On the 1st day of the New Year around 8:00pm the diesel performance community lost a very quiet strong driving force of our industry. Dave Mitchell, owner of Enterprise Engine Performance located in Thornville Ohio, was this man.
I got to know Dave while doing business with him back in 1996. Immediately upon getting to know Dave I knew he was a man of high morals & ethics. He had a truck repair shop, repairing class 8 semi-trucks. Around that time he became very interested in the Dodge Cummins 12 valve! As he played with the engine he kept discovering the potential for horsepower. He started pulling around his local area and fans in the stands started seeing how well his truck would pull against some of the gas jobbers. Once they saw this, many people started bringing their trucks to him to have the same performance modifications done to their vehicle.
Dave's business shortly thereafter made a 180° turn, eventually getting to the point where all you would see in his shop were Dodge 12 valve trucks.
The trucks he was tuning up started showing up to truck pulls and doing very well. Up to this point he was driving his pulling truck to all the pulls just like everyone else. Then one day, in 1998 I believe, I saw Dave & his wife Loretta pull into Scheid Diesel's Truck Pull in Effingham Illinois, trailering his pulling truck! Wow, his truck was becoming very popular and impressive to watch pull!
His business was really coming into its own from the research and development knowledge he gained while advancing his pulling truck and attending the truck pulls. At this point he was on the road with his family 3 - 4 days per week traveling to the truck pulls, pulling, and traveling home. Making the necessary repairs/advancements then doing the same thing over & over, week after week. Remember this was around 1996 - 1997, when the Cummins was coming out of the factory with an amazing 180hp!
Over the years the non-stop traveling took its toll on the family to where Dave & Loretta decided to stay in the shop and build for others.
Dave was a soft spoken and very good/strong Christian man that would never push his vast knowledge of diesel performance on you, never arguing his way is better or anything of the sort. If you thought your way was better he would go along with you. Even though Dave had a vast amount of knowledge in the diesel world, he was also one of the most humble people you could ever meet. If you had a question he would answer it, and if you took the time to listen you could learn a great deal.
Dave was a pioneer for the diesel pulling/performance truck arena! Dave loved his family and I believe just loved people! He was a very well respected & loved man! Dave, you will be missed!
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