The diesel engine is well over 100 years old. Clessie L. Cummins (yup, that Cummins) should be credited with bringing the compression-injection engine to mainstream America, but over the last 10 years, guys from across the U.S. have brought diesel power into the limelight like never before. Who, why, and how the current diesel movement began is up for some debate, however.
Many automotive trends have traditionally been born on the West Coast, but with all the agriculture experience of the Midwest, mechanical-injection diesel performance is still rooted in its Farmbelt birthplace. Now, the transition to electronically controlled common rail diesel engines could change all that in the next five years. So rather than settle the debate, we'd like to start one!
In this issue you'll find trucks from all over the country. We traveled down South, hung out on the West Coast, and spent some time in the Midwest to see firsthand where diesel performance is today. We also spent some time with three diesel competitors we think are driving the world of diesel power. And one man who is trying to bring us all together.
West Coast
Bryan Kinney, a 39-year-old, West Coast-based diesel sled puller, runs his FordF-350 Super Duty in the Diesel Pulling Organization in California. Although Kinney said he is running a reduced schedule this season, that in no way means he is retired-or even close to it.
Diesel Power:
First off, take us through how you got into diesel sled pulling. This isn't something you're born into. You had to choose to do it.
Bryan Kinney:
A friend of mine got me into it, Adam Sprague. He doesn't pull anymore, but he's a big influence in sled pulling. He sold his truck because he got to the point where it cost too much and it was too much of a melee to get everything ready. Adam initially got me into it in late 1999 and 2000. Of course, at the time, I thought I was the biggest, baddest thing to ever hit the face of the earth.
DP: And you weren't?
BK: (Laughing) The first pull I ever went to was in Tulare, California. It was at the World Ag Center, and it was with the same diesel puller I use today. I had a coffee cup in my hand and a cigarette in my mouth. We hooked up to the sled and pulled it down the track. It was funny. I thought I could take this 40,000-pound sled and pull it down near the cornfields, but, of course, it never happened.
DP: How was the sport different then-six, seven years ago-than today?
BK: We used to just go to as many sled pulls as possible. There were no rules or regulations. It was, "Run What You Brung." There was a group of us that just kind of stuck together. We'd go to every sled pull we could get our hands on, but the bad part was there were no rules, so a guy who had a brand-new stock truck would run against a modified truck. It was just very unfair for the stock guy.
DP: Did you win immediately?
BK: Adam would always beat me, then there was Chris Sutton and me. That was usually the order. Then I started playing around with these trucks, and I met Steve Cole at TTS Power Systems. He kind of egged me along and helped me out.
DP: You began as a drag racer and spent much of your life in that part of the sport. Now you're devoted to sled pulling. Why the switch?
BK: I got tired of drag racing. With sled pulling, you've got eight seconds to go down the track. It pretty much takes eight seconds from once you're hooked and rolling. You want to go as far as you can as fast as you can and you only have one shot. You've driven four or five hours to get there, so you have to do all this preparation for eight seconds. Most people in their right mind won't do that, but to me, that's very competitive.
DP: You put a lot of money and time into this sport for not a lot of financial return. What keeps you going? What keeps you into it?
BK: (Laughing) You want the real reason why? The real underlying reason? I don't care who you talk to-it's the ego. It's the ego to say, "I have the most powerful Dodge or the most powerful Ford or the most powerful Chevy around here. It probably won't do the quarter-mile like a race truck will, but I guarantee I can out-pull anything you can give me." It's an ego thing. I'm not in it to win money. We always donate it back. I've always been one to take an underdog vehicle and try to excel. That gives me added stress or whatever you want to call it.
DP: When you look at diesel sled pulling, in the West and nationally, where do you see it heading?
BK: I see it evolving quickly. The younger generation, the kids coming out of high school, they've got good jobs now, and they can afford a diesel truck. They go to county fairs, they see guys doing this, and they want to get involved the next year. Every year I've seen an increase in entries into the pulls. If California doesn't shut it down because of EPA restrictions, I see it getting pretty big the next couple of years.
DP: And what kind of an increase is that from, say, two years ago?
BK: (Laughing) I'd say about 200 percent. There were only, like, six of us who did this consistently then.
DP: It's that addictive, this sport?
BK: It's very addictive. And the camaraderie is very cool. What other sport can you go to, spend all day having a barbecue, looking at other people's trucks, playing with their kids, then go race? You get to meet people and you get to talk to them, trade secrets with them, and you establish friendships. The next pull you go to, you're seeking that guy that you just spent six hours with the last time. With the Internet, you communicate by instant messaging, e-mail, and you start to build a group. It's a lot friendlier here than it is back East. There are guys who come from here and go back East to pull. Back there they have pit crews, they have the same uniform, and there's top-secret stuff. Out here, we're working on Joe's truck when we know we're going to race against him. He needs an injector, so we have an extra injector or an injector line. It's very kosher here, and it's very fun.
DP: How tough was it to get started in this sport? It seems everybody who runs diesel has a story about people telling them, "No way. Not in a diesel.
BK: I ran into the same problems with diesels as I did with my own business. I'm a custom painter by trade. When I got into custom painting, I went and asked everybody and they were like, "You'll never be a custom painter...blah, blah, blah." They would tell me things in roundabout ways, but never help me. I got into diesels and everybody said, "Man, that's a diesel, dude. It will go 20 mph down the freeway, but it will pull a house." I'm like, "No, it will go down the freeway at 140 mph and pull a building." They're like, "No way, no way." It was a big challenge to prove to people that this truck can be safely driven on the street, then I can go to a dragstrip or a sled pull and clean house.
DP: Diesel pulling and racing seem to be growing faster by the year. Do you have the feeling you're a forerunner in this sport? Is this the start of something big?
BK: In the diesel world, yes. In the sled pulling world in California, no. In the late '70s and early '80s, they were packing the Rose Bowl with 120,000 people to watch sled pulling. Monster trucks were opening for sled pulling. It was called the Hot Rod Truck Association, and these guys were big-time. It was a circuit. Truck pulling used to be huge out here, but not diesel pulling, because nobody ever thought about it. I don't know if we'll ever get to the Rose Bowl, but I've seen places where we've packed in seven or eight thousand people, and it's pretty amazing. I think the diesel thing is taking off because Chevy, Ford and Dodge-those guys are very competitive in the diesel world too. Each year, one of them comes out with a higher-rated diesel horsepower torque than the other guy. Are they doing it to compete with sales? Sure, that's probably 99 percent of it. But as a consumer, if you're seeing competitiveness among three main brands, you're going to want to be competitive when you go out there too.