ULTIMATE CALLOUT CHALLENGE 2019

dyno honors. Shawn Baca has traditionally been a strong runner, and rumors of the Shredder Dodge shooting for 3,000 hp were circulating around the crowd. Jesse Warren, who never managed to make a clean dragstrip pass, was shooting for 2,000 rwhp—out of a 6.0L Ford! A couple of strong mechanically injected trucks from Power Driven Diesel and Delta Diesel were also in the mix and shooting for north of 2,000 hp.

When the rollers got rolling, not everybody got the numbers for which they were looking. Trevor Peterson, who had been flying on the dragstrip, was clearly having mechanical issues and was only able to make 691 hp. Ethen Schneider had horsepower and torque numbers that were nearly equal, lowering his overall score. The big surprise was Aaron Rudolf finishing in an unexpected 21st place after a fueling issue led to a 1,087 hp and 1,693 lb-ft number. With each truck only getting a rain-shortened 10-minute dyno window, the crew didn’t have time to fix the truck.

As the dyno event progressed, there were a number of interesting stories between 11th and 16th place. Shawn Ellerton finished 16th with his 6.0L-powered Ford despite grenading the engine on the dyno with more than 1,900 lb-ft of torque. Eric Merchant finished in 12th with a strong 1,395 hp and 2,294 lb-ft, but oddly spun on the dyno when they tried to add nitrous—one of the only trucks to do so. From traction problems to boost problems, Kodi Koch landed in 15th with a 1,566 hp number, but only 1,785 lb-ft as they never got the big turbo quite lit.

The biggest story on the dyno (and perhaps the whole event) involved Tony Burkhardt and his “Last Minute Hooker.” Tony was a favorite coming into the event, but putting five stages of nitrous on a big single turbo turned out to be a bad idea. Very bad. The turbo exploded in a huge fireball, and when it did the shrapnel took out a fuel rail and put a quarter-sized hole in the air intake. With the fuel pressure controller also taken out, the engine went to full fuel pressure and the Duramax started to run away—while it was still on fire! Driver Mark Broviak had the presence of mind to try and stop the truck with the brakes before

throwing it in neutral and letting it take off. “I took a big gulp of air when I saw all the smoke and fire, but I knew I had to get out sooner or later—it wasn’t stopping!” says Mark. Unable to find the door handle past the rollcage, he bailed out the window while the truck was still running and still on fire. After almost 40 seconds of running away on fire the truck finally stopped, the fire was extinguished, and everybody counted their fingers and toes and walked away from a scary situation. Amazingly, after the event the DHD crew tore the engine down, with a full minute of this engine running with no rev limiter, being fed the max amount of fuel and who knows how much nitrous, spinning the highest RPM possible, all while on fire and draining its oil out the turbo, the crew found almost zero damage to the rotating mass. Pretty impressive.

Even after Tony’s frightening meltdown, there was still a competition to be run, and the top 10 trucks on the dyno held a lot of surprises. At an insane 1,910 horsepower was Jesse Warren’s 6.0L Ford, which is definitely unlike any other 6.0 we’ve seen. Jesse was a little short on torque though, as Cory Witteveen and Wade Minter both finished ahead of him with 1,600-hp pulls and more torque. Seventh was a huge jump in power up to 2,053, as Josh Scruggs in last year’s winning truck broke the 2K barrier but blew up the engine in the process. Things got tight at the top, as Donovan Harris, Chris Buhidar, Todd Welch, and Shawn Baca were all in the 2,100-to-2,200 horsepower range. The

“I TOOK A BIG GULP OF AIR WHEN I SAW ALL THE SMOKE AND FIRE, BUT I KNEW I HAD TO GET OUT SOONER OR LATER— IT WASN’T STOPPING!”

difference was torque, as the DDP entry cracked the 3,000 lb-ft barrier with 3,019 lb-ft. That just left two places. In second was Justin Andres, who broke the 2,200 and 3,000 barriers with 2,268 hp and a whopping 3,176 lb-ft. In a well-deserved first, Derek Rose absolutely murdered the field and set a new dyno record with 2,503 horsepower and a ludicrous 3,783 lb-ft of torque.

Sled Pulling

Derek Rose had a pretty commanding lead coming into the sled pull, and he really had to muck things up to sacrifice first. Yet, the top trucks still had a lot of jostling to do, as Shawn Baca, Chris Buhidar, Donovan Harris, Justin Andres, and a number of other trucks were close enough to have the sled pull be a deciding factor. If Derek had issues and pulled under 200 feet, however, it was still anyone’s event.

Starting back-to-front, 19 of the original 24 trucks remained. Toward the back of the field were Frank Kuperman, Shawn Ellerton, and Chris Buhidar, who all suffered breakage and pulled under 150 feet. This was especially tough for Chris,

PROBABLY THE STORY OF THE EVENT (OTHER THAN THE WINNER) WAS THE TURBO EXPLOSION, FUEL LEAK, AND 40-SECOND RUNAWAY OF TONY BURKHARD’S ENTRY.

who was near the top of the field before the sled pull but would drop to ninth overall because of a broken driveshaft. Another frontrunner Donovan Harris couldn’t find enough grip and struggled to a 228-foot pull, hurting his chances at the overall title. The same thing happened to Justin Andres who had a 237-foot effort. Jesse Warren was right behind Justin with a 236-foot pull, proving the power of the big Ford. Eric Merchant, Dave Martin, and Wade Minter all had solid pulls in the 240-250 foot range. Perhaps the big surprise out of the group was Derek Rose, who ended up pulling to a fifth-place finish with a 263-foot run.

