Super Duty body, second-gen Dodge chassis, deck-plate 6.7L Cummins—and built to win. Nick Zaenkert’s Ford is putting the Limited Pro Stock field on notice.
When you’re born and raised around tractor pulling, chances are high you’ll eventually build something of your own to compete in the dirt with. For Nick Zaenkert, whose father started pulling modified tractors back in the mid 1980s, it was four-wheel drive diesel trucks—with each one of them wearing the “High Stakes” name. After starting out with a second-gen Dodge built to do battle in the 8,000-pound Pro Street (2.6 smooth bore) class, Nick transitioned to a third-gen that quickly became a dominant force and even won the Central Ohio Truck Pull Circuit championship in 2023. But then it was time to up the ante.
Looking for a fresh challenge, Nick sold the third-gen in the spring of 2024 and immediately set to work piecing together a brand-new truck for the Limited Pro Stock (3.0 smooth bore) class. This time, a Ford body with no shortage of sentimental value got the call—’06 F-350 sheet-metal Nick’s cousin had sold him shortly before losing his battle with cancer. Six months—and having worked on the truck six days a week—later, “High Stakes 3.0” sat completed at E&M Repair And Fabrication, sporting a deck-plated 6.7L Cummins from Freedom Racing Engines. Then, following a ninth-place finish at Diesels In Dark Corners, it was already parked in the winner’s circle, having won the 2025 Midwest Winter Nationals.
To run at the front of the pack, Nick went where countless other Limited Pro Stock owners have gone: Freedom Racing Engines—the engine building division of Fleece Performance Engineering. There, a dyno-proven, deck-plated and sleeved, fire-ringed block and head, dry sump 6.7L Cummins was assembled. A factory 6.7L crankshaft is secured by way of a Haisley Machine girdle and main studs, and it swings a set of Wagler rods topped off with fly-cut Diamond Racing pistons. A camshaft, custom ground at Freedom, supports the 5,000-rpm engine speeds the Cummins sees, as does a Freedom race head boasting CNC porting, larger intake and exhaust valves, and beehive valve springs from PAC Racing Springs. ARP 14mm studs anchor the high-flow head to the block.On the air side of the equation, Nick relies on the latest Harts 3.0 smooth bore turbo for boost. The billet wheeled, ball bearing charger mounts to a T-6 exhaust manifold from Steed Speed. As for fuel, a gear driven Waterman lift pump provides ample supply pressure to a pair of high-speed, 14mm stroker CP3’s from S&S Diesel Motorsport. Like a lot of other common-rail competitors in the Limited Pro Stock category, Nick runs a set of injectors from Dynomite Diesel Products. We don’t know what Nick’s Cummins made on the engine dyno at Fleece but, with a win already under its belt and 1,550 to 1,600 hp said to be needed to be competitive in 3.0, you can bet this parts combination puts him well within that horsepower range.Boost makes its way into the 24-valve head via this piece of billet-aluminum eye candy from Fleece Performance Engineering. But it’s more about function than looks, with the side-draft intake manifold incorporating internal dividers that guarantee each cylinder sees an equal amount of airflow. Just above the intake manifold, a billet fuel rail stores the pressure created by the S&S high-speed 14mm CP3’s, which mount to a billet-aluminum front cover. Per Limited Pro Stock class rules on safety, a steel cable is wrapped around both the block and head—in case all hell ever breaks loose within the engine.This is the device that puts High Stakes’ boosted air on ice. Sourced from Chiseled Performance, the water-to-air intercooler is rated to handle 4,000 hp and boasts a 4-inch inlet and outlet. All intercooler (as well as all exhaust) piping was fabricated at E&M Repair And Fabrication by longtime truck puller (and pulling truck builder) Erik Hucke. Also notice the intercooler straps as well as the V-band on the intercooler itself. These rigid connection points eliminate any possibility of boost loss during the course of a pull.For a solid foundation, the truck is based on a 2000 model year Dodge Ram 3500 frame that Nick found in Indiana, which he promptly retrieved and dropped off at E&M Repair And Fabrication’s front door. All reinforcements were tig-welded in place, with E&M also fitting the ’06 Super Duty cab to the Dodge chassis. And, as the Somerville, Ohio shop was the site of the ground-up build from start to finish (a project which spanned six jam-packed months), installation of the Freedom engine and all of its associated wiring also took place at E&M.It’s all business inside the cab, with the Profab Machine reverser transmission, enclosed intermediate shaft, and quick change transfer case in full view. Up ahead of the one-speed reverser, and concealed within an SFI-approved bell housing, sits the 11-inch diameter, 4-disc clutch from