Hey Power Service and race fans:
John Robinson - December 7, 2011

For those of you who have not seen the world's only diesel-powered funny car or John Robinson in action, check out this video at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, CO! See what race drivers and fans alike think of a winning product -- Power Service Diesel Kleen +Cetane Boost.

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John Robinson

Click on the photo to download a 1920x1200 screensaver photo.

And into the sevens she goes...
John Robinson - November 14, 2011

All of the hard work and long road trips have finally come together for the Power Service Funny Car team. This past weekend in Ennis, we made 3 passes with a new best of 7.94 @ 174 mph. That will put us #3 of all time in the mph category & #4 of the fastest Cummins-powered vehicles of all time. And we did it with a 3,100 lb funny car. No way this could have happened without the support & technology that Power Service has brought to the table. The day began with a lot of us being very nervous, you could cut the tension with a knife. We came to do this thing, and the time was now. We made it to the staging lanes as usual but we all had a different feel about this pass. I got it through the burnout just fine & the motor sounded like she wanted to run so we got her into the lights & let her do what she was built to do. The pass went well & I knew we had it when the radios lit up & the crew was going wild. It is a feeling like no other when many hours of hard work & dedication finally come together & it is one of those things that no one can ever take from this team. Now that we have that hurdle behind us we will focus on getting her to a 7.76 @ 179. That would put us in the #2 slot, and we want it bad. The plan is to keep everything the same and work on weight reduction. We should be able to clip 300 lbs off of her with a new carbon fiber body & a titanium clutch, as well as some more hp under the hood. Thanks again guys. I will be in touch as soon as the off-season rebuild begins.

Farm Progress Show
John Robinson - August 31, 2011

Good crowd and lots of interest in how Power Service meets the needs
of the agricultural community, here at the Farm Progress show in Decatur
Il.  Stop and visit if you have the chance.

Sapp Bros Denver
John Robinson - August 4, 2011

Good crowd building here at Sapp Bros in Denver. Come on by and get some Power Service Diesel Kleen® +Cetane Boost® and improve fuel economy up to 8%.

Sapp Bros Cheyenne
John Robinson - August 4, 2011

Set up went great, great weather, good crowds. We set up by the fuel island and went to hand out product while drivers were fueling.

 

Walcott Truckers Jamboree
John Robinson - July 15, 2011

Folks, come see us at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the world's largest truck stop. Power Service fans are enjoying the diesel-powered funny car and spinning the prize wheel for some quality give-aways.

 

Nice Burnout!
John Robinson - June 29, 2011

John Robinson and the Power Service Diesel-Powered Funny Car
from Witherspoon Advertising on Vimeo.

This was a nice burnout at a test session in Denton. We were still throwing a little fire out of the stack & needed more timing in the motor.

Thanks, John

Indy ... What a ride
John Robinson - June 21, 2011

The rig pulled into Indy on Friday morning & myself along with the rest of the boys arrived at 4 pm. 1st round of qualifying I was in the middle of the burnout & heard a loud pop ... it was a water injection line that decided its life was over. No biggie, we have plenty on the trailer but it was the first time I had dropped the hammer on the Scheid setup & boy did it sound good.

Next pass I got through the burnout fine with the rpms hitting the 6300 mark !! I left the line pretty soft & the chargers didn't light until she was 2.5 seconds into the pass, still ran a 168mph pass & it felt decent. The first round of eliminations found us beside the "bone shaker" ... a neat altered car that is as consistent as a bracket car. We both got our burnouts done & I thought I heard some popping under the hood. Went ahead & left with it & sure enough ... lots of popping now, I lifted & glad I did. We got back into the pits & found the front half of the block had let go. This block had many pass on it over the last 2 years & she was a good one but where the boost levels are now I will have to change a few things with the block. We have a new one at the shop already.

The new block will have a set of crower billet rods along with some Mahle pistons with a lower compression ratio. At 150 lbs of boost we will be dropping it down to 12:1. It's a never-ending bunch of work
doing what we do but we love it. Next week I will be playing cowboy at the frontier days rodeo. We will be there supporting our beloved Trevor Brazile & I hope some of you guys can make it out there to watch him in action.

