Mother Nature Wins Season Opener, Sort Of
The old saying “if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few hours” couldn’t be more true than in North Texas in the Spring. One day, it’s sunny and in the high 60s and the next day, it starts in the 50s and drops into the 30s at night.
Despite less than idea weather conditions, the diesel faithful still showed up at North Star Dragway.
Such was the case for Diesel Motorsports’ season opening event in Denton, Texas. While Friday’s opening day was beautiful by Texas standards for March, sunny and nearly 70 degrees, Saturday’s weather was another story… cloudy, rainy and cold. But it didn’t deter true diesel enthusiasts from making their way to North Star Dragway for two days of diesel fun.
A lot of drag racers were on hand Saturday, but the track stayed wet all day so the only racing that happened was bench racing.
Unfortunately, the only drag racing that could be had was on Friday evening when the track was dry. Following the drag racing action early in the evening, sled pulling under the stars began with a full field of Street and 2.6 class competitors. A good crowd was on hand for both the drag racing and sled pulling action.
Dave’s Diesel from Angola, Indiana, came all the way to Texas where their dyno was busy all day. This cool blue first gen made 500 horsepower on the rollers.
With plenty of rain delays, it gave attendees time to do some work under the hood.
Another wild Show-N-Shine entry was another huge Dodge nicknamed “Clown” with some crazy airbrush work.
Curtis Hicks and his wild Dodge, “Big Dreams,” was the hands-down winner in the Show-N-Shine competition.
However, with a cold front moving in, complete with dark clouds and rain, Saturday’s program was not nearly as robust. Despite the fact that several drag racing heavy hitters showed up to make passes, rain kept the track soaked most of the day. One attempt at track drying, which was nearly completed in the late afternoon, was thwarted when the rain returned. So Diesel Motorsports moved up the sled pull to early evening, and despite a light rain and temps in the low 40s, the track was lined with spectators and the action ran into the night.
While the weather was not the best, the event still brought true diesel enthusiasts together for an afternoon of socializing and dyno pulls. Several high-dollar trucks also showed up for the Show-N-Shine competition, and for the most part everyone had a good time hanging out with fellow diesel enthusiasts. DW