This is the race track where the event has been happening for the last several years. The hosts say it’s a good location for all the different parts of the event.
Term
sled pole
A sled pull is a competition where a truck pulls a heavy sled on the ground. The sled is weighted, so the truck has to use a lot of power to move it.
Elevation is how high the track or city is above sea level. Higher up, the air is thinner, and that can make engines feel weaker unless you account for it.
PRI is a trade show for racing and performance equipment. The host is comparing diesel’s need for its own big event to other performance-industry shows.
SEMA is a big car-industry event where companies show off aftermarket parts and custom vehicles. The speaker is saying diesel needs a similar kind of dedicated event.
“Dino” means a dyno, which is a machine that measures how much power a truck makes. People watch dyno runs at events to see the results from different builds.
A burnout pit is a special spot at the event where drivers do burnouts, basically spinning the tires to make smoke and show off. It’s there so fans can watch it safely and easily.
A “pass” is basically one run down the track. They’re explaining that earlier competitors could do more runs, but this year they’re restricted to specific time windows.
They’re saying that in previous years, competitors only got one attempt on the sled. That means if something goes wrong, there’s no second chance to fix it.
“Test and tune” means practice—drivers run the vehicle and make adjustments so it performs better later. It’s like getting the car set up before the real competition.
Bless Performance is the company Matt Story is connected to. In the episode, they mention it because he bought NHRDA and helped coordinate changes between racing groups.
A point system is the rulebook for how many points you get for finishing positions. Different groups can use different point rules, but the idea is the same—points add up.
“Classes match up” means the race organizers line up the vehicle categories so similar cars race together. It makes the competition fairer and easier to compare across events.
A point series is a season-long competition where drivers earn points at each event. Add up the points over time, and the top totals win the championship.
The “7-2 Fast Class” sounds like a drag-racing format with rules that keep things competitive and controlled. Teams still build fast cars, but they have limits—like using a turbocharger and meeting setup restrictions.
Bracket racing is a drag race where everyone picks a target time before the run. The winner is usually whoever gets closest to that target, not just whoever is quickest.
Concept
unlimited power racing
“Unlimited power” is basically a racing category where teams are allowed to chase very high power levels. The rules are usually less restrictive than in classes that cap boost or limit parts.
A “tech card” is basically your event paperwork. It’s how the organizers make sure your truck is cleared to race, and buying it early helps you avoid delays.
A “show and shine” is when people bring their trucks to be displayed for judging or just for fans to look at. They’re talking about how the event grew starting around 2018.
Cummins is a company that makes diesel engines. If Cummins leadership is showing up, it means the event is important to the diesel community, not just a local gathering.
In this context, “engagement” means getting people to actually interact with your booth. It’s more than just setting up—it's about giving attendees a reason to come over.
A burnout is when the driver keeps the car’s wheels spinning while the car is mostly in place, usually to make smoke and show off. It’s a common crowd-pleaser at car events.
Concept
$10,000 purse
A purse is the total amount of money that gets paid out as prizes for the winners. Saying it’s $10,000 tells you the competition has real rewards.
Concept
controlled chaos
“Controlled chaos” means it feels crazy and fun, but it’s still managed so things don’t get out of hand. The hosts are describing the event vibe as exciting but organized.
Open track time is when the track is basically open for practice. Racers can use the time to make runs and improve their setup before the big competition.
Fleece is another company showing up at the event as a vendor/sponsor. The hosts don’t go into details here, but it’s part of the lineup of performance brands supporting the UCC.
Edge is one of the companies involved at the event. The hosts mention it as part of the vendor group, but don’t explain what they’re bringing in this clip.
Calibrated Power is the company/group helping put on or support the event. They’re saying they’re excited to be involved and to see the trucks.
LIVE
Thank you for joining. You're listening to the diesel performance podcast. Guys, we
have a special episode today. Amsoil ultimate call out challenge right around the corner.
And today we have Chris Cyril. Chris, how you doing?
Doing great. How you doing, Chris? Oh man, you know, it's it's crazy every year. I feel
like the ultimate call out challenge. Amsoil UCC event comes quicker than the year prior.
