Hand-picked highlights from the Diesel Performance Industry Expo, the show ‘n shine, and the pits.
With thousands of spectators combing the grounds of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park each June, Ultimate Callout Challenge represents the perfect venue for manufacturers to improve their visibility within the diesel industry. The Diesel Performance Industry (DPI) Expo, with its eye-catching vehicles, wild engines, and problem-solving products on display, serves to entertain, inform, and educate as event-goers move from booth to booth. It is here, beneath vendor tents both big and small, where diesel enthusiasts can familiarize themselves with the latest engine-saving parts, transmission upgrades, turbo technology, and fuel system components on the market.
Of course, the show ‘n shine consumes an undeniably large swathe of real estate in Indy as well. Acre after acre is occupied by anything and everything diesel, from late-model Fords, Chevy’s, and Rams to 80-year-old rat-rods. Here, the trucks are lifted, lowered, freshly painted, Patina’d or raw, lit up like Christmas trees, and fitted with everything from all seasons on 24’s to 44-inch Boggers. If you couldn’t make it to U.C.C. this year, you need to find time in 2025. What you’re about to read here is only a fraction of what you’ll come across at the biggest show in the diesel industry.
Remember the Mega Cab that caught on fire at U.C.C. a few years ago? Derrick Barney’s ’11 Ram is back and it’s packing an Industrial Injection Shredder series Cummins under the hood. The sleeved 6.7L rocks a 14mm gorilla girdle, Carrillo rods, Diamond Racing forged-aluminum pistons, a 188/220 Hamilton cam, and a ported (and fire-ringed) head. Industrial King Cobra injectors combine with a factory/12mm CP3 combination and a DDP-ported rail on the fuel side, while a 5-blade S485 Godfather from Stainless Diesel provides the air. Along with fabbing up the intake piping, Maverick Motorsports dialed the truck in prior to its trip to Indy. A Stage 4 68RFE from Randy’s Transmissions (along with a trans brace from A2 Motorsport) is tasked with handling everything Derrick’s potent new engine can dish out.U.C.C. marked an opportune time for Fleece Performance Engineering to release its second and third-gen transmission cooler kits. Each all-inclusive system comes with everything needed to drop there larger cooler into place in your ’94-’02 or ’03-’09 Dodge. With it, Fleece says you’ll enjoy double the heat rejection vs. stock, thanks in part to the 20-percent increase in surface area the cooler provides. Installation calls for zero cutting or splicing of the OEM lines, and all-new, heavy-duty transmission lines and AN fittings are included. As a bonus for stopping by their booth, the folks at Fleece were offering free kids tattoos to all the youngsters.The aftermath of Randy’s Transmissions’ 3,180-rwhp dyno carnage was available for all to see at the company’s booth. Prior to U.C.C., Randy’s flagship vehicle, the ’06 Dodge Ram 3500 known as “Red Delicious,” was graced with a 3.42 ring and pinion (as opposed to the factory 3.73’s), the goal being to load the triple-turbo Cummins harder. The gearing change did its job, gleaning an additional 60 psi of boost out of the GTX55 trio. Unfortunately, the crankshaft tried to leave the block and exit through the oil pan. Thankfully, the cable wrapped around the block and head did its job, keeping any iron from flying.We had the privilege of bumping into Tombstone Diesel at the DPI Expo, and the Colorado-based company quickly familiarized us with its engine-saving turbo oil drain locks. Its product is designed to lock your AN style drain line fitting into place, eliminating the possibility of the fitting blowing out of the block due to high boost or excessive crankcase pressure. This means no more oiling down the track or potentially losing an engine while driving down the road. Tombstone’s patented AN drain lock is designed to work with any -10 and -12 AN kits for turbocharger systems on ’94-’23 Cummins applications. It retails for just $54.99.Homegrown garage builds don’t get much more interesting than this. Self-taught in the art of welding, auto body, and wrenching, the owner of this 1940s Pontiac built quite the head-turner. Strategically parked on blocks and above mirrors, the classic coupe’s biggest secret became visible: it sits on a cut-down GM HD frame and