For those of you who don’t know, Scott Birdsall is the “Ol’ Smokey F1” driver from Santa Rosa, California. Ol’ Smokey F1 is one of the nastiest diesel-powered trucks on the planet and certainly one of the coolest machines that hit this event each year. Scott has handed the steering wheel off though this year to someone you may have heard of. Aaron Kaufman.

Kaufman will be piloting Smokey this time around but not to worry, Scott has a new whip to try out. In a recent post on social media, he made a statement to the world about his efforts this year working alongside a lot of great companies including AMSOIL for his diesel-powered CG Superlite LMP-1. This looks like something you see in competitive road racing so to see some diesel power in that is extremely cool.

“I am super pumped to announce a new title sponsor for the 2023 racing season, AMSOIL! They will be supporting my racing efforts as title sponsor through 2023 with full race and technical support. Both of my shops will be exclusively using their products,” Scott said. “This year, we have a two-car team that consists of my man Aaron Kaufman, which will be piloting Ol’ Smokey, and myself in the CG Superlite LMP-1.” Every year it seems like Pikes Peak earns more and more diesel power. Awesome.

I reached out to Scott to get a little more information about the Superlite car to better understand what it actually is and what will be powering it. I have questions. Compared to Ol’ Smokey, how does this differ? This went pretty fast last year, what do you expect this time around with the Superlite? Lastly, what all is done to the engine? We wall want to know.

Scott’s answers are as follows. “How are they different? Well, this car is based on the Superlite chassis, a LeMans prototype. Unlike the 4,200-pound tube chassis/sheet metal Ol Smokey truck, this is a purpose-built, downforce car that only weighs 2,800-pounds. My best time is Ol’ Smokey was 11:24.065. I’m looking to have this car well into the 9’s,” Scott said.

With the help of Toyo Tires, this Superlite should stay planted on the road for the entirety of the race. What do you think it will run the race in?

He continued, “As for the engine, this is a Freedom Racing Engines-built 3.0-liter VM Motori EcoDiesel with all ARP hardware, forged Wagler Competition Products connecting rods, coated pistons, Banks Power intake manifold, custom ARE dry sump system, freshly toleranced crankshaft, Dynomite Diesel injectors, compound Garrett turbochargers, Tial wastegate, and dialed to make north of 600-horsepower.

600-horsepower may not seem like much but in a purpose-built, 2,800-pound chassis, this thing is going to be wicked. Backed by a 6XD sequential transmission, shifting and powering through one of the world’s wildest driving courses should be an easy feat. Working closely with those involved, we’re going to try to get out there to see this event firsthand and see what this car is all about.

A recent post from Freedom Racing Engines on Facebook revealed that they were the ones who delicately put this engine together with everything it needed to take a beating and keep that record attempt alive.

Stay tuned for more news in the next few months. What are your thoughts on the EcoDiesel power headed to Pikes Peak? Let us know in the comments below!