You know, it feels that way. And it but it doesn't. It's still just once a year first week
into June. So this year is a little bit of a special special celebration of sorts. I have
notes here. This is we're going to be celebrating the 10th year. Yeah, this will be the 10th
anniversary of the Amsoil challenge back clear back in 2016 was our first year that we did it
and did that out in Salt Lake City, Utah. And I mean, I know the listeners probably are there
100 times, but you know, it was 12 vendors and, you know, 20 UCC competitors, if we were jumping
from three different locations to try to pull it off. And man, we just we lucked out and had
lightning in the bottle and, you know, kind of blew up the internet and the industry kind of
got behind us. And yeah, 10 years later, here we are. It's crazy to think about it. Now,
correct me if I'm wrong, 2016 was the only year it was out in Salt Lake, correct?
Yeah, 2016 was the only year we've done it out in Salt Lake. And that's obviously because both
me and James are, you know, from the mountain west there, Utah and Idaho. So it was close to us.
After that 17, it's been out here at the Luke's Oil Raceway in Brownsburg. And honestly, it's
been a great location, really centralized. And honestly, the track is just bends over
backwards to really help us out, which is great when when dealing with tracks.
No, I mean, it's the track and the whole the whole property is very accommodating for for
everything from the show and shine to the sled pole to the DPI expo, you know, all the racing
that goes on everything. I feel like that property accommodates everyone quite nicely.
Yeah, yeah. And they're super great to work with. The local area has been great. I mean,
yeah, I'm not so bad to say about Indiana or any of the states around there.
Well, it's nice too, because it's centralized, right? So now you get people from all over,
you know, the country, Canada, what have you. I mean, it lessens the impact for some of that
travel for for some of the East Coast guys as well. Yeah, yeah, it does. It does make it nice.
It feels like it's got a home there. And it feels like that's where it's meant to be, you know.
So we'll backtrack a little bit here, right? You said 2016 was the first year in Salt Lake City.
Can you give the listeners, you know, some of the guys that are new to diesel performance,
you know, how how and why UCC started and kind of, you know, what's what's the
what the purpose is of of the event? Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, honestly,
everybody knows the it does know or should know is the UCC basically started clearback in
2015 when we started thinking about it. Back then, we were all chasing 2000 horsepower, like
that was the dyno was the thing, right? Where everybody was on there and,
you know, obviously being in the Mountain West, we compensated for elevation. And so,
you know, online and started going around. Yeah, but, you know, you're compensating your numbers
for this. And, you know, it's just it's what makes the diesel industry great, man. It's that
trash talking back and forth, you know, in good, in good fun, in good spirit, right? You know,
you're your BSM with your buddies and give them a hard time. And so James came to me and said,
hey, I got this idea. Let's let's figure it out. Let's let's come up with this idea. Let's basically
make a truck triathlon. You know, we have these teams, they build a truck. The truck has to
basically survive three days of drag racing, dynoing, and then sled pulling, you know,
gave us the opportunity to open it up and reach out to racers, reach out to guys that are just
doing the dyno at the time and also sled pullers. It gave us a way to branch multiple diesel
motorsports. And so that's been where the idea of the UCC came up with. And then obviously we
we did that in 2016, and it was a huge hit. And at that time, you know, back then, you know,
we had we've had we have a lot of the sponsors we still have way back then, you know, industrial,
fast. A lot of them were out there supporting us and actually Chase Fleece, the first year,
saw it, actually bought a plane ticket and flew out to Salt Lake to watch it.
And after we got down with the first one, we just had this outcry really from manufacturers,
online dealers, same man, this is something the industry needs. We need we need kind of that
an expo. We need our own SEMA. We need our own PRI. We need to make our own statement, you know,
back early, you know, 2016, 2017, you know, we weren't there wasn't a lot of diesel at SEMA.