axles. And it’s also four-wheel drive. That’s right, a full-on, IFS AAM 9.25 is concealed up front. Rearward of that—and attached to a Duramax that’s been treated to select, mirror-finish components—we found an Allison 1000 transmission. The raw steel Pontiac isn’t even finished yet and we can already see a few trophies in its future.Making the most of Saturday’s rain delay, we paid a visit to our friends at Wehrli Custom Fabrication. Among the other high-quality trucks parked in WC Fab’s neighborhood, we got up close and personal with this 700hp, emissions-friendly LML Duramax from Cold Front Diesel. Wehrli supplied the billet, high-flow exhaust manifolds, 2-inch stainless steel up-pipes (with passenger side EGR leg), and the intake and intercooler piping—all of which complement an S372 SX-E over stock compound turbo arrangement. WC Fab even provided a set of its HD engine mounts for the build. Other key ingredients in the GMC’s 703 hp, 1,224 lb-ft numbers include 20-percent over injectors and a 10mm CP4.2 from Exergy Performance, a 165-gph FASS system, and an emissions-on twin kit, engine tuning, and transmission tuning from DuramaxTuner.com.How about a minty-fresh second-gen, hard-parked with only 26,000 miles on the odometer and the original Monroney sticker sitting in the window? We may be dating ourselves, but stumbling upon this pristinely preserved 2000 Dodge Quad Cab—in Sport trim and packing an NV5600, no less—took us back to a time when these 1-tons populated dealer lots and all the buzz around the new “24-valve” Cummins filled the air. Built to order for Donald Swoboda, the truck has lived a quarter century on Canada’s west coast. The well-kept, four-wheel drive Ram even wears the original LT235/85R16E Goodyear tires it came with!Stopping in at the Industrial Injection booth, we found one of the company’s XR2 Series turbos bolted to its 6.7L Cummins display engine. A direct replacement, HE300VG-based charger, it boasts a 7-blade, billet 64.5mm compressor wheel (inducer) that enjoys a slim nose design. On the other end of the shaft, the turbine wheel is upgraded to a high-flow, 10-blade unit that measures 67mm on the exducer and 70mm at the inducer. The XR2 Series turbo is also 50-state legal, carrying CARB E.O. # D-711-3. We especially like the polished compressor housing option, something the company practically invented back in the day with its wildly successful, fixed geometry S300 units.Somehow, Austin Piper’s old, rat-rod Mack fit right in at the show ‘n shine. The Saltsburg, Pennsylvania native calls it the “Mack Rat,” and he pieced it together at his place of business, AJP Kustomz – Metal Worx, in a little over a year and a half. The B model body sits atop an ’08 F-350 chassis, sold to Austin by a former employee after the 6.4L Power Stroke self-destructed. Believe us, there are a whole host of details to uncover walking around this old bulldog, but our favorites include the handmade rebar grille and the radiator fan shroud made from license plates (below).Not wanting to perform a run-of-the-mill 12-valve swap, Austin sourced a 7.3L Power Stroke from a ’95 OBS Ford donor truck, complete with a ZF-5 transmission. As was the case for early 7.3L’s, the engine isn’t intercooled. However, it is running an S366 John Deere turbo Austin scored on the cheap, and a regulated return fuel system that ties in with a homemade e-fuel supply system. All of the above helped wake the 444 ci V-8 up enough to handle towing duties. Repurposed old iron like this proves that the rat-rod scene still has a place in the diesel culture.Much of the diesel racing world held its breath last fall when news broke that Nathan Wheeler had been involved in a terrible crash, his “Crazyhorse” Cummins-powered ‘10 Ford seemingly obliterated. A few months later, word got out that Truck Source Diesel was piecing it back together, with TSD owner, Chris Buhidar, even kicking in an entire donor truck for the cause. TSD’s Nathaniel Oku fabricated the chassis to perfection, along with wiring up the S&S Diesel Motorsport-sourced MoTeC stand-alone ECU system. An Enforcer series engine from D&J Precision Machine (proven capable of handling 3,000+ hp) benefits from S&S fueling and calibrating, with a sizeable Hart’s turbo feeding it boost. Last time we checked, the truck had five (5) stages of nitrous onboard, too, courtesy of Nitrous Outlet. So, the answer is yes—it is as fast as it looks.
