If you want to be around in the diesel performance arena, experience counts. To that end, the Scheid Diesel Service team has been around since 1982. They’ve grown their name in the diesel industry as a full-service center and fuel injection shop. Their first location is Terre Haute, Indiana. Now, with two other locations opened, they can help more enthusiasts with their diesel needs. Scheid Diesel is not just a retailer of quality parts, all locations have fuel injection shops as well as a drive-in service area. Over the years, their diesel expertise has been used in everything from agricultural, construction, heavy-duty, truck, and automotive diesel engines.

As the name grew larger, they dipped into one of the most exciting areas of the automotive industry, motorsports. Scheid Diesel has made their mark in the diesel performance market with truck and tractor pulling as well as diesel drag racing. Scheid now has a diesel-powered drag racing machine of their own. It’s piloted by their very own Jared Jones. This Cummins-powered dragster is one that is hard to miss.

What Is The Scheid Diesel Capable Of?

This lawn dart with an engine features a pile of Scheid goodies and has made a best pass (so far) of 4.04 seconds in the eighth-mile and a best trap speed of 185 mph. In the quarter-mile, Jared has wheeled this thing to 229 mph. Owner of Scheid Diesel, Dan Scheid, and Jones have been working together for years to better their elapsed times and miles per hour with the dragster. They are still looking for that elusive three-second eighth-mile pass.

When you attempt to apply as much power as they make to a drag racing surface, things get a little sticky. Pun intended. If you were to turn the power down, maintaining traction wouldn’t be an issue. If you’re wanting to break your own records, you can’t do it that way. So, they’ve tried everything with this powerplant but they just need more. How about changing the oil? Wait, what?

How Can We Help?

Hot Shot’s Secret, one of the leaders in diesel performance oils and additives, reached out to Scheid about their endeavors of going faster hoping they could help. They trusted their product enough that they would prove it on the dyno. I reached out to Dan Scheid to gather his thoughts on what happened.

DA: What do you have to say about Hot Shot’s Secret after trying their products and seeing what they did firsthand?

DS: “When we find a product we like, we stick with it. It is very seldom that we will change anything at all. But after speaking with Kyle at Hot Shot’s Secret and having him explain the product to us, we decided to make a change. We changed to their engine oil on the dragster and the proof is in the dyno numbers.”

The Secret Sauce

What did they do? Scheid uses multiple products from Hot Shot’s Secret including their Everyday Diesel Treatment, Stiction Eliminator, Diesel Extreme Clean & Boost, and their Adrenaline R5 20W-50 engine oil. After simply making a change to this trusted race oil, they strapped the engine to the dyno. Here I am, frantically waiting to hear the numbers after an oil change, and it was worth the wait.

DA: What gains did you see on the dyno after only switching to their products? 

DS: “After we got everything set up and dialed in on the dyno, we ran the engine cold and picked up 60 horsepower. Once the engine cooled down, we ran it a few more times and managed to maintain a 40 to 60-horsepower gain. We have never seen a horsepower increase by just changing oil brands in the past, so this was very impressive.”

Simply by changing the oil, the Scheid Diesel dragster is now tapping into even more horsepower. Could this be enough to get them into the 3’s? Unfortunately for Scheid, no track has offered the conditions needed to put the whole package together.

DS: “At this point, we haven’t seen favorable conditions for us to use this new horsepower gained but we are very excited to see what happens once we do. We need to be running in the 3’s. Last year at the PDRA Finals, we ran a 4.04 so hopefully, we can get there this year. Although, it’s easier said than done.”

This is a testament to Hot Shot’s Secret engine oils. If you’re looking for a way to pick up the horsepower on your race rig, maybe you should look into this. It is teaching old dogs new tricks and that’s cool.

To wrap things up, I talked with Kyle Fischer at Hot Shot’s to see what it was like working with a pioneer in the industry. “Pioneer is the right descriptor, man,” Fischer says. “I have always had an enormous amount of respect for Dan Scheid and what he has done for diesel motorsports. I remember a video that was played when Dan received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ODSS. It really put into perspective how much he has contributed to the industry over the years.”

Fischer continues, “That being said, I also know that Dan has his way of doing things. With so many years of success in truck pulling and drag racing, rightfully so. I’m just very fortunate that Dan was open to hearing about the new technology that Hot Shot’s Secret has brought to diesel motorsports in the last few years.”

We have seen this sport come a very long way over the last few years and as Kyle mentioned, a good portion of these record-breaking passes and huge horsepower numbers are backed with the same products Scheid is involved with now. Scheid Diesel had been a dealer of Hot Shot’s Secret products for a number of years, but until now, they haven’t been using the Adrenaline Racing Oil in their dragster.

“This past year I enjoyed giving Dan and Jared a little grief about that in good fun as they were holding us back from a full clean sweep of ODSS champions. Six of the seven defending class champions in ODSS run Hot Shot’s Secret Adrenaline Racing Oil. So when the opportunity presented itself to do some testing with Dan on his own engine and dyno that he knows so well this past off season, I was excited about the opportunity.

Based on the results Scheid Diesel received, I’d say both parties are happy. Making a significant horsepower increase by doing nothing but changing to a better oil. “We were really happy to see the results of the Adrenaline Racing Oil in the Scheid dragster engine. Sure, everybody loves to see horsepower gains, but that extra horsepower is simply a byproduct of the resulting wear reduction from our racing oil. We don’t create horsepower with our oil, but rather the oil provides less friction and heat, allowing the engine to produce more horsepower. In the end, when we see numbers as we did on the Scheid Diesel dragster dyno testing, it goes to show the ultimate protection that we have built into the oil which provides longevity to the engine,” Fischer says. “It’s truly an honor to be working with Dan and Jared on the Scheid Diesel dragster. We have continued to see some great oil analysis from the dragster and the power is there to get into the 3’s, so we are all really looking forward to what is next for the team.”

For more information about the Scheid Diesel Dragster, head on over to their website here. If you’re interested in trying out some of Hot Shot’s Secret oil in your race rig or to find out about their oils and additives for everyday diesel usage, check out their website here. For more diesel news, reviews, and event coverage, stay tuned here at Diesel Army.