David Sparks also known as Heavy D, (born January 5, 1985) is an American philanthropist, internet personality, helicopter pilot, world record holder, custom vehicle builder, monster truck driver and author.[2] He is most known for his role on the reality TV show Diesel Brothers, which aired on Discovery Channel.[3] He is also known for his participation in Monster Jam and former owner of conserved Salt Lake island, Fremont Island.[4][5]
Dave Sparks | ||||||||||
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| Born | David Sparks January 5, 1985 Utah, US | |||||||||
| Other names | Heavy D | |||||||||
| Alma mater | Weber State University (withdrew) | |||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2008–present | |||||||||
| Organization | DieselSellerz LLC. (CEO) | |||||||||
| Television | ||||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Presented by | Dave Sparks | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 3.7 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 806.4 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: April 13, 2024 | ||||||||||
Early life and education
editDave Sparks was born in Utah, US to a military family.[6][3] He is from Salt Lake City and is the fourth child of his family. His father passed away when Dave was 21 years old.[7] He is of German heritage.[2] He showed an interest in vehicles from a young age, with Auto mechanics being one of his favorite subjects in high school.[8] He began his tertiary education at Weber State University at age 21, where he studied welding, mechanics, and fabrication,[9] he withdrew from school after having spent a semester, to kick off his own business.[8]
Career
editHe started his career splitting time between 2 different occupations; director of marketing for Rockwell Watches, a Utah based watch started by one of his longtime friends Rich Eggett and operating heavy machinery for his uncle and mentor's construction firm before launching his own excavation business. He began as a car enthusiast, kicking off his vehicle customization and fix-it shop for all types of vehicles. This marked the beginning of his career and the careers of his three other friends who took part in Diesel Brothers show.[10] He brought on his friend Diesel Dave and two others, to assist with equipment operations at his company.[11] After posting several videos on YouTube, an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno was fixed and after the show, he was contacted by Discovery Channel for the commencement of the Diesel Brothers.[12] The show is filmed mostly in Woods Cross, Utah, where his studio is located.[13] Some episodes have also been filmed in Salt Lake City and Wendover, Utah. As an internet personality, his Youtube channel has over 3.7 million subscribers and over 800 million views.[14] He has over 10 million followers and over 2 billion views across all social media platforms.[15] During the course of filming Diesel Brothers, he has also worked with actor, Chuck Norris, amongst others.[7] His first build was a 1976 Yamaha YZ80.[16] One of his most well known creations was the Mega Ram Runner,[17] which he designed and created based on a Dodge Ram 3500 and had a Ford 4R100 transmission.[18] The Mega Ram Runner was displayed at the 2014 SEMA Show. Kanye West sold Sparks his customized Ripsaw EV2, following West's relocation from Wyoming.[19][20] He acquired the Fremont Island as a potential location for his show filming, customization and vehicular activities,[8] however, he resold the island in 2020 after being unable to secure permits to carry out these activities.[5][4] Also on his show, he converted a Tesla Cybertruck to have snow tracks, amongst others.[21] He has a world record monster truck jump in his personally branded monster truck, The BroDozer.[22][23] Some of his other stunts are using a flamethrower to thaw a helicopter,[24] driving multiple different vehicles long distances while tipped up on only 2 wheels, and an attempt at jumping a truck from plane; which was canceled due to safety concerns.[25] He is known for his search and rescue resource, and for being able to solve challenging rescue situations with his expert team and specialized equipment.[26][27][28]
He is the co-founder and CEO of two automobile companies, DieselSellerz and Sparks Motors. DieselSellerz has its diesel truck classifieds community website, DieselSellerz.com.[29][30] His third company called Diesel Power, is a lifestyle brand.[6] He became a brand ambassador and partner with brands including Polaris Inc., Sany Equipment, Ariat Boots, BFGoodrich tires, New Holland Construction & Agriculture,[31] and was involved in a collaboration with MLB Network for the Father's Day of 2017 where he built custom Polaris UTV's for an MLB promotion, as well as played in the 2017 MLB Celebrity Softball tournament.[3][32]
He was hired by Nikola to design the Nikola Badger truck,[33] of which they delved into an attempt at creating a Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.[34] Nikola canceled the Badger project in 2020 and Sparks purchased all of the rights to the Nikola Badger and Powersports programs which he announced via social media in February 2024. He also has mentioned his intention of bringing the Badger FCEV along with electric UTV's and Personal Watercraft to the market under a new brand, EMBR Motors. He participated in 2 episodes of motorsport event Monster Jam; in seasons 16 and 17, alongside Adam Anderson and Grave Digger.