There wasn't a lot of diesel PRI. We were making headway in, you know, don't get me wrong, you
know, NHRDA, ODSS, we were making that headway down that we obviously didn't have the presence we
have now. And so really, and I've always said this, you know, we just really got with the industry
and we just figured out what the industry needed and worked with the industry and
developed different partnerships and team ups, you know, over the years, we've obviously teamed
up with Firepunk, you know, and Firepunk brings, you know, with us and Firepunk, we bring out ODSS
and we were able to bring out the ODSS races out to the UCC. Obviously, there's new things going
on with that we talked about here a little bit too, but that relationship helped grow the UCC,
you know, helped add more to it. We obviously got with, like I was talking about the different
manufacturers and different sponsors and instead of treating it as a sponsorship, we've always
tried to treat it as a partnership. You know, how do we make the UCC work for you? You know,
we really try to individualize what needs to happen at the UCC for the vendors as much as we
can. We try to accommodate with that, you know, and then, you know, the vendors, you know, it's
that snake eating its own tail, you know, we need the sponsors because we got to have payouts for
the racers. We need the racers there to put on the show for the fans. We need the, you know,
we need the fans to show up so there's butts in the seats and, you know, the industry. I mean,
if you've been out to the DPI expo at the UCC, man, the booths, the trucks that are in these booths
are SEMA quality level. You know, they've, everybody's stepped it up. So now when fans come,
and not only do we have the great racing, but we have these SEMA quality booths and fans get to
actually go in and talk directly to the manufacturers in addition to just, you know, talking to their
online retailers that they use and whatnot. They actually get that one-on-one experience,
which I think the fans appreciate. And, you know, the sponsors love to share that information. You
know, they want to be in front of them. Obviously, our show and shines continue to grow year after
year, to the point where, you know, every year we seem to sell out of it. We run out of space to put
apart the trucks, which is great. We've teamed up, obviously, you know, less performance,
came in and, you know, they're the presenting sponsor of the Amsoil Ultimate Call Out Challenge,
but on top of that, you know, we had so many people wanting to, fans wanting to dino at the UCC.
You know, now we run two dinos at the UCC nonstop all day Friday, you know, to get the fans in.
You know, we've added, you know, we're working on adding the burnout pit. We added it last year.
We had great success. We're trying some new things this year with it. You know, basically,
we just continue to try to listen to all three categories, the racers, the sponsors, and the
fans, and what they're wanting to see and what they're wanting to experience, you know, year
after year, and we just try to come up with creative ways to introduce that to them.
Yeah. I would say if someone, you know, being that I've been going to UCC ever since its first
year in Indy, right, so nine-year veteran, if someone were to ask me what is the UCC,
you know, I always call it the Super Bowl of Diesel, right, because you have the main competition,
but it's a lot more than that. It is an experience, to say the least. There's always something to do.
You can't go to UCC and say you're bored, because there is always something to view, watch, or see
on display. But the amount of vendors that have taken place, I mean, you said that the first UCC,
there were like 12 vendors, correct? Yeah. Something like that. How many vendors do we have
slated for the DPI Expo for 2026? So as of yesterday, I am completely sold out of those
space at the Expo this year. So we are sitting between non-exhibiting sponsors and sponsors
will be there, because we do have people in the industry that just sponsor the event.
We are sitting over 105 vendors that we will have out at the UCC.
Now, I've been to several events at Lucas Oil Raceway, and I've seen how big the space is that
the DPI Expo sits in, and it's a big space. Don't get me wrong. But I get lost in the UCC weekend
because of all the vendors and all the rows. Like it's just, there's so many things to do there.
I mean, that takes a day in general, if you actually took the time and talked to the vendors and see
everything that's going on. It's very impressive. And it's like I said, it's an experience for any
enthusiast that want to come on board. Like there's a lot going on. It's a lot of good experience to
have. Yeah. And I think the other part that added into that for the fans and new people coming,
and we get asked this a lot. I know I harp on this. I talked about the industry created the UCC.
I'm the ringleader, right, man? I just put everybody in their spots, make sure everybody's
happy. I host it. At the end of the day, I host it, but it's built by the fans, the sponsors,
and the racers. And one thing that I don't think a lot of people realize is that other than the
starting line and up next to the dyno, and then down on the dirt at the sled pool, fans have the
ability to roam the entire UCC. You can walk down the UCC pits, and you can see Justin Ziegler.