Thanks, John

Round 2 … Fass Diesel Nationals
John Robinson - June 9, 2011

We have just finished loading the rig, filled the tanks with fuel & Diesel Kleen & we’re off ! Chris Shouch will be driving the rig this trip & we are happy to have him aboard the Power Service funny car team. Chris has logged many a mile over the road & is a heck of a lot better at driving than I am. The Fass Diesel Nationals is an exciting race for us every year because it has so much diesel culture. It’s a show that has us running in between the rounds of sled pulling & it makes for a lively event. Fass has also been a major sponsor for this team for years & we couldn’t live without them. Many of the products Fass builds & sells go through this car first to ensure the customers are getting the “good stuff.” We will be arriving cold turkey with no test pass made before this event, but I feel we will be OK. We have decided to change up a few things on the car & would like to welcome aboard Scheid Diesel Motorsports. We have changed the turbos, Injectors & injection pump in the last 3 weeks & everything looks tight. We also changed the entire front engine cover due to the camshaft wanting to push out the front of the block  at higher rpm’s. Scheid built this piece from billet aluminum. No way it’s ever going to fail – wow what a work of art it is. These turbos are designed to run at 155lbs of boost & have dynode 1800 hp. I never thought I would see the day a 360 cubic inch Cummins could put that much hp out. I will be back in touch soon.

Thanks, John

Good turnout!
John Robinson - May 12, 2011

Lots of product and Funny Car items handed out! We are loading up and heading to Bowling Green! Come see us at the TS Outlaw event starting tomorrow in Bowling Green at Beach Bend raceway.
 
We will have more goodies to hand out.

Come see the Power Service Diesel-Powered Funny Car and meet John Robinson
John Robinson - May 10, 2011

Don't forget to come out and see John Robinson and the Power Service Diesel-Powered Funny Car at Keystop Travel Center!

4391 Nashville Road, Franklin, KY 42134
Exit 2 off of RT 65 • P: 270-586-8027

...When: Thursday, May 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

And come out to see the Funny Car at the TS Outlaw race,
Beach Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, May 13.

Click here to download the flyer in high-res PDF format.

Come see the Power Service Diesel-Powered Funny Car and meet John Robinson
John Robinson - May 5, 2011

We will be giving away Funny Car promotional items
and Power Service Diesel Kleen® +Cetane Boost®!

Where: Keystop Travel Center
4391 Nashville Road, Franklin, KY 42134
Exit 2 off of RT 65 • P: 270-586-8027

When: Thursday, May 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

And come out to see the Funny Car at the TS Outlaw race,
Beach Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, May 13.

Click here to download the flyer in high-res PDF format.

NHRA Divisional
John Robinson - April 15, 2011

It’s time for the NHRA Division 4. This is a rather fun event for us because there will be 448 gas/alcohol cars there & 1 diesel trying to beat them. We got the pits all set up & we wound up pitting between Tony Bartone & Steve Burk. Both are very heavy hitters in the alcohol funny car ranks. It was a treat for us since we know all about a diesel & very little about an alcohol car. Friday was a very windy day & the officials decided it was too risky to continue the qualifying sessions. Saturday morning arrives & we are ready for testing. Got the burn out done & hit the lights with a decent launch & 60`. Ran it out to the 2nd gear shift & lifted the throttle. We got back to the pits to check the clutch tune up as well as the boost levels & all looked decent. We put a little more clutch in her & we were headed back to the staging lanes for another shot. The burn out went well & we staged her into the lights & let her eat. It was a great pass until I hit 3rd gear,The tires broke loose & we went sideways. I lifted & was glad I did, the tune up we had on her was pretty severe & she hit 112 lbs of boost on this pass & promptly puked oil out onto the tires. The car is getting better with each pass & we now have her leaving the lights really hard & on 2 wheels. It has taken 18 passes to get it to this point & we now have a decent handle on the clutch, it is making the difference for sure.

 

NHRA Divisional
John Robinson - April 151, 2011

We have arrived and are set up for the NHRA Divisional here in Ennis,
TX. perfect weather. This will be a great event.

