A hot-lapping, 1,200hp Cummins-swapped Ram 1500 that runs 6.70s like clockwork.
Neal Nissen has an affinity for going fast and building Cummins-powered half-ton Rams. In fact, he owns two of them—a 2012 1500 and this ’08—both of them of the short bed variety. Originally purchased in 2017 with a blown up 4.7L V-8 under the hood (and crank windows), Neal dropped a 5.9L common-rail in place and soon went drag racing. Fast-forward a few years and—after the hunger for more power gradually transformed it into a 1,200-rwhp rocket—Neal’s blue third-gen has been 6.30s in the eighth-mile and run effortless low 10s in the quarter.
But there’s more to the story than that. This owner-built fire-breather is a constant threat in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series’ 6.70 Index and ET Bracket categories, where Neal is known to hot-lap the truck. Outside of ODSS, he and his third-gen Ram spend time beating up on the locals at his hometown track, Ozark Raceway Park. “I double enter classes every weekend,” he tells us. It’s a classic combination of lightweight meets high-horsepower—and a boatload of seat time has made Neal downright lethal behind the wheel. Step inside his Cummins-swapped half-ton for a closer look.
Crack the hood on Neal’s 2008 Ram and you’re greeted by an ’06 5.9L that looks as good as it runs. To hold up to the abuse it was destined to see at the track, the common-rail Cummins was treated to ARP main studs, a set of Street Fighter rods from Wagler Competition Products, and large bowl, 0.040-inch over ’04.5-’07 pistons from Mahle. A fire-ringed Stage 1 cylinder head from D&J Precision Machine resides up top—complete with a 5-axis port job and 105-lb Manton valve springs—and anchors to the 5.9L’s (unfilled) block by way of Custom Age 625+ ARP head studs. In conjunction with chromoly Manton pushrods, a 188/220 camshaft from Hamilton actuates the valvetrain.Somewhere between 80 and 90-psi of boost gets crammed into the Cummins at wide-open throttle courtesy of a pair of S400’s. The arrangement, made possible thanks to an EvilFab Performance side mount compound kit, utilizes a 92mm billet wheel charger from True North Turbos as the atmosphere unit and an off-the-shelf S472 SX-E on the manifold. The low-pressure turbo boasts a 92mm/102mm turbine wheel and a T-6, 1.32 A/R exhaust housing, while the high-pressure S472 sports an 82/87mm turbine wheel and a T-4, 1.00 A/R exhaust housing.The high-pressure turbo (the S472) in Neal’s compound system mounts to a competition style T-4 24-valve exhaust manifold from Steed Speed. The Techline coated manifold features a provision for an external wastegate, and a 44mm wastegate from TurboSmart got the call. But instead of venting to atmosphere or into the downpipe, the wastegate feeds excess drive pressure into the atmosphere charger in an effort to drive it harder. Operating off of spring pressure, the gate starts to open at 50-psi.At the heart of the 5.9L’s fuel system, a 14mm high speed CP3 from S&S Diesel Motorsport sits in place of the factory high-pressure fuel pump. On the other side of the rail and positioned in the head, six S&S fuel injectors—each fitted with a 300-percent over nozzle and benefiting from internal body mods—optimize in-cylinder fuel distribution and atomization. The injection system (and the rest of the 5.9L engine, for that matter) takes its cues from a factory Cummins CM849 ECM that’s been calibrated using EFILive software files crafted by Dominic Canonico. Race day tweaking of base files is performed, track-side, by Neal.To support the S&S injectors and high speed CP3, Neal runs a low-pressure fuel supply system from one of his sponsors, FASS. The competition system flows 290-gph and pulls diesel from a 20-gallon fuel cell. Why the big fuel tank? Because Neal drives the truck on the street—and his wife even takes it to work on occasion. Around town, we’re told the short bed gets 16-mpg. In our mind, this makes it a great candidate for drag ‘n drive style events. Also notice the Kinetic Engineering coil over shocks Neal runs.Like the rest of the truck, Neal built the transmission himself. His race-ready 48RE is equipped