Whiplash

- Phillip Hooker

The sharp, clean lines of this 2009 Dodge are quick to catchthe eye, as is the smooth, seemingly wet red paint. From theword go, this truck looks the part of something that should be capable of a neck-snapping sixty-foot and a blazing-fast quarter mile time. The owner, Evan Rusk, is quick to show that it has more than enough under the hood to back up its sinister exterior. When he started to modify the truck nearly four years ago, we’re not sure he had the extensive build in mind that the truck now sports, but we’re glad it turned out that way. The truck has slowly evolved over the years, getting faster as the modification list got longer.

PERFORMANCE FOUNDATION

Rusk spends his days as a technician working for Fleece Performance Engineering in Brownsburg, Indiana. Working for one of the companies on the forefront of competition engine building certainly has its perks, and what’s under the hood of this truck is definitely a testament to that fact. Rusk’s truck has been a testbed for several different fueling and turbo setups throughout its life. Currently it sports a factory 6.7 Cummins with a .020 overbore on the cylinders. Freedom Racing Engines took on the task of machining the block to accept fire rings, crucial in holding the high boost goals set for this configuration. The rotating assembly consists of heavy duty Carillo billet rods pushing factory QSB pistons. Another crucial part to the engine’s success with spooling large turbochargers is the ported Fleece Performance Engineering (FPE) head with oversized valves installed. Hamilton Cams got the nod for a bumpstick to enable the high-flowing head and provided one of their 188/220 camshafts. This long block has proven to be a reliable setup on the street when paired with the correct fueling and turbocharging combination.