It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from several competitors to build trucks that could deliver a big horsepower number, fly down the racetrack, and pull a heavy sled as far as possible over the dirt. That describes the requirements that need to be met in order to be the Ultimate Callout Challenge champion. We can only have one winner of the 2024 Ultimate Callout Challenge, and this year’s event was definitely one to remember. There were plenty of exploding engines, insanely fast eighth-mile races, and a lot of rain. However, for one group of guys from Windsor, California, none of that mattered.
Kenny Bruner has been attending the UCC event for several years, but as a spectator. This year was his second as a participant, and it would also be the year he let it all hang out. He wanted to make sure he didn’t bring a knife to a gunfight, and his 2006 Cummins-powered Ram delivered all the power and resilience required to win a grueling event like this.
To win the Ultimate Callout Challenge, you need a truck that develops a lot of horsepower, can blister the eighth-mile track, and ultimately, yank a truck-pulling sled as far as possible. To accomplish all of those tasks, the Ram relies on a Freedom Racing Engines mill with a couple of Garret turbos thrown in for good measure. Behind the engine is a 48RE transmission that has been put together to laugh at the abuse that 2,832 horsepower can throw at it.
While the horsepower is definitely a big number, this is a diesel-powered truck, and that means a lot of torque. In fact, while spinning the dyno wheels at the challenge, Kenny’s Ram delivered 3,120 lb-ft of torque. There is no doubt that Kenny and his team didn’t come to play games, he came to make an impression.
Next up was the eighth-mile drag race portion of the competition, and once again, the orange quad cab did not disappoint. When the lights blinked at the end of the track, Kenny’s Ram blistered the asphalt with an impressive 5.29-second e.t. It was evident to everyone in attendance that the Bruner team meant business. However, the competition wasn’t over the scores were close, and the final test would be the sled pull.
Since it had rained most of the day Saturday and into the early morning hours of Sunday, there were more than a few people wondering if the sled-pulling portion of the event would even occur. The ground crew worked feverishly through the day on Sunday to do what needed to be done to get the track ready, and finally, at 5:00 p.m., the trucks lined up for the last challenge.
Although Colt Carter, who actually finished Second overall, pulled the sled 316.99 feet, it was Kenny Bruner’s 317.81 feet that solidified his team’s immortality as the 2024 Ultimate Callout Challenge Champions.
This competition brings out the fiercest of competitors and they all push their rigs to the limit — some beyond the limit — and for any of the trucks to remain standing after completing all three challenges is impressive.
I congratulate each team for putting everything they have into the competition and an enthusiastic congratulations goes out to team Bruner for accomplishing the win of the year.