Getting her up to speed ....
John Robinson - April 11, 2011

She is built & now is the time to get her all shook down & the bugs worked out. From Tuesday to Friday night we didn't get to bed before midnight, we were getting the tune ups set & went ahead & re-ringed her. Rich Howell the clutch guru is in town from California & was good enough to meet us in Denton for another test session . First pass...no dice, here again I had the rpm at 5000 when I dropped the power to it & once again we jumped straight in the air like a bobcat ! We made 3 more pass that night,gaining knowledge along the way but still not happy with the results. Friday test session in kennedale. It was pro mod night & the crowd was huge. Nothing like adding more pressure while shaking a car down...first pass was a vast improvement with a really nice burn out & a choppy launch but we could tell we were doing something right. We got her back to the pits & tweaked on the clutch a little more. We had found that the engine wasn't loading up enough to spool the chargers while setting still at the lights so I drove it a little different this next pass, I get the rpms at 5 k & fed fed her a little clutch....bingo, boost came up to 90 psi. I dropped the hammer & we were gone. She hunkered down, raised the front end & left the area...quick. It's by no means perfect at this point but we can now make a predictable outcome without tune ups. Next stop is the nhra divisional in ennis.

Hope to see you there.

Funny Car a hit at Mid America Trucking Show
John Robinson - March 31, 2011

And the crowd loves it.

Check out John's 60 sec. Radio Spot
John Robinson - March 31, 2011

Mid-America Trucking Show...move in day...
John Robinson - March 30, 2011

Well the long trip from Weatherford to Louisville went well with no problems , I fueled up first time in Rockwall & of course treated with diesel kleen. i got 8.9 mpg this tank ! MY rig only weighs 42k though but that is an improvement....i met a couple of drivers at the fuel island.....had a good time as well as had a little show & tell session on the car....when we departed the drivers left with smiles & free samples of Diesel Kleen. . I rolled into the expo center & i was as lost as a 1st grade school boy....i didn’t know where to go or who to see. as luck would have it i herd a fellow calling for me on the radio....It was bob, a very good guy that i had met at another truck show. He got me introuduced to the show director & saw to it that i was well taken care of. thank you bob....that sure did help on getting the car in & set up. Now the wait begins until the show starts....think i will do a little work on the trailer today.i will check back soon.

 

John's Funny Car Trailer Graphics:
John Robinson - March 28, 2011

Check out John Robinson's new funny car trailer powered by Power Service. The Witherspoon team created graphics for the new funny car trailer with the help of our buddies at Stone Water Graphics.

 

Sneak Peak:
John Robinson - March 28, 2011

John and the funny car are in Louisville, KY for the Mid-America Truck
Show. The trailer made a good impression as it rolled from Weatherford, TX.
Now folks are getting the first secret look at the new car.

 

Here we go......
John Robinson - March 22, 2011

After a long winter & many trips home late at night with a sore back….Today is the day. We loaded everything & closed the doors & I came to realize how much work has went into this just to get us to this point….We love it though. We went to Kennedale to make 2 short burst just to read data & feel the clutch. All was well so we loaded her up & headed to Phoenix.  The trip went well with only 1 tire failure on the trailer & we arrived around 2 pm on Friday. Rich Howell who is a drag racing guru out of Yorba Linda Ca. was good enough to meet us there with a wealth of knowledge with these clutches. Ist pass was another short bust to test the clutch….Too tight, Back around to loosen her up some more. 2nd pass…too tight but getting better. We finished the evening off by hanging in the pits, working on the car  & telling lies….Good times for sure.

Saturday….This day holds 3 more test pass for us as well as the event going on. Ist pass we finally got enough clutch out of it to get some boost…I get the turbos up to 70 psi & dumped the clutch to let her eat !!!  She went straight in the air with about 6” of ground clearance on the rear. What a ride. Next pass we played with the clutch some more & got a good steady launch but it was too slow. Got to find that sweet spot. All & all the event was a blast & I really enjoy seeing my diesel drag racing family. We will be making more test pass on Wednesday.

Check out one of John's Radio Spots
John Robinson - March 22, 2011- Click on link below.

