In 1931, Dave Evans drove his Cummins Diesel Special to a non-stop finish in
the Indianapolis 500, the first time a car had completed the 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.
In the late 1970s, Mercedes-Benz at Nardò drove a C111-III with a 5 cylinder
diesel engine to several new records, including driving 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 even 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-fuelled 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 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 bio diesel manufactured from biomass.
In an effort to further demonstrate the potential of diesel power,
California-based Gale Banks Engineering designed, 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 almost equally notable, the truck drove to the race towing its
own support trailer.
On 23 August 2006, the British-based earthmoving 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.
Other important diesel engine performances are the SEAT León TDI's victories
in the World Touring Car Championship 2008.