Diesel performance, diesel motorsports, every aspect of it, takes a back seat to everything else. Haven't you all noticed? FourWheeler magazine(and the other rip-off copies) makes a few lame attempts every now and then to spotlight performance goodies for the Ford Powerstroke. Almost never an article about the Dodge/Cummins, or add-ons for it.
ESPN2, for whatever reasons, chose not to televise three of my friend's trucks, and other light-duty diesels, at the so-called Big Rig Nationals at Bristol Dragway. One of those trucks, running in the low 13's, won the entire thing, bringing home a 3 foot tall trophy. A truck that my best friend built, and that I've done my share of work on, just as he's worked on mine. The manipulation behind the scenes in that entire fiasco, was pathetic. They chose to show monster trucks, and circus-act contraptions, brought in by the promoter of that event.
Go to any motorsports event, especially any Harley event like Bike Week in Daytona, or a SuperStreet /NOPI event (Fast & Furious type rice rockets) and you'll immediately see an abundance of women in attendance. Many of whom own their own rides. MANY.
Diesel events? Fuggedaboutit. Though there are a few notable (and highly prized) female owner/operators/enthusiasts of these trucks, most are married or otherwise spoken for.
Not so at any other motorsport event.
AutoMeter, Hurst, B&M , other manufacturers all have been way less than cooperative when we asked for specific gauges, or shifters. There may be a few other products we've asked for, and didn't get. I can't remember them all right now....
We might have better luck starting a club for all vehicles built with Lucas electrics.... MG, Jaguar, etc. Might get a few chicks, plenty of publicity, dragstrips rolling out the red carpet for us, manufacturers falling all over themselves to furnish us with speed parts and alternative wiring harnesses....
What gives? Did GM really do all that much damage in turning off the general public to the fantastic potential of every aspect of diesels?
Sort of fun being the unknown pariahs of the automotive performance world.....sometimes.
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