30 Days & Counting
John Robinson - March 21, 2011

It’s been a while since I have checked in but it’s not because we have been sitting around doing nothing. As many of you know we are building an entire new diesel powered funny car for the 2011 season. I found an ex John Force funny car out of Yorba Linda Ca & just “had” to have it. It’s a 125” pluegger chassis that has a 12” chrisman rear along with the carbon fiber brakes & all the good stuff. We started the build from the frame up by stripping her down to the bare frame & making the necessary chassis modifications to get a diesel to fit in a funny car, then the paint went on to give it a fresh new look. Next up was the midplate to allow the new clutch/lenco setup that we will be running. This midplate is the heart of the car & there were many hours of measuring & tweaking this crucial part of the build.  Now its on to the clutch, we called Bruce Crower & got his team involved on building a clutch that has never been built before. It is a 4 disk 10.7 pedal clutch that many blown alcohol funny cars run today but has had to be modified to fit a cumnmins & setup for our unique power curve. It has proven to be a great challenge for all involved but it will be worth it. Along with the clutch we are installing a lock up feature from Frank & TF Performance that will allow us to “slip” this clutch off of the line & then bring it in slowly as we go . This will keep the tires from going up in smoke but will allow all the hp to reach the rear tires. Then we go to the can...This is being built by Browell & has had its own set of challenges. It has arrived here for measurements but will have to be sent back to 2 other companies for the final fit & finish. Now the plumbing, The good folks @ Fass fuel systems has built us a set of pumps that will feed this monster all the fuel she can swallow along with all the necessary lines & fittings to get get it there. And on we go to the new motor. We are moving away from nitrous this year & going to a large water injection system. Nitrous works great but we are looking for another challenge. The water injection system will shoot water into each port & both intakes of the turbos @ over 3000 psi. It is proven technology that been around in the tractor pulling world for years. It works. Mahle motorsports has kicked in another set of monotherm pistons for the new motor as well. These pistons are each made specifically for this car & are a work of art in themselves, they are beautiful & its too bad that you can’t see them in the car. Now the Turbos..as usual the folks at Industrial Injection have come to the table with some good ideas & products. There will be a 400 74mm charger on top with a 110mm phat bastard on the bottom. These chargers are huge !! the bottom charger alone weighs in around 60 lbs, they will deliver over 110 lbs of boost That will be regulated by a top notch JGS 60MM wastegate & will be driven by a 13mm ag governed pump. Fuel will not be a problem. The head porting is being done by the best head porter in the country as far as I’m concerned & that’s Dealers Machine. Burt has etched out his own version of art on this head & has many man hours of grinding & shaping the ports. It takes a certain kind of person to do the things he does...Thank you Burt & Kurt Manual. Along with the new build is a new body. It is a 2004 dodge avenger that has a very sexy wrap that was installed by Stonewater graphics. ARP fasteners will be supplying all the bolts to hold this thing together & Racepak will be monitoring the data for us. Both of these companies have been with us from day one & we couldn’t live without them. They are both the leaders in their fields.

Since we are in the cheerleading mode I would like to thank all of the crew of the Power Service Diesel Funny car for their hard work. Coy Randall, David Durant, Blake Bailey, Sawyer Finch, Daniel Riddle, Zack Walker, Tim Wallace, Jeff Case, Pam Ross, Kyden Fowler, Ronnie Davis, Eric Lister & my wife of 20 years Donna Robinson. They have all donated much of their time & skills to this project & without them this wouldn’t be any fun. Thanks to all of you good people.

And on a final note there is one thing that we all need to keep in mind & that is Power Service Diesel Additives. Without these people all of this would not happen. They have given  their support in so many ways & have made a huge difference in this teams abilities & all of the vendors that are associated with it. All of the above mentioned companies & people are people that have been directly helped by Power Service. It’s very refreshing to see a good family do good & they have truly earned their title as the #1 selling diesel additive.

The Big Show Is In Town!
John Robinson - October 1, 2010

It’s Tuesday morning Sept 21 & the big show is in town. The NHRA O’Reilly Fall Nationals are here ! There is so much to do getting ready for one of these events & a lot goes on behind the scenes. The racing actually starts on Thursday the 23rd but I’m pulling out on Tuesday to get a decent parking spot. I arrived at the track around noon to find 50 or more rigs already lined up & wanting a good parking spot as well. Whatch gonna do? I spent the night in the good ole freight shaker & waited my turn.