You can see Kenny Burner. You can see Mike Brown, Cody Hogg, Tim Moore. We got 25 UCC guys,
some returning, some coming back, some rookies coming. But in addition to that, you can walk over
on the other side, and there's all 300 plus ODSS, NHRDA guys, drag racers on the other side that
you're able to walk through. And actually see the truck happen in person, and not have to deal
with a photo online. You could actually live it and breathe it. And not only that, I mean,
if you've met any of the competitors that are in diesel motorsports, if they're not in the middle
of trying to get up to the starting line and they're in there, they'll stop and talk. And they'll
talk about their passion and their truck with whoever is willing to talk about it. And I think
those little things, from the sponsors, the racers, taking that time, that's that family,
that's that unity in diesel motorsports that really, I just don't think any other motorsport
organization has as tied a connection as we do as an industry.
Well, I feel a lot of that comes from passion and passion and motive. A lot of us enthusiasts,
we work hard to spend money on our trucks, so we're prideful of. And when someone has a little
appreciation for it, you take a lot of pride in that. And I think for me, looking as an enthusiast
in this space, I feel like that's where you have so many like-minded individuals in one place.
And some are at the later stages of their passions, some are at the very early stages of their passion.
So it kind of gives people motive for what's possible.
Yeah. And I think it makes it fun because with the UCC, this year we have
Returning Championship Kenny and Justin coming back, but we have Rookies coming in.
We've got a 19-year-old Edge Thompson's coming in. He's a rookie. We invited out.
Oh, I'm going to strip his last name. Everyone knows him as John 316, but he's been doing dirt
drags at Hub City. Are you thinking we're on pavement? Here we go, buddy. Let's give him a
shot. Let's feed that enthusiasm. Let's feed that passion because that's what's going to grow the
industry. No, 100%. Now, we talked a little bit about the competition. So this year,
the three main events, race, dyno, sled pull, right? There's nothing new outside of those
three categories, correct? No, the only big change that we've done to the UCC this year
is in years past, we, um, they, on Friday, they could take as many passes down
the track as we could fit in with everything going on. When we talked last year with the drivers,
the drivers voted, we kind of all discussed it. You know, we talked about it. It's like, man,
you only get one, you only get one pull on the sled and you get 20 minutes on the dyno and you're
done. Why do we give all day to do the drag racing? So this year at the UCC, we have two
designated times that the UCC competitors will run. Out of those two times, those two passes,
those are the scores that they'll get to use for it. So we've actually made it more difficult for
them in the fact of here's your time slot. You got to be ready to run and you can do that.
So we, we went ahead and, um, we opened the track on Thursday for them this year and they'll be doing
test and tune out of the track on Thursday, getting dialed in. That's cool. That's awesome.
Yeah. So, so that way too, we, the fans know when they're going to be on there. You know, we, we've
got the times we can announce it. We can hype it up. We can get everybody out there. We can get
all 25 running down the track. We know where the numbers are. Do that probably around 12 or one.
I think it's when we kind of got it tentatively scheduled and then do the last pass at seven
o'clock at night and then that's drag racing's done. So that's going to really, it's really going
to make the racers make sure that they're dialed in, you know, where they only get the two passes
this year. So that, that should be a unique little change to it to see how that plays out.
Okay. Now that change I have to assume is, well, one, giving the guys the opportunity to race all
day long, give spectators something to look at, but, you know, simplifying, you get two times
to run opens the window for some of the other racing that we have planned this weekend. Can you
give the listeners a little bit of insight as, you know, we have the UCC competition, you have the
UCC drag racing, but there's this whole separate side of racing that's taking place. We've had
ODSS in the past, but there's some changes taking place there as well from what I understand.
Yeah. So for the listeners that don't know over the last couple, over the last couple months,
the NHRDA was sold to Matt Story at Bless Performance. And Matt has asked me to come on
and help him with that and kind of bring diesel motor sports together. In that short period of
time since we've done that, actually ODSS and NHRDA, now all our classes match up and our point
systems are similar. They are the same. We sell two different point systems, but they're similar.
So this UCC, we've always had ODSS as, you know, UCC has been a point series for ODSS.
Well, this year in addition to that, it is also a point series for the NHRDA. So any racers that
come out from either series can get points for both series just by racing at the UCC.
Once again, yeah. Once again, it's to show that unity, you know, diesel motor sports is together.