with a 2,400-rpm stall, triple disc DPC torque converter, a Santjer Performance Development 37-spline solid input shaft conversion, a billet intermediate shaft from Sonnax, and a Sun Coast “stubby” tail shaft kit. GPZ clutches from Raybestos improve the four-speed automatic’s torque holding capacity and a billet flex plate keeps the Cummins from ripping it apart. The Mag-Hytec pan shown here adds fluid capacity and a Mishimoto transmission cooler up in the factory location ensures ATF temp stays in check.To allow the 28×10.5 MT slicks out back to do their thing, Neal went with a tried and true four-link suspension system from Firepunk Diesel. The fully adjustable system features ¼-inch thick steel frame mount and rear axle brackets, along with the corresponding axle bracket and frame bracket doublers, and a chromoly, 1-1/2-inch pan hard bar that Neal cut to length. Chromoly links and joints bring further strength and quality to the track-tested arrangement. Once installed, Neal immediately set to work finding the four-link’s happy place.Repeat 6-second eighth-miles wouldn’t be legally possible without a roll bar, so Neal had Maverick Motorsports fab up the bolt-in arrangement that’s partially visible here. With it in place he’s safe to run a 6.49 through the ‘660, although it didn’t take Neal long to go 6.30s… In fact, the truck went low 6’s with a smaller set of compounds feeding the engine. It’s no wonder why Neal has his sights set on running quicker classes in the future, where deep 5-second passes will likely be required to compete. Aside from the seats, which came out of a wrecked SRT10, the rest of the interior is all original, with just over 120,000 miles worth of use accumulated over the years.Behind the wheel, the green button controls the trans-brake, while the red one controls the bump box. Over on the dash, next to the vent control, you’ll find a launch control button. It turns on the Davis Technologies Smart Relay, which controls the trans-brake, the bump box, and the staging limiter in the ECM all at the same time. With the truck bumped in and the driver’s mind locked in, it’s common for Neal to pull off 1.5x to 1.60-second 60-foots in the little blue truck.Improving on where he ended the 2024 race season, Neal came out swinging this year. At the Outlaw Diesel Revenge event (which runs side-by-side with U.C.C.) he secured the number 1 qualifier in 6.70 Index with a 6.702 and ultimately made it to the semifinals. The consistency wouldn’t end there, with Neal finishing fourth (out of 42 drivers) in the 6.70 Index points chase. Over in ET Bracket, he earned a top 10 points finish in a field that saw 150 entries in 2025. Racing closer to home, Neal and his Ram won several local races while competing in 2WD classes.Incredibly, despite being hot-lapped (at more than 800hp in order to run 6.70s) the truck’s transmission never crests 150 degrees F. ”I actually have to brake spool it in the staging lanes so the trans bump will work like it’s supposed to on the line,” Neal told us. “You can run and run and run the truck without it ever getting warm.” And that’s exactly what he does. At the Snyder Performance Engineering Outlaw Finals in 2024, he made countless test passes before double-classing in 6.70 Index and ET Bracket. He would go on to win the latter category that weekend, as well as earn the number 2 qualifier spot in 6.70.After hurting cylinder number 4 at FP Diesel Warz in June, Neal had to finish the season behind the wheel of a different truck (an ’07 4×4 Ram 2500), making his fourth place finish in the 6.70 Index points chase that much more impressive. Now, with a sleeved 6.7L Cummins on the way and a fuel and air arrangement that’s already made 1,200 hp on the hub dyno, Neal’s unquenchable need for speed is driving him toward some serious winter upgrades. “I’m going to make the truck as fast as possible without ruining it,” he told us. “I have long travel Menscers for the front and the new engine coming…” Neal then divulged he’d like to compete in a turbo limited class, or try his hand in a Lil’ Gangsta style category, where vehicles race heads-up and often run in the 5.30 range.