Wednesday morning: The rat race of setting up the pits begins! We got a decent parking spot & tech inspection is at noon. We made it through tech inspection with flying colors & headed back to the trailer to begin setting up the car for the weekend ahead.


Thursday morning: Race day qualifying round one went OK. We had the tune up backed down & ran a 9.018 hunting for that ever-elusive 8.90 pass. We got her back to the pits & checked all the components & all was good. My light was WAY sloppy & was a .303, I was asleep at the tree for sure.

Round 2 of qualifying: We turned her up a little bit on this pass & I had a much better light. We did a .007 light & ran a 8.71, Bingo!!! Headed in the right direction but a little too quick, now we back it down a little….Still hunting an 8.90 pass.
Round 3 of qualifying: Cut another decent light with a .036 & ran a 9.0. Man that’s getting close!! We ended the day with high hopes & very pleased with the car. Nothing broke & the driver is doing his job ! We spent the evening prepping the car & had a little time to cruise the pits & visit with some of the racers & fans.

We had the honor of meeting Don Garlits at this race & he was “highly amused” with this car. He just shook his head & said “I never thought I would see the day” he was happy to see something different in the NHRA & was surprised to see what diesels are capable of. What a treat for us diesel heads to have some one like him even look our way. We are blessed.

Friday morning & it’s the first round of eliminations, the nerves are tight & nobody’s playing. There are now 87 other competitors that were friendly yesterday & now they all want to kick our butts!! Its racing at it finest. We get the burnout done & all went well. Get her into the lights & let her fly. The driver “me” wasn’t doing his job & cut a .102 light. We got really close but the round win in the NHRA has eluded us once again. We ran a 9.1 something & the winner ran a 9.0 something. Our day is coming & we are going to keep showing up until we do this thing. Its not easy & there are many very good teams out there that have been doing this a very long time. The more we get beat the more we want it & the sweeter it will be when we get it.


Thanks, John

Good morning folks!
John Robinson - September 16, 2010

I wanted to drop a line to everybody & let you know that a really big race is coming up for us. The NHRA fall nationals in Ennis is one of the most prestigious races of the year for this team & it goes from Sept 23rd to the 26th. All the nitro cars will be in town & if you’ve never seen one, this is your chance. It is an awesome experience. I will be leaving on the 21st getting parked & getting the car through tech inspection. My first pass will be on the morning of the 23rd. We should make a pass sometime the morning of the 24th but they will also be running 2 qualifying sessions of nitro on the 24th as well. One of my personal goals is to actually win a round in the NHRA with a diesel, It has never been done & it will secure a place in the record books forever.

Hello guys
John Robinson - August 31, 2010

We had an awesome weekend & the car is back on track, the new converter was the ticket.  It was an 1/8 mile track & it ran a 5.51 first pass. 5.48 the second pass & a 6.60 in the final against the Scheid rail, neither one of us had our turbos spooled when the light went green & we both left the line soft. Our chargers lit at the 100` mark & my competitor went sideways when his chargers lit. That puts this team at 6 & 2 vs the quickest diesel in the world & also makes it the winningest diesel in the pro dragster class. It was not a pretty win but sometimes the guy that screws up the least comes out on top….LOL. This event had 15,000 tickets sold & many more just hanging in the parking lot, The exposure was very good & it is has been the largest diesel event we have attended to date.

As we were driving to the event we did a recap of the events, miles traveled & people we have talked to. So far we have been to 11 races & 18,000 miles added to our odometer on the freightliner. There is no good way to tell how many people we have been in contact with but its got to be a lot. There are 2 more events on the schedule, The O’Reilly Fall Nationals in Ennis which is on Sept 24,25,26 & the Big Rig show in Charlotte, NC on Oct 8 & 9.

The TS Outlaw Event
John Robinson - August 11, 2010

It’s Wednesday morning & once again it’s time for the Power Service Diesel-Powered Funny Car to hit the track, headed to Bowling Green KY for the largest diesel drag race in the country & we are pumped. We will be trying out some new things with our tune up & this will be the first pass on the fresh motor. We will stop by Kennedale on our way out & make a test pass just to make sure all is good before we drive 800 miles. Tim Scheer will also be traveling with us this trip. He is the father of a pretty cool Ford Ranger with a 6.0l international in it. He is hoping for some 10s this weekend.