He published the book The Diesel Brothers: A Truckin' Awesome Guide to Trucks and Life in 2017, alongside Diesel Dave.[35] He hosts the annual Heavy Academy conference, where he lectures participants about business strategies and how to inculcate them into their ventures.[36]
Charity and philanthropy
editHe is well known for he and his team's fast response time to assist with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts by flying his rescue helicopter, as well as sending 6 fully loaded semi trucks with various rescue equipment to Houston in August 2018. He helped provide resources and his helicopter in the search for the corpse of teenager Dylan Rounds.[27][37] He also helped stranded snow victims in California,[38][28] and additionally rallied others to help.[39] In 2022, he helped the family of late pilot Wayne Wirt extract the remains of the latter's body,[40] as well as the wreckage of his ill-fated airplane the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, after the family had taken to the internet solicit for help due to the high cost of a professional extraction.[41] He paid condolences and assistance to the family of Fremont County, Colorado girl who lost her life from a climbing accident.[42][43] He does an annual toy drive to gather toys for families in need each Christmas. He also helped a family with broken down truck who were harassed out of their camping space with a makeover.[44][26] In February 2022, he posted, via his YouTube channel, four videos filmed over 11 days documenting an excavation of a 225-foot (69 m) deep mineshaft within the vicinity of the area husband of disappearance victim Susan Powell claimed to have gone camping the night his wife disappeared.[45] Upon having the remains forensically analyzed, it was concluded that the bones were unlikely to be human.[46]
He is outspoken in his support for Latin American culture and immigrants.[47][48]
Filmography
editMonster Jam
editSeason 16
edit| No. overall | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 417 | "Racing and Freestyle from Kansas City, MO" | August 18, 2019 | |
|
All the racing and freestyle action from Arrowhead Stadium on June 15, 2019. Winners: R: Adam Anderson and Grave Digger and F: Dave 'Heavy D' Sparks and BroDozer Commentators: Scott Jordan and Morgan Kane | |||
Season 17
edit| No. overall | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 442 | "Racing and Freestyle from San Diego, CA" | October 2, 2020 | |
|
All the racing and freestyle action from Arrowhead Stadium on June 15, 2019. Winners: R: Adam Anderson and Grave Digger and F: Dave 'Heavy D' Sparks and BroDozer Commentators: Scott Jordan and Morgan Kane | |||
Diesel Brothers
editSeason 1 (2016)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Free Willy's" | January 4, 2016 | N/A |
| 2 | 2 | "Tows Before Bros..." | January 11, 2016 | N/A |
| 3 | 3 | "Hell Camino" | January 18, 2016 | N/A |
| 4 | 4 | "Truck vs. Train" | January 25, 2016 | N/A |
| 5 | 5 | "The Hole-y Grail" | February 1, 2016 | N/A |
| 6 | 6 | "From Sweden With Love" | February 8, 2016 | N/A |
| 7 | 7 | "Abominable SnowRam" | February 15, 2016 | N/A |
| 8 | 8 | "Busting at the SEMA" | February 22, 2016 | N/A |
Season 2 (2017)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Callout Fallout" | January 16, 2017 | N/A |
| 10 | 2 | "There Will Be Mud" | January 23, 2017 | N/A |
| 11 | 3 | "Feed the Beast-Mode" | January 30, 2017 | N/A |
| 12 | 4 | "Hummer Time" | February 6, 2017 | N/A |
| 13 | 5 | "Motors and Rotors" | February 13, 2017 | N/A |
| 14 | 6 | "Truck Norris" | February 20, 2017 | N/A |
| 15 | 7 | "Epic Fail of the Year" | February 27, 2017 | N/A |
| 16 | 8 | "Somersault" | March 6, 2017 | N/A |
| 17 | 9 | "Flippin' Diesel" | March 13, 2017 | N/A |
| 18 | 10 | "Good Bros and Goodbyes" | March 20, 2017 | N/A |
| 19 | 11 | "Full of Bull" | April 3, 2017 | N/A |
Season 3 (2017)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | "Race Against the Machine" | September 4, 2017 | N/A |
| 21 | 2 | "3 Axles and a Baby" | September 11, 2017 | N/A |
| 22 | 3 | "Snow Job" | September 18, 2017 | N/A |