And, you know, when we stepped in and took over the reins from Randy Cole and Stacy Cole,
you know, obviously legends in the diesel motor sports, starting the NHRDA way, way back when,
you know, we approached, you know, the owners of ODSS, Dan, Aaron, and Blake, and, you know,
said, this is what we think sport meets. And they agreed. So there's a huge front trying to really
move this diesel, move diesel motor sports forward. You know, in addition to that, we have that going
on. And then, I mean, obviously, you would probably have to be living under a rock. You know,
we talked about partnerships and passions, firepunk team, the firepunk team, LeVon and the whole team.
I mean, just everybody over there, obviously this year, you know, they've announced that we're
running the 7-2 Fast Class that LeVon's team has put together, orchestrated, running. I mean,
it should be an amazing, amazing addition to the UCC with this 7-2 Fast Class going on top of
all the drag racing with ODSS and NHRDA. I mean, the track Friday at 9 o'clock till, you know,
basically as late as we can, you know, till midnight on Friday, we're going to be running that drag
strip. And Saturday, we're back up. And that drag strips running from 9 in the morning till
9 at night till we roll into the KC Turbos smoking for the stack burnout, you know, burnout
competition that night to kind of end Saturday with. Yeah. The 7-2 Fast Class is something
that is pretty intriguing to me. You have a lot of, there's a lot of different types of racing,
right? You have the bracket racing with ODSS. You have the unlimited power racing with, you know,
the AMSOIL UCC, you know, competition. And then you have this controlled racing, right? The 7-2
Fast. Bring what you're wrong. You better have the best suspension, lightweight limitations, but
you are limited to a turbocharger, you know, so it, it really kind of, I don't know, to me,
it kind of well rounds where it's not just drag racing. There's multiple different styles of drag
racing that's taking place in the matter of a couple of days. Yeah. And I think that's once again,
just what, you know, it's us trying to listen to the racers. It's us trying to accommodate,
you know, year after year, you know, I always tell the racers that I can't, I can't fix it,
maybe, you know, right away. But if you give me a year or two, let me get something and we'll make
it work. Obviously, this teaming up with ODSS and HRDA, having the firepunt team, obviously,
is a big supporter as well. It's allowed us to speed up some of those processes of things that
we wanted to do. You know what I mean? We were able to get there quicker. Do you know, just off top
your head or have any stats, how many, how many racers or participants between the 72 fast and
the ODSS and HRDA stuff's taken place? I know that the, I want to say the 72 fast class got
capped out at 160 racers. So I know that one's there. Obviously, the UCC will be between 25
and 30. Obviously, we still have a couple racers that are getting, you know, there's,
did that some testing problems and stuff like that. So we usually end up around there.
I don't know on the count of the ODSS and HRDA yet. A lot of those tech cards get bought,
usually, really a lot closer to the event. I know this year, though, if you are considering
racing out at the UCC, you do want to buy your tech cards early. We will be closing down tech
card sales probably two weeks before the event because last year, we ended up having almost
350 tech cards. And at one point, we have too many racers and not enough hours in the day.
Right. And so to make sure that we put on the best show we can, and we obviously want someone to buy
a tech card, drive all the way out there and you get two passes, you know, that's a bad experience
for a racer. So it's a matter of we want to make sure that every experience that people have out
at the UCC is the best experience they can have. I mean, you're just, the concrete numbers are
almost 200 trucks on top of the ODSS. I mean, that's a lot of trucks to run through in a couple
days. That's a lot of racing. Oh, yeah. I mean, and you throw into that, like I said, then you've
been out there, you know, you have the pit area or the pit area that we use for the DPI expo.
And we have all those guys there. You know, one of the additions we're adding this year is we
obviously just run the Show in China and we've always teamed up with Flake and JTX Wills and
we've always seen anywhere from five to 600 Show in China trucks show up. This year, we kind of
got something really cool coming out. We have, well, we're calling it the first gen homecoming.
We have a gentleman out of Canada that has organized and we will have over 200 first gen
commons all have to drive on part there on display for fans to walk. So you're talking just between
the hard numbers that we have right now. There's over a thousand pickup trucks before we even get
the ODSS racers into the back end, you know, into the whole backside of it.