Wednesday night … We unloaded the car & made a pass in Kennedale, she ran good & strong so I lifted at half track to save parts & the car is now ready for Kentucky. Tim however went for a little ride when he blew water from his overflow & got the tires wet…. he went down the track & crashed 3 times but just didn’t hit anything. He got a lucky break & learned a lesson about water & slicks on that pass. We pulled out of Kennedale around 11 pm & caught a hotel on the other side of Dallas to beat the traffic in the morning.

Thursday morning … We woke up early to hit the road. We are starting to feel like real truckers with all this travel & we made the journey to KY with no issues.  We did have a few good conversations with some of the drivers on the way & we enjoy chatting with the real truckers, our C.B. lingo is a little rough but we always seem to be able to communicate. Many of the drivers give us a shout out there about the car & we appreciate it. These conversations help the miles go by, It makes me realize that being an American trucker is not necessarily a job, it’s a way of life. Keep up the good work guys! America needs you.

Friday morning … We arrived in KY to meet up with Dennis Perry & his crew at their new shop, their new facility was awesome & as usual we enjoyed the visit. We left there & headed to the track to get set up. The track wouldn’t let us in until Saturday morning & we had some maintenance to do to the golf cart & Tim’s truck so we pulled into a Wal-Mart & unloaded. Now that’s something you don’t see every day. Before too long there was a crowd of good folks stopping by to check things out as we worked on the car, Good times for sure…

Saturday morning … It’s all business now. We arrive at the track around 7 am & commence to setting up the awning & getting things in their place. First pass is at 11.

First Pass … Burnout went well & she left with a 1.19 60` time. Got down to the 1/8th & blew a turbo flange, no biggie. We fixed it promptly are ready for the next pass at 1.
Second Pass … She did well & ran her usual 8.89 with no carnage, perfect pass for super comp racing. We bring her to the pits & service her for the next round.
Third Pass … We were supposed to go side by side with Scheid this pass but they had some problems with their set up so we just went down alone. She ran a 8.93 with no carnage … Life is good.
Fourth Pass … This is the final pass of the evening & as usual we are running the Scheid boys. The burnouts went well & I backed up to get into the lights. I sat there & didn’t see Bo in the other lane, the track official waved me into the lights, gave me the broke sign & sent me down the track … 8.90 pass. I was clueless as to what happened to the Sheid rail. We won the event but really didn’t want to win it that way. When I got back to the pits, we found out that all that had happened was a loose fuel line on their #3 cylinder. I would have gladly shut my motor down & waited for them to get it fixed if I had known….The track official went by the rules of drag racing but for goodness sake we are all like brothers out here & we want to help each other out when we can. Next time Bo & I will have our radios on the same channel & this won’t happen again.

Sunday morning... We wake up at 4:30 am & pull out onto the open road headed for Texas, There is a certain kind of peace that comes with driving a truck at that time of morning & I enjoyed it. The trip home was uneventful & we pulled into the shop at 6 pm. Monday morning is coming early & my bed is going to feel great.

Thanks, John

Houston NHRA…
John Robinson - June 22, 2010

We were loaded up & went to the NHRA division 4 points meet in Houston. One week earlier we ran a 8.85 with a .036 light in Indy & felt we were in good shape to go super comp racing … Wrong !! We get down there & found that we had roasted a turbo on our last pass in Indy. We made a few calls in the diesel community around Houston & came up with one. Thank you David Lott, Richard, Forrest & Michael Brady & Brett for all your efforts to get this car up & going. The diesel world is still small enough that we all know & like each other with a “ride for the brand” mentality that you don’t see enough of these days. We got few pass` in & finally got beat by a lady. Christy I believe her name was. She cut a .003 light vs. my .119 light & left me eating her dust. LOL…Hats off to Christy. Go get em girl. On our last pass we dropped another valve seat, 3rd time this year this head has taken us out of the game. This head has had so many pass` with over 120 lbs of boost on it that it’s moving & flexing too much. A new head is in the works & will be installed by the time the TS event in Bowling Green gets here. While we have it tore down, we will be installing some new pistons that Mahle Motorsports has provided. These are a new generation piston that this project helped develop over 3 years ago. They are an all-steel design that has proven to be tough as nails. We have beat the crap out of this set that we have for over 3 years now & we could re-use them if needed. These new pistons will be 100 grams lighter than the previous ones.