| 23 | 4 | "Clash of the Titan" | September 25, 2017 | N/A |
| 24 | 5 | "Wham, Bam, C10 Slam" | October 2, 2017 | N/A |
| 25 | 6 | "Thunder or Lightning" | October 9, 2017 | N/A |
| 26 | 7 | "Not So Easy Rider" | October 16, 2017 | N/A |
| 27 | 8 | "Bros to the Rescue!" | October 23, 2017 | N/A |
| 28 | 9 | "Hurricanes, Trucks and Snowmobiles" | October 30, 2017 | N/A |
Season 4 (2018)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 1 | "Big Bro Bus" | July 30, 2018 | N/A |
| 30 | 2 | "School Is in Session" | August 7, 2018 | N/A |
| 31 | 3 | "2 Wheel Drive" | August 13, 2018 | N/A |
| 32 | 4 | "Yo Soy Diesel" | August 20, 2018 | N/A |
| 33 | 5 | "Diesel Defender" | August 27, 2018 | N/A |
| 34 | 6 | "De-Ice Ice Baby" | September 3, 2018 | N/A |
| 35 | 7 | "Yes Way, Jose" | September 10, 2018 | N/A |
| 36 | 8 | "Tuff Truck Takedown" | September 17, 2018 | N/A |
Season 5 (2019)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Soar Like a Diesel" | April 8, 2019 | N/A |
| 38 | 2 | "Diesel Dave is my Co-Pilot" | April 15, 2019 | N/A |
| 39 | 3 | "Now Departing: Diesel Air" | April 22, 2019 | N/A |
| 40 | 4 | "Raising Heli" | April 29, 2019 | N/A |
| 41 | 5 | "Failure to Launch" | May 6, 2019 | N/A |
| 42 | 6 | "When Trucks Fly" | May 13, 2019 | N/A |
| 43 | 7 | "Prepare for Liftoff" | May 20, 2019 | N/A |
| 44 | 8 | "Monster Jump Live" | May 27, 2019 | N/A |
Season 6 (2019)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 1 | "Diesel Brothers Vs. The World" | December 9, 2019 | N/A |
| 46 | 2 | "Blazer of Glory" | December 16, 2019 | N/A |
| 47 | 3 | "Don't Tread on Diesel" | December 23, 2019 | N/A |
| 48 | 4 | "Detroit Diesel Brothers" | January 6, 2020 | N/A |
| 49 | 5 | "Get Pitted" | January 6, 2020 | N/A |
Season 7 (2020)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 | "Diesel Nation Celebrates Memorial Day" | May 25, 2020 | N/A |
| 51 | 2 | "Diesel Nation vs. Zombie Apocalypse" | June 1, 2020 | N/A |
| 52 | 3 | "Diesel Nation: The Fast and the Famous" | June 8, 2020 | N/A |
| 53 | 4 | "Diesel Nation Redemption" | June 15, 2020 | N/A |
| 54 | 5 | "Back with a Kodiak" | June 22, 2020 | N/A |
| 56 | 6 | "A Kraken Kodiak" | June 29, 2020 | N/A |
| 57 | 7 | "Release the Kraken" | July 6, 2020 | N/A |
| 58 | 8 | "Tanks A Lot" | July 13, 2020 | N/A |
| 59 | 9 | "A Tank, an Eagle and a Brat" | July 20, 2020 | N/A |
| 60 | 10 | "Brat vs. Eagle" | July 27, 2020 | N/A |
Personal life
editHe is married to Ashley Bennett.[49] He resides in Utah.[2] In addition to English, he also speaks Spanish and Portuguese, having gone on a Mormon missionary to Bolivia at age 19.[50] He also traveled to Brazil for missionary work.[12] He threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Major League Baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers on 18 May 2017.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "About HeavyDSparks". YouTube.
- ^ a b c d "Dave Sparks' bio: age, height, net worth, wife, Diesel Brothers". Legit.ng. 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ a b c "Discovery's 'Diesel Brothers' star Heavy D talks military inspiration, how show has changed". Fox News. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "Diesel Brother and monster truck enthusiast Dave Sparks buys Utah's Fremont Island in Great Salt Lake". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ a b "Utah's Fremont Island is sold to conservation buyer". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "15 Dark Secrets You Didn't Know About Diesel Brothers". ScreenRant. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "Who is Heavy D Sparks? Age, family, career, merch, TV shows, profiles, net worth". Briefly. 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b c "10 Things You Didn't Know About Dave Sparks". TV Over Mind. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Dave Sparks: Trade Comfortable for Uncomfortable". Lewis Howes. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Inside the Story: Four friends turn love of diesel trucks into hit TV show". KUTV. May 5, 2016.