I remember, I remember UCC, Show and Shine 2018. I believe was the first year where the backside
running along the drag strip, you had taken that all the way out, all the way out to the end with
vehicles and it was just vehicle after vehicle after vehicle. And then same thing, 2019 was that
way. Now, the last couple of years, you still have all of that, but then you have the vehicles
kind of like bordering where the DPI expo is and then the backside of where the track pits are,
right? And it's just, I couldn't fath, I don't know where you're putting them all for one.
It's just, there's so many trucks. That's so many trucks. Now, the first gen homecoming,
is there going to be a designated area specifically for all these first gens or is it just going to
be kind of peppered in wherever the Show and Shine is and then there will be like a different
like registration system for those particular trucks? No, so actually the first gen homecoming,
all the spots I believe are sold out for that already because we had to limit it to 200 trucks
so I could fit all the Show and Shine. They're actually going to be staged next to the VIP
Show and Shine. So that Show and Shine you're talking about next to the DPI expo? Yes. That's
actually, we will have a row or two just with the first gen Cummins and then we'll start the VIP
Show and Shine after that. So we will have them all grouped together to walk down and
you know, check them all out and see everything that we got going on there.
We actually, because of this, I'm very excited for this. I think it's something that will help.
We actually have the boarded directors of Cummins coming out to the UCC to see what this event's
all about and how we were able to get 200 first gen trucks to all show up at one spot. So I think
they're going to be a little bit blown away when they show up, what's been in their backyard for
the last nine years, you know, type situation. Yeah. I mean, we're talking trucks that are
literally almost 40 years old now. Yeah. That's crazy. That's super cool. That's cool that Cummins
is seeing an importance of. I mean, you know, the architecture of their engines have won many,
many events over the years and you know, Cummins is kind of that powerhouse in the diesel industry
and you know, considering that they're in Indiana and it's taken 10 years for them to
finally come to an event, you know, shame on them. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, the thing is, is,
you know, everything's got its season, you know what I mean? I have, I have vendors that have been
with me from the beginning and I have new vendors that show up this year and new vendors that showed
up three years ago and you know, it's, there's a time and place for, for everything. So I,
I just, just appreciate this core when we can get it, you know, I know that's my
running for president answer right there, but it all, it's the, it's the truth. It's the mature
experience answer, right? Like when you say that and you actually take a step back and think about
it, it does all make sense. You know, some companies might not have been in the position for it. Some
companies or individuals might not have saw the importance of it, but then they start to see the
consistency and the traction of it and now it becomes something. Now it has an importance to them.
Yeah. Yeah. And companies have seasons too. You know, we, we all know that some years are good
years. Some years are amazing years and other years, you're just happy. The lights are on every
single day when you go in. And I think that that's one thing we've tried to always do with the UCCs.
You know, I, I've had some vendors that have some, had some lean times and they call up,
you know, Chris, man, we want to be there. We just, we can't, we just can't exhibit it.
The cost is too much. Hey, man, totally understand. I've got your spot held for the following year.
All reach out afterwards, you know, if, if the industry's not strong, none of the events around
it are going to be strong. So as an event, as a promoter, we need to encourage that strength
in the industry. You know, how do we help that industry grow? Not just by throwing the logo
up on the website or doing this. How do we, how do we tap in and, you know, help? How do we,
hey, what are you not going on in your booth? How can I drive out traffic to there? How,
you know, have you thought about this? You know, there's a lot of sponsors I'll talk with and be
like, well, what are you doing it for engagement to get people to come to your booth? Oh, we're
just setting up some stuff. Okay. But there's also 99 other booths around you. You're competing
for attention. So, you know, really talking with them and, and helping them out, you know,
and I love doing that. You know, I love building those types of relationships in the industry.
Yeah. One of the things that I was thinking about that was very surprising last year,
for one, the burnout pit was just incredible. And there were a group of pretty wild Australians
with some pretty unique, you know, Holden Australian cars that were built specifically
for burnouts, which that was new to me. Do we have any special surprises, special guests that
are coming out this year like we've had years past? I do not have the Aussies coming out. We did
have them invited. I'm not going. I'm not going. They already had a commitment for that weekend.
And I, like I said, it goes back to totally understand that, you know, we, the UCC doesn't
want to destroy the other events around it. He wants to help all the events grow because we're
only the first weekend at June. So everything else is going to grow. No, we got some surprises.