Along with the new pistons the boys at Industrial Injection have come up with some new dual feed injectors that are ready for testing. They should be good for a few more ponies as well. We have 3 weeks or so to get the new build in & tested & are hoping to get it to a dyno for some testing before we hit Bowling Green.
Thanks, John

Took A Whipping
John Robinson - June 9, 2010

It’s Saturday morning In Indianapolis & rain was looking eminent. Finally at 10 am they called the race & moved it to Sunday. We didn’t mind since it gave us a little more time to hang out with our diesel buddies & some quality time with some very special kids. They made our trip worthwhile & touched our hearts. The Make A Wish Foundation is such a worthwhile cause & I encourage everyone to participate. These kids loosened up my heart & made me realize that as I crash through life at a scurried pace & worry about problems that are really miniscule compared to the hand that these kids have been dealt. I will never forget them & I am so honored to be looked up to by them.
  
The trip was worth it because of the kids … but we did go there to race. We raced the Scheid diesel dragster driven by Bo Layne & it so happens to be the quickest diesel on the planet. It has ran a 6.86 with a speed of 205mph!!!! & is the only diesel to break into the 6’s as well as the 200mph mark. What a great bunch of guys they are & we really enjoy being around them. We have raced this car several times & have always somehow managed to turn the win light on first. Well our luck ran out on this time. Each race we did jump out in front by cutting a good light but horsepower is what wins drag races & they had more. Bo & I were pleased with the passes though. It’s not very often you get two diesels like this side by side without someone making a big blunder. The cockpits of these diesels are very busy places & require a certain feel. I have always said that what makes Bo Layne such a good driver is that he is a farm boy. Being a farm boy myself I think that there are certain attributes that you learn from driving tractors & running machinery, most of it done at a very early age. The new converter that we tried was a disappointment to say the least but seems to be a great converter for running in super comp. We will keep plugging along with this setup but I think a clutch is what it’s going to take for us to get into the 7’s. These words keep rolling through my mind & they were spoke by Dan Scheid himself over 4 years ago. He told me “John, you are going to hit a wall someday with that converter”. Well his car is whipping our butts so when in Rome do as the Romans do. Getting beat is all a part of it & how a man behaves when things aren’t going his way dictates what kind of man he really is.
Thanks John.

Make A Wish
John Robinson - June 2, 2010

Well guys we are loaded up & ready to pull out for Indy. We will leave @ noon tomorrow, drive straight through & make 1 test pass on Friday evening. There will be 6 Kids with families there from the Make A Wish foundation. We will be letting them all get in the car, take pictures & hang in the pits with us. I intend to let these kids help out in the pits where they feel comfortable. We will also be taking them to the starting line with us when we make a pass. We are proud to do it & it warms the heart .
We intend to make a shot at the seven second club while at this event. It would be the perfect place to do it & will have all the diesel magazines there. Our torque converter is still eating our lunch though. We have thrown in the towel with our old design & will be trying a new converter company for this event. We are losing 20 % of our power through our old converter!! The math doesn’t lie….LOL

Spinning at 6500 rpm
John Robinson - May 20, 2010

Well it’s Monday morning & once again we will unload the car & pull the transmission for a converter change. We are getting back from the Power Service open house that was held on Sunday. We had all the crew there as well as having the car on display. It was our first open house with these good folks & we had a great time. As I was wandering around the plant where thay make all the products, it became apparent what a close knit good company this was. Every Power Service employee that I talked to or know of have all been there for years ... many of them for 20 plus. I think that says something. I was also suprised to find that Power Service is the only diesel additive company that makes their own products in house as well as having an in house lab. They can actually do metalurgy testing & wear patterns. With the new HPCR injectors hitting over 20,000 psi & the only lubrication they get is from the diesel fuel, additives are absolutely necessary if you want these things to last for 300,000 miles. I wasn’t aware that all other diesel additives were a private label product built by somebody else. I think that says something too. Thanks for the good time guys.