- ^ "Are the Diesel Brothers really brothers?". Patriot-Tire.com.
- ^ a b "Diesel Brothers' Heavy D: 15 Facts Every Fan Should Know". HotCars. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "'Diesel Brothers' Is a Hit Among American Viewers — Where Is the Show Filmed?". Distractify. 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "HeavyDSparks - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ "Dave 'Heavy D' Sparks Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ "Who is Heavy D Sparks? Age, family, career, merch, TV shows, profiles, net worth". Briefly. 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Dave Sparks - Embrace the Pain - Ed Mylett". www.edmylett.com. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ "A Detailed Look At The Mega RamRunner". HotCars. 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Kanye West Reportedly Sells His Ripsaw EV2 Luxury Tank Featured in "Closed on Sundays" Visual". Hypebeast. 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Kanye West Sold His Custom Ripsaw EV2 Tank to the Diesel Brothers". autoevolution. 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Dave Sparks turns Tesla Cybertruck into a tank with massive snow tracks". Electrek.
- ^ "Video: Watch Diesel Brothers' Historic Monster Truck Jump over Flying Airplane". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Monster Truck Drivers Will Attempt to Break 7 World Records in New Discovery Special (Exclusive)". TheWrap. 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- ^ "Watch Diesel Brother Heavy D Use A Flamethrower To Thaw Out His Helicopter". HotCars. 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Utah's Diesel Brothers are going to jump a monster truck over a plane in flight — on live TV". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "Family berated over broken-down truck surprised by 'Diesel Brother'". WRAL. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "Missing in Utah: Family of Dylan Rounds continued to be left out of investigation". ABC4 Utah. 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ a b "'Diesel Brothers' Dave Sparks helps stranded snow victims in California". KSLTV.com. 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ "Celebrity Drive: Dave "Heavy D" Sparks of Discovery's 'Diesel Brothers'". Motor Trend.
- ^ Diesel Brothers. Retrieved 2024-04-13 – via www.discovery.com.
- ^ "'Heavy D' Sparks Interest With New Holland Construction Partnership". AutoTrader. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "The 'Diesel Brothers' Stars Dish on Father's Day and Their Upcoming MLB Special!". Extra. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ ""Heavy D" Dave Sparks Dishes on the 2022 Nikola Badger". Motor Trend.
- ^ "Diesel Brothers' Dave Sparks Opens Up: The Truck Show". Motor Trend.
- ^ "Heavy D".
- ^ "'Diesel Brothers' star 'Heavy D' talks business in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Family of Dylan Rounds continues searching for clues with help from Diesel Brothers". FOX 13 News Utah (KSTU). 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ "Dave Sparks Helps Stranded Snow Victims in California".
- ^ "Utah influencer Heavy D rallies convoy of snow removal equipment for California". KSL NewsRadio. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "'Diesel Brothers' stars pay tribute to employee, retired officer who drowned at Flaming Gorge". East Idaho News. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Reality stars Heavy D and Diesel Dave help remove plane wreck from Jefferson Wilderness (UPDATED)". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Diesel Brothers to visit local family to boost spirits of boy whose sister died in accident". Idaho State Journal. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Heavy D to visit Fremont County family to boost spirits of boy whose sister died in tree climbing accident". Standard Journal. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Family harassed over camping spot gets truck makeover from Heavy D Sparks". KSLTV.com. 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ HeavyDSparks (2022-02-11). "We Might Have Just Found Susan Powell's Remains At The Bottom Of An Abandoned Mineshaft". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
- ^ HeavyDSparks (2022-02-25). "The DNA Results From Our Susan Powell Search Have Arrived...We Have a Shocking New Lead!". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
- ^ "'Diesel Brothers' star, Dave Sparks, flies U.S.-Mexico flag at monster truck rally: 'I love what this cool flag stands for'". Yahoo Life. 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Dave Sparks confesses how his love for immigrants came about". MundoNOW (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Meet the Beautiful Wives of 'Diesel Brothers' Stars Heavy D and Diesel Dave". Distractify. 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Here's What the 'Diesel Brothers' Look Like Without Their Signature Beards". Distractify. 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2024-04-12.