I don't want to leak what we're doing with it. It's still got a $10,000 purse on it.
We are limiting the number of participants in it. But it's going to be a hell of a rowdy show again.
You know, I think last year, you know, that Saturday was a really great way to
it was kind of just kind of let us all this screen, you know, let loose, enjoy controlled chaos.
And it was nice, you know, you work the booth, right? You do the DPI expo for the day,
you know, the DPI expo closes down, go back to hotel, you know, shower change, grab food,
whatever, come back and get a case of beer and just watch some havoc. It was just,
it was a blast. It was so much fun. Yeah. And that's, you know, kind of, I think,
where as we continue to grow the UCC, that's what I want to try to continue to evolve there.
And really like, I mean, we have that track till midnight, you know, like, how do we continue
to entertain the fans? How do we do stuff there that keeps them there? Like, let's keep our
community together. Let's enjoy this time together, you know, like, I mean, and I know it sounds
cheesy, but when you truly think about it, man, I have drivers start showing up for the UCC on
Monday and Tuesday before the weekend. You know, we have vendors rolling in as early as Tuesdays
and Wednesdays. I mean, the industry almost shuts down the week before just to come out there.
You know, so if we're all taking, if we're all taking that time to come out there,
you know, that's my goal year after year. How do I make this better for everybody coming? Like,
how do I make this like, when you show up, like you said, remember, back, hit the shower, come
back because now we're not working. Now we're enjoying the UCC. Great. That's exactly the,
the, you know, that's what I strive to do. That's what our team just tried to go for every year.
So the big weekend for the Amsoil Ultimate Call Out Challenge is the first weekend of June,
correct? What are the specific dates for this? That's going to be June 5th, 6th, and 7th,
so Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Yeah, it's going to be crazy. You know, one of the things to,
like we said, the UCC is really big. Obviously, the 17 Fast Class is going to be a big thing.
Everybody's trying to get dialed in. One thing just to throw out there. So Matt, obviously,
likes to bless, wants the UCC to go off. Two weeks prior to that in Tulsa is an NHRDA event.
Matt actually went and purchased two tests in tune times, one for Thursday night and one for Friday
morning. Basically, anybody that wants to come out, get dialed in for the UCC that's two weeks later.
The tests in tunes are $50 each day, plus they can raise if they want to that weekend or just
enjoy the weekend. But we wanted to try to give as many opportunities to whoever needed that last
minute, little bit of track time. Hey, we've got a track. We're doing an event. Come on out. Nope.
We got eight hours of open track time. Come on out, get dialed in, 50 bucks, four hours,
one night, 50 bucks the next day, four more hours. Just to make sure that we can put on
that amazing show at the UCC. For any of our listeners who don't have tickets and want to
find out where to purchase tickets, where can they go to purchase? So you just go to ultimate
calloutchallenge.com and then just click the ticket button there. It'll bring it up.
And like I said, if you're just coming to enjoy the show, all you need is either a one day or a
three day pass. That'll get you to see every event, everything that's going on. They're $65
for the weekend. They will go up to $75 here closer to the event. So save a little bit of
money if you want to get that. Kids 12 and under are free. So if you got young kids,
that's great. We want to start bringing the next generation of diesel enthusiasts. So
bring them out. And then on top of that, if you come out, you decide you need to get a little
bit involved with the UCC. You can purchase your tickets. You can do the fan dyno. You can enter
the show and shine. There's just a whole bunch of different ways that you can participate or be
part of the UCC while you're out there. Any special shout outs?
Any special? Wow. They're talking about putting me on this line.
I know. I got to get you and pivot where I can, man.
Yeah. Obviously, we've got some amazing title sponsors that came on. Obviously,
Hamzell has the title, Matt has the presenting. PowerHungry has stepped up again and is covering
the live feed. If you got a jerk of a boss that won't let you out for the weekend,
we got a live feed going up with it. Curse of PowerHungry performance.
We also got a new official WD. Helen Wills out of Canada came down and stepped up to be the
official WD. Dude, I've got a hundred vendors that each one does something unique with the event.
Dynamite Diesel, Fleece, Hot Shots, S&S, J&K, Snyder, or SBE, Edge. Like I said, I truly
mean this from my heart. The UCC is only the UCC because of the racers, the sponsors, and the fans.