Now back to the car... We found 500 more rpm from our old reliable p-pump. The folks at Industrial Injection saved the day once again & got this baby spinning 6500 rpm !!! It has an altogether different sound spinning these motors to that speed!! Lord help us all if she ever comes apart….. LOL. Weather permitting we should go to Kennedale Wednesday night for a little test & tune. The tune up changes made this time are Timing....RPM...Tires.. & special blend of fuel. It will be a busy night & we are hoping to get a 5.20 pass this trip. I will keep ya posted.

Re-cap of our recent trip to Vegas.
John Robinson - March 30, 2010

Wednesday, the day we left, our long awaited dual feed injectors finally showed up and we decided to change everything over to the large pump & try out these new cutting edge injectors. Murphy's law intervened & the new injectors hung the engine wide open & the engine hit 10,000 rpm before we could get it shut down......Boy what a scare!!! When this happened we had to tear down the entire front of the engine & replace the crank & camshaft drive gears & we re-installed our ole reliable pump & injectors. We left the shop at 11:30 that night, tired & smelling like diesel.

The 20 hour drive to Vegas went well, we drove straight through & arrived at 7::30 pm on Thursday. Friday morning we got her all ready & made a pass, we ramped the turbos up to 95 psi & blew a boot at the first of the pass. We got it back to the pits, installed a new boot & re-set the turbos at 80psi, that made a decent pass & ran a 8.80. We got her back to the pits again & all looked well except for the rear end housing. The torque of engine had bent the housing sooo... we tore the rear down & re-sealed everything. That sums up friday.

Saturday morning we got a early start, Made the first pass with the turbos turned back up to 95 psi to try to get a low 8 second pass. The 2nd boot blew sky high, so we get her back to the pits & backed everything down a little & made another 8.80 pass. Its obvious these boots are not holding up, when we need to lean on her, so we will weld in some piping. Not a big deal & the parts are ordered.

The attendance was decent, around 30,000 was the number I herd, I gave away 5.5 cases & had many good hand shakes. It seems that the truck & trailer are getting quite a bit of conversation on the CB radio as well. This is turning out to be a pretty good sales tool as well. It strikes up much interest while driving down the road, especially to the truckers. They start out asking about the car & the next thing you know we are talking about Power Service. I need to hang out with Matt some more & listen to his sales pitch.....I do my best but there is room for improvement, I'm always careful with my words & usually try to persuade the conversation to the technical side of things & the potential of bad fuel to injectors & pumps.

The next event will be in Ennis TX, the NHRDA diesel nationals. It`s a short trip & I will pay for a booth out of pocket for Power Service if you would like to send over a sales person.

We are still very proud to be associated with you guys & we are having a great time while doing it.

Thanks, John

Our First Event Together
John Robinson - March 21, 2010

Good morning folks, our first event is in the books & went very well. This is a whole new group of customers for Power Service & Matt would have crowds around him most of the time. I could tell by the questions people were asking & the stories they were telling that we picked up some good customers that will use Power Service products.

Friday night is autograph night for the kids. There was a group of 6 or so that didn't have anything to sign so I signed a bottle of Diesel Kleen for each kid. LOL, Just think, right now somewhere in the world there are a bunch of 7 year old kids with a bottle proudly displayed in their house. I bet their mothers are so happy!!

We will be leaving for Vegas on Wednesday night. The trailer & truck go back to Denton to get the wrap finished today. The owners of Industrial Injection are meeting us in Vegas as well. We will be putting our heads together on the tune up of the car. We are going to lean on it pretty hard & hopefully get it into the seven second club. If we can we would be the 3rd diesel to ever do it. The large injectors are ready & we will be installing the large injection pump this week so it should be obtainable.

Update - March 8, 2010
John Robinson - March 8, 2010

Good morning folks, we got the shakedown pass done on Saturday night & all went well. We blew a cac tube on the burnout of the first pass. No harm no foul & was an easy fix. Got it to the line for the next pass & we were going to just do a 60` launch. The pass felt good so I stayed in it. 5.52 & 124 in the 1/8th …..Not bad for our first test pass. She was on a very mild tune up. Brought it back & checked it out. All was good & now we can start to lean on her a little more. Thanks for all the all the good things yall do for us.