THE EVOLUTION OF CUMMINS KILLER:

FROM HOMEGROWN, PRO STOCK DURAMAX TO TRIPLE-TURBO, MECHANICAL MONSTER

It’s been on the scene since 2008, in one form or another. From Pro Stock to Super Stock, a big single turbo to compounds and then triples, and common-rail to mechanical injection, the name Cummins Killer is one of the most recognized names in competitive truck pulling. If you’ve been to a nationalcaliber event in the Midwest over the past decade, chances are you’ve seen it in action. Some of the biggest names in the Duramax aftermarket have been onboard with the truck’s various parts combinations over the years, and its crew has enjoyed a host of dramatic wins—along with its fair share of ontrack carnage and unexpected setbacks. Through it all, they’ve kept forging ahead, often even reinventing the game…

We recently sat down with Wes Kusilek and driver Craig Dickey to look back on the truck’s storied past. From revving up the fans with its contentious name, to innovating and pioneering their own components, to pushing the vertical limits

THE EVOLUTION OF CUMMINS KILLER:

of the Duramax platform, along with making in-depth repairs in the pits, there is zero idle-time in the Cummins Killer camp. For 2021, the team has plans to grow even more comfortable with the new, triple-turbo, P-pump’d Duramax under the hood of version 3.0. If you have time this summer, make it a point to come out and witness this one-of-a-kind machine storm down the track. Believe us, everyone deserves to see this cuttire’d monster tear through dirt.

So what kind of parts did the Kusilek’s Pro Stock Duramax engine sport back in the day? In 2008, one of the recipes included a Gt42-based 3.0 charger, Socal Diesel heads, a belt-driven Industrial Injection Grand Poobah CP3 on top of a stock CP3, and 105-percent over Industrial injectors. “Industrial Injection gave us a lot of parts to test back in the day,” Wes recalled. As the years progressed, Wes and crew switched from a Gt42derived turbo to a Gt45-based one, then got onboard with Precision Turbo & Engine. Literally always trying new things, here you can see one of the two exhaust manifolds the Kusileks pulled from a 4500 series Duramax after a set of fabricated headers didn’t produce the results they were after. The original Cummins Killer was the brainchild of both Wes Kusilek and his father, Chris. Believe it or not, and as is evident from this photo taken at the 2009 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, the O.G. Cummins Killer was essentially nameless (although the Kusilek’s often referred to it as “Homegrown”). Built to compete in the Pro Stock diesel truck class, which allowed a single map groove 3.0-inch inducer turbo at the time, the truck was always up against stiff Cummins competition.