The UCC team, everybody on our team will say this, we are the hosts. We just show up and make sure
it's organized, but none of this, none of this would be possible without those three key legs
to the UCC. We just value and thank every single one from the youngest fan, the youngest fan that
comes to the racers that have supported us and the sponsors that have been there year after year
and dealt with the mistakes and screw-ups we've done and still stood by us because
they had that passion and they love diesel motor sports.
I'm excited. I can't wait. I guess we're just a little over a month away from this.
Anybody listening, they want to buy tickets, ultimatecallchallenge.com,
correct? Get them now though.
We won't sell out, but get them now if you're going. It's the best price with it.
Yeah, get 12 and under free. There's a campground right across the street from Lucas Oil Raceway,
Race View Family Campground. Like I said, walk across the street. You're at the UCC. Walk back
across. You're at your camper enjoying a beer. That's the best weekend ever right there.
June 5th, 6th, 7th. Yes.
Well, Chris, we appreciate you taking the time. I know producer Justin's excited. I'm excited.
Everybody here at Calibrated Power is excited. We always look forward to working the event.
We always look forward to seeing some cool trucks. I'm excited for first-gen homecoming.
I had a first gen. That's how I got into diesel. I'm going to drool over a bunch of old
first-gen Dodges, which is awesome. I'm excited to see some cool racing. We appreciate you taking
the time putting the event together. We can't wait for Amsoil Ultimate Call-Out Challenge 2026.
I'm excited. Can't wait to see you guys again. That's better than running into you guys.
The best part about the UCC for me, man, it honestly, it's like a homecoming.
I get more hugs and handshakes, and I love it, man. I'm so excited to see everybody.
I get to see them sprinkled throughout the year, but man, I'm excited to see you guys.
Everybody's in one spot. I mean, Chris. Yeah. I mean, and Chris, like always,
you have a face for podcasts, so it's always good to see you all at once a year.
No, 100%. I said the same thing.
Well, Chris, we appreciate it five, six weeks away. We're looking forward to it.
We'll be seeing you guys soon. All right. We'll see you shortly. We'll see you then.
Totally. Yep. I'll just send it to your email.
That works perfect. Chris, I really, Chris, this is going to go up on Monday.
Perfect. We will watch for it, and we will, if you, do you guys share it on social as well?
We do.
Okay.
Yeah, we call it the Amsoil UCC and stuff like that. Yeah, they renew their contract this year,
so I have to, you know, there's a lot of noise at the UCC, so they just needed a little bit more
attention, you know, to share it. Yep. Yep. Okay. Thanks guys. Not a problem. Thank you. Bye.
Thanks, bye.
Yeah. I mean, and Chris, you know, like always, you have a face for podcasts,
so it's always good to see you all at once a year.
No, 100%. I said the same thing.
About this episode
Chris Searle traces the Ultimate Callout Challenge from a small 2016 start in Salt Lake City to a sold-out 10th anniversary weekend with more than 105 vendors and over 1,000 pickup trucks on site. He also lays out changes for 2026, including a tighter drag-racing format, Thursday test-and-tune, and the event counting for both ODSS and NHRDA. A huge first-gen Cummins homecoming, ticket details, and family-friendly access round out the preview.
The podcast has the man that brings the whole diesel industry together for an amazing weekend of chaotic fun, Chris Searle! The AMSOIL Ultimate Callout Challenge is back for it's TENTH year. Wow. That means get ready because the event is going MASSIVE for it's year 10. Chris Ehmke talks with Chris Searle to discuss how the AMSOIL UCC went from it's inception of an event to squash talk talking and put their money where their mouth is.... in the most fun and friendly way possible, to one of the biggest diesel events in the industry. We discuss all that is going down at the event in 2026! Fan dynos, a massive Show N Shine, a joint points event with the ODSS & NHRDA, a 1st Gen Homecoming with 200 1st Gen Cummins driving to the event for spectators of drool over, and don't forget Lavon Miller of Firepunks Fast72 event is happening too! This is just the tip of the iceberg, so sit back and relax while Chris Searle dishes everything happening at the AMSOIL Ultimate Callout Challenge 2026!
Looking for tickets to the event? Click the link below!