Just like at the drag races (where you can run slicks), there are no limitations on tire type or size for UCC’S sled pull. It should come as no surprise then that all of the top four place spots would be occupied by vehicles with cut tires. Cory Witteveen from Delta Diesel hit fourth with his setup, pulling 273 feet (10 ft past Derek) but possibly blowing his engine on the big end. Another 10 feet past Cory was the horsepowerheavy Shawn Baca, who managed 287 feet. In second place was a truck that got a huge ovation as the burnt-out body rolled around the corner. Tony Burkhard had made it! With cut tires on the rear and aggressive street tires on the front, Tony pulled a whopping 308 feet, scoring some big points and making a killer comeback. There was still one truck that would beat Tony however, as Power Driven Diesel’s six-tire monster pulled a whopping 326 feet and scored big points on the final tally. So who won? You’ll have to turn the page and find out!

A good amount of the blue oval crowd had trouble at the drags. Jesse Warren was unable to make a clean pass in his mega-horsepower 6.0L, as was Shawn Ellerton, who coasted to an 11.51-second e.t. with a setup that was obviously capable of far quicker.

The St. James Diesel entry had a heck of a time just getting to UCC and had to switch to a 3.6 sled pulling charger after grenading their triple setup. Still, they were able to manage a mid-pack finish at the drags.

Banghart Diesel has always been a quick member of the Dodge contingent, and this year was no exception, as he was able to run low 6s in the eighth-mile.

Justin Andres was another strong runner at the dragstrip in his high-horsepower Cumminspowered Dodge, and he did his triple-turbo setup proud with a 6.27-second elapsed time.

 We were all wondering how the Delta Diesel entry would spool considering its mammoth turbos through the grille, but it actually got lit and got moving to the tune of a 6.18.

The Ford crowd looked ready to rock in the afternoon, with Sam Gabel (front), Travis Trent’s Fummins, and Jesse Warren’s truck all looking to make passes.

 Trevor Peterson got into UCC through last year’s qualifier, and he proved it was no joke with a very quick 5.58-second qualifying time.

Snyder Performance Engineering’s Ford is always one of the best-looking trucks out there, and this year they did well at the dragstrip too, clicking off a 6.63-second run.

 The very first race out was a doozy as Rudy’s Diesel took on Power Driven Diesel’s mechanical “dinosaur.” About 1,500 pounds made the difference as PDD’S 6.1 couldn’t match Rudy’s mid 5.

 Both Chris Buhidar and Travis Trent did well in eliminations, but in the finals, it was The Trippplemax Chevy taking on Rudy’s Ford, with Rudy coming out on top by about two truck lengths at the stripe.

 Donovan Harris piloted the Dynomite Diesel Products/armor Inc. ride to 5.60s at the drags, and he was looking for a strong showing on the dyno. His performances have improved every year, and the dyno was no exception, as the Ram put down 2,096 hp and 3,019 lb-ft for a fourth-place finish.

The quick, two-wheel-drive Revmax entry driven by Frank Kuperman broke down right before the event, so he entered a nearly brand-new Ram in its place! Despite the last minute chance, the Ram laid down 1,322 hp and 1,740 lb-ft reportedly through an Aisin transmission.

Day 2 was dyno action, where both torque and horsepower would be scored. Power Driven Diesel got things kicked off with their 16 mm pump, 12-valve mechanical Cummins. With more than 150 psi of boost, the Dodge rocketed off to a 2,136-hp, 2,640 lb-ft dyno pull. They went as far as even putting VHT on the rollers, but in the end a timing slip ended their chances at more power.

Josh Scruggs came to the competition loaded for bear and with Lavon Miller’s ride, which took the title in 2018. After a strong 5.74 at the dragstrip and a good run through eliminations, he was looking good until this giant engine-ending fireball. Even with the pyrotechnics, the truck still churned out 2,053 hp and 2,527 lb-ft.

Probably the story of the event (other than the winner) was the turbo explosion, fuel leak, and 40-second runaway of Tony Burkhard’s entry. The truck was on fire the entire time it was running away, and it got so hot that driver Mark Broviak had to bail out of the truck through the window!

 Justin Andres had just been consistently strong in his Ram, and with decent finishes at the strip and on the dyno, all he needed was a good pull for a podium finish. But would 237 feet be enough?

 The Fummins of Chris Buhidar had its transmission fixed, but unfortunately a driveshaft let loose right after the start, limiting him to a coasting, 144-foot run.

 Team Trippplemax and Wade Minter was another team that could either rise or sink depending on how the GM pulled. A 240-foot run left the team mid-pack.