The 2018 Ultimate Callout Challenge rookie class is looking like it will be a stout group of competitors that look to pose a challenge to each other for top rookie finish as well as to the UCC veterans as the new guys challenge for wins. Justin Andres is the latest rookie addition to the 2018 UCC. Hailing from North Dakota, Andres hopes to show that his JA Diesel Performance team and his 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 have what it takes to compete with the best of the best at the 2018 UCC. In addition to support from his own shop JA Diesel Performance Andres has the support and backing of sponsors including AirDog, Done Right Diesel Performance, Fleece Performance Engineering, Freedom Racing Engines and IKT Diesel Performance.

Andres’ Ram is powered by a 6.7L Cummins that was sleeved down to 6.2L of displacement by the team at Freedom Racing Engines. The short block is capped with a heavily modified Cummins head that the FRE team ported and polished for enhanced flow in addition to milling off the factory intake shelf and installing oversized valves and performance valve springs. Fuel system upgrades include a pair of AirDog 200 pump and filter systems pushing fuel up to a pair of 12mm CP3s, one from Fleece Performance Engineering and one from S&S Motorsport. From the big CP3s fuel will be delivered to a set of S&S 450% or 500% over injectors to squirt plenty of #2 fuel into each cylinder.

To supply enough air to keep up with all that fuel Andres turned to HSP Diesel to fabricate a compound triple-turbo setup with a pair of BorgWarner S472 turbo chargers drawing air in from the atmosphere then handing the compressed charge over to a third BorgWarner S472 for additional boost. From there the high boost charge is fed through a Banks Power intercooler then into the Freedom Racing modified head through a Fleece Performance Engineering aluminum side-draft intake manifold. Vibrant clamps are used to hold the system together and keep the pressure in the pipes while making it easy to service the system.

Andres turned to Ben Shadday at Done Right Diesel for tuning on his Cummins to optimize the unique combination. While Andres and his team will continue to improve and upgrade the engine prior to finalizing things before the 2018 UCC competition, the best power he has put down with the truck so far in 2017 was 1,767 HP and 2,898 lbs-ft of torque with less fuel than they will be running in 2018. With numbers like that the rookie would have placed 5th in the 2017 UCC dyno competition. On the drag strip, with his previous setup he has posted a best 1/4-mile ET of 9.55 seconds which would have put him in 4th place in the 2017 UCC drag race so Andres certainly has a chance of performing well in 2018 especially if his upgrades yield the results he is hoping for.

The potent Cummins engine is backed by a Dodge 48RE transmission that was built by Brian Parker at IKT Diesel using the best components possible to hold the power from the Cummins. ADM of Indianapolis built a custom aluminum rear driveshaft using HD 1480 U-joints to get the power from the transmission to the rear axle and the Yukon spool that gets the power to the rear wheels evenly. Up front the factory driveline components are likely to get further upgrades before the 2018 UCC to improve their reliability and help Andres put the power to the ground. In addition to various diesel competitions Andres still drives the truck on the street on a regular basis showing the truck’s high performance versatility.

Can any rookie dethrone the current UCC elite competitors? Only time will tell for sure but strong trucks from rookies like Justin Andres will surely put up a good fight to stake out their place among the UCC greats. Won’t it be awesome to find out where the chips will fall once the rubber hits the track, rollers and dirt May 4th-6th 2018 at the third annual Ultimate Callout Challenge!