As the owner of a shop called Dirty Hooker Diesel you can safely assume that Tony Burkhard is more than likely an experienced sled puller. The veteran sled puller has been pulling with gassers since 1992 and moved into diesel sled pulling about 15-years ago in 2003. Not only has he been pulling, he has been doing it very successfully. Dating back to 2006 Burkhard has finished in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in the TTPA championship points each year including a 6-year consecutive championship run from 2006-2011. But he will be a rookie this year at the 2018 Ultimate Callout Challenge.

While Burkhard and his DHD crew are still finalizing the details and working on their UCC setup and plans they told us that they plan to compete with a regular cab long bed 2006 Chevrolet 2500 HD that will for sure use a 6.6L Duramax diesel engine backed by an Allison automatic transmission. They will build the engine and transmission in house along with the truck. The team is still finalizing the turbo charger configuration or configurations that they will use for the competition. Same goes for the fuel system details, but they are confident it will be using Exergy Performance pumps and injectors to help their Duramax make tons of power.

With the help and support of his Dirty Hooker Diesel shop employees and support and sponsorship from Danville Performance and Exergy Performance Burkhard is confident that they can bring a competitive rig to their first UCC event. With more than 25-years of pulling experience and a solid background in Duramax and Allison diesel performance many expect Burkhard to be able to adapt quickly to the UCC format and perform well with his Chevy on the dyno and pull track. But the drag race will certainly be a challenge for the UCC rookie; fortunately the UCC format is more forgiving that traditional head-to-head drag racing so he has a chance to perform well there too.

The 2018 UCC rookie class is shaping up to be a stout group that could feasibly include the 2018 UCC Champion and we look forward to seeing the rookies mix it up with the UCC veterans to see who will come out on top this year. One thing is certain, it will be a great experience to see when the rubber meets the track, rollers and dirt on May 4th-6th 2018 at the Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the third Ultimate Callout Challenge.