In 1931, Dave Evans drove his Cummins Diesel Special to a non-stop finish in the Indianapolis 500, the first time a car completed a race without a pit stop. That car and a later Cummins Diesel Special are on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.[1] In 1934 Cummins designed a second car to race at the Indianapolis 500 with a much improved fuel metering system. [2]
In the late 1970s, Mercedes-Benz drove a C111-III with a five-cylinder diesel engine to several new records at the Nardò Ring, including driving at an average of 314 km/h (195 mph) for 12 hours and hitting a top speed of 325 km/h (201 mph).
With turbocharged diesel cars getting stronger in the 1990s, they were entered in touring car racing, and BMW won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1998 with a 320d.
After winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2006 with the diesel-powered R10 TDI LMP, Audi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, too. This is the first time a diesel-fueled vehicle has won at Le Mans against cars powered with regular fuel or other alternative fuel like methanol or bio-ethanol. French automaker Peugeot entered the diesel powered Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP in the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans in response to the success of the Audi R10 TDI but Audi won the race again and for the third consecutive time in 2008. In 2008 Audi used next generation 10% BTL biodiesel manufactured from biomass.[3]
In an effort to further demonstrate the potential of diesel power, California-based Gale Banks Engineering built and raced a Cummins-powered pickup at the Bonneville Salt Flats in October 2002. The truck set a top speed of 355 km/h (222 mph) and became the world’s fastest pickup, and the truck drove to the race towing its own support trailer.
On 23 August 2006, the British-based earth moving machine manufacturer JCB raced the specially designed JCB Dieselmax car at 563.4 km/h (350.1 mph). The driver was Andy Green. The car was powered by two modified JCB 444 diesel engines.
In 2007, SEAT - with the SEAT Leon Mk2 at the Oschersleben Motorsport Arena in Germany - became the first manufacturer to win a round of the WTCC series in a diesel car, only a month after announcing it will enter the FIA World Touring Car Championship with the Leon TDI. SEAT's success with the Leon TDI was continued and resulted in winning both 2009 FIA WTCC championship titles (for drivers as well as for manufacturers).
In 2007, Wes Anderson drove the Gale Banks Engineering built 1250 horsepower Chevrolet S-10 diesel-powered Pro-Stock pick-up to a National Hot Rod Diesel Association record of 7.72 seconds at 179-mph for the quarter-mile. *http://www.nhrda.com/ National Hot Rod Diesel association