Evan Rusk’s cutting-edge, Pro Street class Cummins puller is no gamble—it’s a surefire front-runner.
The diesel addiction often manifests itself in two very different ways: you’re either a drag racer or a sled puller. For Evan Rusk, what started out as a need for speed at the drag strip eventually morphed into moving the iron sleigh as far as possible in the dirt. After piloting a friend’s truck to a 350-foot, winning distance at a local truck pull, Evan traded in 10-second quarter-miles for 15-second hooks. In recent years, he’s spent his free time campaigning trucks in the 8,000-pound Pro Street diesel truck class (2.6 smooth bore), and this is his latest workhorse: a second-gen Dodge coined “Double Or Nothin’.” It’s a project that was made possible thanks to a partnership with friend and fellow puller, Lee Stiltz.
So far, “Double Or Nothin’” has lived up to its expectations, winning all but one of the Indiana Pulling League hooks Evan made it to in 2024. The truck itself may look familiar to longtime pulling fans. The ’98 Dodge Ram 2500 was previously owned by veteran truck puller, Adam Hallien, and it used to terrorize the old 2.8 class. Completely reborn in the Fleece Performance Engineering/Freedom Racing Engines stable, all that remains are the original body panels. It now sports a common-rail Cummins with the latest and greatest turbo, fuel, and electronics on the market—a combination that will likely dominate the ranks of the 2.6 smooth bore category for many years to come.
Assembled by the unsung hero at Freedom Racing Engines, Travis Holden, Evan Rusk’s battle-ready Cummins sports a filled 6.7L block and a 6.7L crank that’s anchored in place via a Haisley Machine girdle and ARP main studs. The factory forged-steel crankshaft swings a set of Wagler billet connecting rods topped off with billet Diamond Racing pistons. A camshaft from Hamilton Cams operates the valvetrain with the help of Trend Performance chromoly pushrods. On the engine dyno, the 2.6-class Cummins made north of 1,200 hp—exactly the kind of horsepower you need to be a top contender.A full competition 24-valve cylinder head from Fleece sits atop the built short-block. Like the block, the head has been filled and machined to accept fire-rings (a 50/50 protrusion exists in the block and head). It’s also been fitted with 1.500-inch diameter stainless steel Manley valves (vs. 1.300-inches, stock), PAC valve springs, and screw-in style freeze plugs. A fire-ring, multi-layer gasket sits between the block and head, and ARP head studs secure it to the block.It’s impossible to ignore the billet-aluminum side-draft intake that’s bolted to the head. The Fleece intake boasts integrated internal dividers that ensure equal airflow makes it into the engine (i.e. no starved #1 or #6 cylinders). In conjunction with the high-flow cylinder head, it’s the perfect supporting component in Evan’s 1,200-plus hp combination. Also hard to miss is the billet fuel rail sitting above the intake and the 3/8-inch cable wrapped around the engine to contain it in the event of a major failure. The Freedom Racing Engines valve cover and Fleece billet oil cap up top provide a bit of added bling.The Cummins’ fueling needs begin at the front cover, Fleece’s billet-aluminum piece that accommodates a gear-driven Waterman lift pump and two CP3’s. The high-pressure fuel pumps, both of which are Fleece 12mm units, pressurize fuel as high as 32,000-psi before sending it to the rail. On the other side of the rail, six competition injectors from Dynomite Diesel Products handle in-cylinder fuel delivery. We’re told the 6-hole nozzle DDP injectors pack an exceptional flow rate, and that various top-running 2.6 and 3.0 smooth bore trucks have run them this year.Compressor and turbine housing blankets keep one of the best-kept secrets on Evan’s engine under wraps. Like most competitors in the Pro Street class, Evan runs a turbo from Hart’s Diesel & Machine. The 2.6-inch smooth bore charger conceals a billet, 4-blade compressor wheel with a 66mm inducer and an exhaust wheel that measures a little more than 4-inches in diameter. A dual ball bearing center section aids both the performance and durability of the T6 flanged turbo. Evan tells us peak boost checks in anywhere from 35 to 45-psi, depending on the pull and the track.You don’t see an exhaust manifold like this every day, but Evan reports it made a noticeable difference over other options he’d tried on the engine dyno. Made by CDP Diesel & Auto Inc.’s Nathan Wombwell out of Canada, this T6 foot manifold is a big part of the reason why Evan’s engine only sees 1,300-degree EGT during the course of a pull. In the sport of truck pulling, where EGT regularly skyrockets well beyond that in most applications, 1,300-degree EGT should make life very easy for the engine and turbo.Neither water injection nor air-to-water intercoolers are allowed in the Pro Street class, so the job of cooling down boosted air is left to this air-to-air unit. Starting with an On3 Performance intercooler, Evan had the end tanks modified by Precision Built Race Cars, who also handled the hot and cold-side piping, as well as the exhaust work. On the backside of the intercooler, a pair of electric fans work to pull air through the core, forcing it toward the engine—an engine that has no cooling system to speak of.Backing up the potent Cummins is an NV4500 transmission, but not just any old five-speed. It’s a three-speed unit from Profab Machine, complete with straight cut gears rather than helical versions and a sizeable, 1.5-inch diameter input shaft. A four-disc clutch from Kenny’s Pulling Parts & Machine resides on the oversize input and does its thing inside a blowproof bell housing. Bolted to the back of the NV4500, an NV273 transfer case out of an ’06-’12 Ram transfers power to the front and rear axles.You could say the rear axle under Double Or Nothin’ is battle-hardened. Sourced from fellow truck puller, Ronnie Hall (from when Ronnie bumped his Duramax-powered Silverado up to the Limited Pro Stock/3.0 smooth bore class), the AAM 1150 has had zero issues coping with the abuse Evan’s 1,200-plus horsepower Cummins dishes out. The late-model, 11.5-inch ring and pinion unit has been treated to a spool, upgraded axle shafts, and 4.88 gears. Up front, a beefed up AAM 925 works in harmony with the factory second-gen four-link arrangement, though Even threw in a set of JEB Modern Machines’ billet front control arms for added strength and ease of adjustment.In the cab, you’ll find a gutted interior, a Kirkey Racing seat, a Wagler billet hand throttle, and the well-executed fab work Evan and colleague Jacob Richards performed (especially on the transmission tunnel). You’ll also find this: a MoTeC M142 stand-alone ECU. Wired up at S&S Diesel Motorsport and making use of the company’s diesel-specific firmware, Evan has complete control over the common-rail Cummins. S&S employees Andre Dusek and Ryan Reiser offer tuning support. Up in front of the steering wheel, a MoTeC C127 monitor keeps immediate vital information available, though a host of RIFE sensors collect data on everything from Air/Fuel ratio to clutch travel.The name Double Or Nothin’ says it all. Evan is taking a gamble that his latest Pro Street creation will be substantially more successful than his previous one was (you may remember a hard-running, red third-gen coined “Inline Hustle”). If you ask us, Evan already has the game figured out. He won all but one of the Indiana Pulling League hooks he went to this season and, despite having less than 10 pulls under the truck’s belt, qualified second at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza.After an upcoming trip to Diesels In Dark Corners, followed by a showing at the Midwest Winter Nationals in January, we wouldn’t be surprised if Evan pulled the engine and went looking for more horsepower on the dyno at Freedom Racing Engines. If you bet on one thing in diesel truck pulling, put your money on Double Or Nothin’. This Blue Streak Pearl Dodge is going to be a front-runner in the 2.6 class for the foreseeable future.
