Withthehelpoffriends,competitors,andstrangers,it lookedliketheDHDteamwas
goingtobeabletoreplacetheirfriedengineandECM,swapaxles,changetoa triple-turbo
setup,andmakethecalltothesledpull!Mechanicaltrucksshineinsledpulling,anddrawingfirstonaniffytrackdidn’thurt
either.StillPDDputonanimpressivedisplayofhorsepoweronthewaytoa first-place,
326-footpull.ANDTHEWINNERIS
DNRCustoms/ DerekRose!
It takesoneheckofa truckandteamtowinatUCC,andnobodycouldhaveembodiedthespirit
ofUCCbetterthisyearthanDerekRose.Afterfinishingonthepodiumthelastcoupleyears,he
spentcountlesshoursanddollarslighteninghisentiretruckin thesixmonthsleadinguptothe
eventsoit couldbeascloseaspossibletoUCC’s4,500-poundweightminimum.Healsotested
in themid5sin theeighth-mileandwasoneofthequickesttruckscomingintoUCC2019.Derekhasalwaysbeenstrongonthedyno,buthereallynailedit thisyearbyconcentratingon
bothhorsepowerANDtorque,whichprovedhugein theoverallscore.UCC’sweightedscoring
systemgivesextrapointsforreallytrouncingyouropponents,andwithmorethan 200 hpand
400 lb-ftontheentirefield,Derekhada bigleadcomingintothepulls.Healsobroughtthe
mosttrussed-uprearaxlewe’veeverseenin preparationforthesledpull,whichwasgood
becausein thepasthe’sonlybeenmediocre(sorry,Derek!).Perhapsthebiggestkeyis that
in thepastfewyears,Derekhasbeenona hurtengineorhurttruckgoingintothepulls.This
yearhewasn’tandwasabletopulla strongfifthplace.Combinedwitha firstonthedynoand
firstplacequalifyingatthedrags,Derekwasthewell-deservedwinnerfor2019,andwelook
forwardtohimcomingbacktodefendhiscrownin 2020!A hugeshoutoutalsotoShawnBaca
fornabbingsecondandToddWelchforfinishingin third.Whiletheywerestrongcompetitors,
Derekwasjusta littlestronger.ULTIMATE CALLOUT CHALLENGE 2019
106 OCTOBER I 2019 • DIESEL WORLD http://www.dieselworldmag.com