we’ve had great success in diesel racing and we’ve won many records, and we still hold a lot of world records,” he said. “We manufacture components for both the transmissions and torque converters within the diesel and now gas industry. We’re more than a transmission assembler and manufacturer. Of the 47 employees who work here, only five of them actually build transmissions. The rest are in engineering, quality control, and in the machine shop and in our parts department, and of course, our sales staff as well.”
Fluidampr has assumed its place in the diesel market with a line of high-performance harmonic dampers. “In terms of the diesel racing market, we’ve been seeing engine builders set new records every year,” LeBarron said. “With new records comes the opportunity to create more reliable and durable engine components. We work with diesel engine builders and teams as they continue to achieve new limits. This includes engine vibration analysis, engineering, and advanced manufacturing to produce the best harmonic damper to help them sustain durability at incredible power levels.”
INVADING THE GAS-POWERED RACING WORLD
Some diesel motorsports businesses have found opportunities for growth by competing in races that have traditionally been gasoline-powered.
“As the fastest classes in diesel drag racing continue to break records, I believe you will start seeing more diesel-powered race cars running in traditionally gas-only races,” Fischer said “The gap between gas and diesel has closed dramatically over the last couple of years and we are beginning to see more diesel-powered vehicles race and win in gas-dominated fields with no handicap. It is awesome to see a diesel truck quickly become the crowd favorite when outperforming a gas or alcohol-burning race car. I expect to see some exciting gas versus diesel drag racing action in the future.”
Additionally, diesel trucks are still among the most popular choices for work and recreation purposes, so the street-legal side of the diesel performance market continues to expand. Companies are also branching into the gas-powered performance space.
Carter noted that SunCoast Converters “realized pretty quick that we had some success manufacturing for gas engines as well as private label components. We do some work for ProTorque and some of the other companies that we manufacture for. We’ve also had a marketing campaign the past couple of years toward targeting the recreation segment. That’s directed at the guy who’s towing a fifth wheel, who maybe only has 600 or 700 horsepower.
“We’ve also gotten better at things like distribution,” he added. “We’ve opened up distribution with companies like Transtar and WIT Transmission Parts. The everyday shop is now a client base.”
SURVIVING, THRIVING IN THE COVID ERA
With racing limited throughout much of 2020, many diesel motorsports businesses have not only been forced to find a way to survive, they’ve also learned how to thrive in the face of a challenging economy.
“Fortunately for us, a large part of our business is with those who have been deemed essential workers, who are continuing to work every day during this current situation,” Fischer said. “This includes many types of fleets, such as first responders in police, fire, and medical, as well as over-the-road truckers in shipping and logistics.”
Beyond pivoting to serve essential fleets, Hot Shot’s Secret repurposed some of its own manufacturing capacity. “The largest step we have taken to keep our business together has been the conversion of some of our bottling lines to start manufacturing hand sanitizer,” Fischer revealed. “Due to the current nationwide shortage, Hot Shot’s Secret was approved by the FDA to use our bottling resources to produce hand sanitizer. We initially bottled a few hundred gallons simply to donate to our fleets, local hospitals, and elderly homes, but we have since expanded to help fulfill the national demand, which has been a blessing to keep our bottling line employees working full time while also helping out those in need.”
Other diesel motorsports businesses have taken a variety of actions to keep their employees productive and the bottom line in shape. Scheid Diesel Service has focused on agricultural and street-legal business, as well as stocking up on race parts.
“We are trying to support our local farmers and businesses to keep everyone running, as well as keeping our customers’ vehicles going down the road,” said Jolly. “We have also been keeping our machine shop busy producing shiny new billet components for our race program. We’re just doing everything we can to get through this tough period.”
Businesses like SoCal Diesel and Fluidampr found they were able to adapt to the new working requirements.
“Over the last 15 years we have tried to stay up to date with the latest technology, whether in the front office or on the production floor,” Tripp said. “Doing so put us in a unique position when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Our sales staff was already set up to work remotely. We were also able to stagger shifts on the production floor. We recently doubled the size of our facility, so maintaining a greater distance between employees than was recommended is very easy to do.”
“Most of Fluidampr’s sales and tech support staff are remote,” LeBarron said. “Social distancing and additional sanitizing measures per OSHA and CDC guidelines have been implemented at our manufacturing facility. However, we remain hopeful for large spectator events in the future. Racing has a way of bringing people together and inspiring us.”
LOOKING FORWARD
Despite the economic downturn, several diesel motorsports sources predict a bright future, and continued opportunities for growth across the segment. Race organizers are predictably eager to get back to holding events.
“Reports I have received show social media activity levels have risen as much as 300% to 400% while people have been at home during the pandemic,” Knoch said. “Online sites have reported larger sales through this period from people at home working on their trucks in the garage. I think people are taking the time to work on their vehicles so they can come and enjoy the sport once they can get out again.”
“Just within our series we have seen steady growth over the last five years,” Jolly said. “We have gone from just over 100 competitors in our first year to just over 500 in our fifth season. It is great to see the new faces at each race. Once they get behind the wheel and go down the track, that’s all she wrote! They have been bitten by the racing bug. It’s rewarding for me to watch the racers go through each of our classes and watch their progression as they modify their trucks to go faster and faster.”
Engine and parts makers also see an upward curve trending into the future.
“I think the functional market’s going to be the largest portion,” Carter said. “The dual-purpose vehicle is always going to be what the young kids gravitate to. They’re working their tails off, getting all the overtime they can, and everything goes back into the truck. Those guys are all about performance, just like we were at that age.”
“There has been steady growth in the last few years,” Jolly agreed. “It has pushed the aftermarket to constantly evolve and produce better parts to take the punishment we are asking them to withstand.”
Business managers in the diesel racing market are quick to express their own optimism, noting that consistent performance increases continue to invigorate the segment.
“I absolutely think the diesel racing market will continue to expand in the future,” Fischer stated. “Compared to gasoline-based racing, it is now far more common to see record achievements being blown away by leaps and bounds in the diesel racing market. We are now seeing diesel drag racing world records being extended by full tenths of a second, multiple times per season. We hope to see the first ever three-second diesel-powered pass this year. That’s something that most people did not think was possible even just a couple of years ago. This excitement coming from diesel motorsports is garnering attention and attracting new fans each and every year.”
