If you’ve spent any amount of time around the diesel performance scene, you’re likely familiar with the Ultimate Callout Challenge. UCC is where the biggest names compete on the dyno, drag strip, and sled pull to crown one well-rounded diesel race truck as winner. The winner of the 2024 event was Ken Bruner, who is not only the owner of Capital Diesel Performance, but also works as a mechanical engineer in the healthcare industry designing artificial heart valves. Yeah, he’s that much cooler than you.

Ken’s UCC competition truck began life as a simple 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 Heavy Duty pickup. In fact, the only vehicles that Ken has owned have been Dodges, dating back to his first truck, which was a 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 that was handed down to him by his father. Just like every good story, Ken’s started with “just and air filter” replacement on his 2000 Dodge Ram. That has since spiraled into the UCC-winning truck he has today.

The 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 that won UCC is powered by a 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engine. This is no ordinary Cummins, however. The block is a Hamilton Cams competition wet block that has been filled by Freedom Racing Engines. It’s sleeved and deck plated, which adds an inch of billet steel to the top of the cylinders in an effort to increase strength. Connecting rods are an inch longer as well. The engine spins to an almost unheard of redline of 5,500 rpm.

Supplying air for this beast is a pair of Garrett GT55-framed turbochargers. The manifold turbo is fit with an 85mm compressor, while the atmospheric charger gets a massive 106mm compressor. The warm compressed air is fed through a massive Banks intercooler. A pair of 12mm stroker CP3 injection pumps from Dynomite Diesel Performance feed a set of the company’s custom “Super Metal” injectors. Directing power to the wheels is a highly modified 48RE automatic transmission. Driveshafts are from DNR, with an aluminum rear unit running massive 1480 joints, along with a steel shaft in the front fit with 1410 U-joints.

A Banks Power Power iDash Data Monster is used to monitor every possible engine parameter, including fluid and exhaust temperatures, turbocharger shaft speed, drive pressure, boost pressure, and so much more.

Ken utilizes Amsoil fluids to keep all the vital moving parts in working order. Being a fan of the brand for years, Ken had been using Amsoil Severe Gear in his trucks’ differentials since day one. The truck’s engine runs Amsoil’s Dominator Racing Oil, which came highly recommended by Freedom Racing Engines. Engineered with higher viscosity synthetic base oils, Dominator Racing Oil is able to better withstand the high heat and pressure of performance competition engines. It’s also formulated with a proprietary friction modifier that works to reduce energy loss and improve horsepower output. The transmission runs Amsoil’s ATF, and the team was happy to report not a single failure during the UCC competition.

Ryan Millikan of Hardway Performance handled the engine tuning. In testing (and running fuel-only), the engine pumped out more than 1,700 hp. With four stages of nitrous and massive quarter-inch nozzles, the combination proved itself by offering up an impressive 2,832 hp and 3,120 lb-ft of torque on the UCC chassis dyno, which proved good enough for second place. That’s still a staggering increase from Ken’s ninth-place 2021 UCC showing of 1,753 hp and 2,724 lb-ft. When it came to the drag strip, Ken ran a best-of-the-competition 1/8^th-mile time of 5.29 seconds. Sending it into the final event, the sled pull, Ken managed a pull of 317.81 feet. With an event point total of 2874.655, that ultimately sent him home with the hardware.