David Diehl Overcomes Thrashes to Take True Street Win at Edgewater Sports Park
It’s not uncommon to see drag-and-drive rides also competing in other style of venues and events, and one of those is no-prep. Roadkill Nights has featured several drag-and-drive rides over the years, and last year we reported on a few drag-and-drive cars picking up no-prep style wins.
David and Nick Diehl competed in a few no-prep events last year with good results, and 2024 is already shaping up as a good year for the two brothers.
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The Diehl brothers have competed in several drag-and-drive events over the last couple years, and we watched David Diehl roll the orange 2001 Ford Mustang to a 7.76 average during this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
But the Diehls also have a blue 1994 Mustang that also sees drag-and-drive action, most recently at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2023, where good friend Chris Merry drove it to a top three finish in the Street Race Small Block Power Adder class with an 8.55 average.
That same ’94 Mustang became the weapon of choice for a recent no-prep event at Edgewater Sports Park, and it was a bit of a thrash just to get the car lined out.
“We decided to take a last-minute trip down to Cincinnati to Edgewater to run true street,” said Nick. “The car sat kind of tore apart, and needing to be put back together, and we really didn't have any time. (Good friends) Brian and Brad jumped on it, and help get it back together, and even went and got us some new tires for the trailer. We couldn't of even went without them.”
After arriving at the track and getting some initial laps on the car, Nick knew they still had some work to do. “The car was driving left bad, so we know coming into Saturday, we needed to measure the whole car and get it figured out,” he said. “We found some things we didn't like, made some adjustments, and bam, right down Broadway!”
With the car figured out, they jumped into two classes, Lil Gangster and True Street, the latter of which has a 5.30-elapsed time cap. “We ran a 5.40 the night before when the car was driving left,” said Nick, figured they were close enough to the cap to be competitive.
Eliminations started with a first round win in True Street, but there was no time to celebrate. “We had to hot lap the car due to being in two different classes, so Dave drove right back to the lanes,” Nick recalls. “I went over the data, put a tune up in, and David drove the wheels off of it and got a first round win in Lil Gangster.
So now we are pretty pumped and had enough time to go to the pit and go over the car. While going over the data I realized we are out of turbo. I added some boost on the last pass, and we didn't gain mph.”
Between Dave’s driving and Nick’s tuning, they managed to make it to the final round of True Street, where Dave drove to the win over fellow Michigan racer Glen Ward. But with the Lil Gangster class coming right up, they once again hot lapped the car right back around, where a problem was discovered.
“I noticed that the t-bolt clamp on the throttle body had moved, so I had Brad run back to the pit and grab a ratchet and a socket so I could tighten it,” Nick admitted. “Right as Brad gets to us in the lanes, we hear that we are on a 2 minute clock, so I hurried up as much as I could to move the clamp and tighten it up. I was a bit ginger with it; I knew if I broke it, I wouldn’t have time to get to the pit and get another one. So we make the call and stage, Dave lets off the (transbrake) button and the car goes 60 feet, and the clamp exited the chat. Sunday morning I ordered Motion Raceworks quick clamps.”
Not the way they wanted their night to end, but the brothers got a chance to celebrate in the winner’s circle, making all the thrashing worthwhile. “Who would have ever thought a 4.8-liter LS in a 3400-pound car could compete at this level,” said Nick.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Diehl Brothers Racing.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com