Kenny’s Pulling Parts & Machine that’s responsible for transferring power from the engine. The billet GP Diesel hand throttle gives Nick complete control over the Cummins, allowing him to get the truck off the line smoothly and apply all of its power at the precise moment he needs it.The success of every competition vehicle boils down to engine tuning. In Nick’s case, the Cummins takes its cues from a trusty, factory CM849 ECU that’s been calibrated by Chase Fleece. Each performance is captured by an AEM data logger, complete with a digital dash display and in conjunction with the 22-channel CAN sensor module you see here. However, Nick tells us this arrangement may soon be changing. In the near future, a stand-alone MoTeC ECU, complete with S&S Diesel Motorsport firmware and a MoTeC digital dash data logger will be getting the call.They don’t come much tougher than an SQHD rear axle in truck pulling. This version packs a chromoly housing from Advanced Chassis, a TIG-welded differential housing that boasts internal bulkheads and folded gussets for optimum strength. It’s also fitted with a billet spool and axles from SCS Gearbox. Up front, you’ll find the Dana 60 that came with the second-gen frame. It’s been prepped for battle courtesy of a Yukon Spin Free locking hub kit, a Yukon spool, and a pair of Branik axles.DOT-approved tires are mandatory in the Limited Pro Stock diesel truck class, and Nick runs what is arguably the best tread pattern to ever grace the dirt: Interco’s Trxus all-terrain. The 35-inch diameter A/T’s mount to aluminum, 17x-10-inch Real Racing wheels. Paradise Graphix of Monroe, Ohio executed the vinyl wrap that sets the truck off. Every time the third rendition of High Stakes moves the sled out past 300 feet, the truck serves as the ultimate billboard for those who helped build it: namely E&M Repair And Fabrication, Slightly Overworked Motorsports (the truck pulling arm of E&M), and Fleece Performance Engineering. Zaenkert Motorsports calls attention to the family’s pulling team (which consists of Nick’s father’s and brother’s V-8 Hot Rod tractors, in addition to the truck) while ChrisNik Inc. represents the family business and where the financial backing comes from.So how did the truck’s catchy name come to be? It all starts with what Nick does for a living. “My dad started our family business, ChrisNik Inc. (named after me and my brother) back in the 1990s, making wood stakes for the construction and land surveying industries. Since then, our company has grown into the highest volume wood stake supplier in the United States. I’ve been working for my dad since I was a kid and now we run the business together, so when it came time to name the truck I wanted it to have some sort of subtle tie-in to the business. High Stakes is what I came up with.” As for the spade, “it’s always been one of my favorite shapes, so it seemed fitting to go with a spade theme since high stakes are typically related to card games.”The spade theme also made it onto the weight box. Interestingly, the weight box itself was custom designed by Nick and his cousin, Matt Conrad—Conrad being the man who originally built the “Shark Bait” Super Stock/RWYB truck that’s now owned and driven by Jesse Warren. You’ll also find laser-cut spades present in the weight box’s roller brackets—more of those subtle details Nick admits he’s a sucker for.After making several test passes at local pulls, Nick drove the fresh build on the trailer and headed for Diesels In Dark Corners XIV. In Georgia, Nick laid claim to ninth-place on Saturday night in a Limited Pro Stock field that saw an incredible, 58-truck turnout. A few adjustments later, High Stakes 3.0 would be ready to dominate. (Photo taken by JP Pulling Productions)Next stop: the 2025 Midwest Winter Nationals. Nick wasted no time grabbing his first win behind the wheel, and at the annual indoor pull in Cloverdale, Indiana, he had to outperform the likes of Jason Wayman (“Megatron”) and Ryan Perkins in order to do it. Without question, High Stakes’ 296-foot run at the sand pile put the rest of the Limited Pro Stock field on notice. (Photo provided courtesy of Built Diesel Mafia)Bringing home the hardware right out of the gate says a lot about Nick’s top-tier build. Not only does it look the part, but it flat-out performs. And as you might’ve guessed, Nick is champing at the bit to go truck pulling all summer. But what exactly is in store for Nick and the High Stakes 3.0 Ford for 2025? Simply put, Nick plans to pull wherever the highest level of competition is. “I like competition, and I don’t want to be locked into any one organization in order to compete at the highest level,” he told us. “I want to hit all the big pulls.” Nick’s southwest Ohio location certainly makes this possible, with plenty of hooks available across the border in Indiana and other popular venues less than an hour away in neighboring Kentucky.
