SCHEID DIESEL EXTRAVAGANZAIn 1997, Scheid staged the first Scheid Diesel Extravaganza in Effingham as part of another event going on in town. At the time, it was a small truck pull, an exhibition for the most part.
"Guys could bring their trucks and pull them," Scheid explained. "It didn't have it as far as competition was concerned at that stage of the game."
In 2000, the extravaganza outgrew Effingham. That was the year Scheid moved the event to its current location in terre Haute.
This year, the extravaganza drew 12,000- 15,000 people. "We are extremely proud of that, but one thing I have to add to that as well is that, without our employees and the interest of our employees in pulling off the show, it definitely wouldn't be where it's at today," Scheid admits. "We have a lot of employees who are very interested in the business and who work very hard to make that show happen."
Now, the DHRA is in its fifth official year, with payouts in a national roster of sledpulling and drag racing events. this season, for the first time, the DHRA expanded to include West Coast competition. Teams come from around the nation to compete. But a lot of the teams-particularly a lot of the fastest and most powerful Dodge Cummins trucks-have a particularly, critical element in common. they are powered, in a very real sense, by Scheid.
"Whether it's their truck or a customer's truck, every year they're at the top of their field," Jimmy Smith said. "I don't see anybody coming in and taking over. they've kind of taken the market over. you've got a lot of guys who don't have the money to build a whole motor, but if they do, it's just known that, bar none, Scheid builds the top diesel motor. they just know. It's kind of fact."
Scheid's first major move into competition came with his son-in-law, kent Crowder. Scheid's roots were in tractor-pulling, and when Crowder moved into sled-pulling his pickup truck, Scheid said that the corollaries were obvious.