Diesel Performance Podcast

Cody Hawk! If you are into Duramax trucks, you know the name. He's Setting records of over 3,000 horsepower in a Duramax. Cody has switched up the mods on the LB7 this time around. He's got a secret up his sleeve being announced in a video on his social channels coming soon. What exactly? We are patiently awaiting to see as well. We are ready to see what she does for you this year at the 2026 AMSO...

Mike Brown is back on the show ahead of the AMSOIL UCC 2026! This will be Mike's third go round with the event. Mike has been hooked on diesel since his first truck purchased in 2016 and you'll hear in this episode his passion is even stronger now. Mike first competed in 2024 and he came out with a bang, placing on the podium with a 3rd place finish. Mike came out in 2025 and shaved a full half se...

He's back! The back-to-back two-time AMSOiL UCC champion is returning to reclaim the title he last won four years ago. Justin has been racing Pro Street and racking up wins in the race circuit since his last time competing at the AMSOIL UCC. Has the competition changed drascitaclly since 2022? Will he be able to get the truck ready for the sled pull portion? Justin talked to us about a ton of thin...

We are stoked to kick off our UCC 2026 Competitors gauntlet starting with a 5-time veteran, Robby Garcia! Robby is the true definition of unrelenting and enthusiast. Robby has steadily climbed the standings ladder in every competition his truck has finished, but this year he is changing it up. He is bringing a new Cummins for his 5th run at the AMSOIL Ultimate Callout Challenge. With that new truc...

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...

"I will never own a diesel!" That's what shop tech Jake Maher said forever. Now he is rushing against the clock to get his LB7 build ready for two events, one that is less than two weeks away. The boys talk to Jake about his turn from anti-diesel to going absolutely HAM on restoring his regular cab. From a rusted out plow truck to a fresh, clean looking beast. Jake has a slew of modifications that...

Kory Willis is back! He joins the show to discuss everything emissions and diesel. You've seen all the news surrounding DEF and charges for deletes. Kory called in to discuss his experience fightiong his battle to keep his company PPEI alive despite the massive blows it faced with charges. Kory also discusses what we can expect to see from here, emergency vehicles dealing with reduced power mode i...

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke are here with an episode on upgrades! You have $5k to spend on your truck, how are you going about picking upgrades? Truck mod paths they discuss are the 01-10 Duramax, the 3rd Gen 5.9L Cummins, the LML/L5P 6.6L, 6.7L Cummins, and 2017+ Powerstroke 6.7L.  If you had $5k to spend on your diesel truck, how are you spending it? Let us know in the comments or on our Die...

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke are joined by CPS transmission builder, Jared Ewert. He is here to discuss the 10-Speed "Allison." How does the GM 10L1000 stack up to its fraternal twin, the 10-Speed Powerstroke transmission? What are the common issues with the 10-speed equipped Duramax? How are we looking at beefing up the 10L1000 transmission? The boys cover it all and more right here!

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke are joined by Julian Filipovic of PTL to discuss what hes heard after his recent experience at an emissions conference in San Diego. With the amount of talk we see on forums, Facebook, and other online platforms, we figured it'd be a good time to touch on the future of emissions with medium duty diesel trucks. Julian discusses what he learned from the conference, ho...

We love diesel. Not just medium duty trucks, that's why we brought in Ben Evers of Farm Focused and Calibrated Power to discuss Spring planting and custom tuning for ag equipment!  Ben breaks down how tight planting windows, long days, and heavy workloads push tractors and equipment to their limits, and where factory calibrations often leave performance on the table. We get into how custom tuning...

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke sit down to talk about weighing out what you look for when purchasing a new diesel truck. The thing we notice is despite the amount of sh*t talking each brand loyalist does, each the Cummins, Duramax, and Powerstroke are all well made trucks. It really comes down to what you plan to do with the truck. Is it your daily driver? Is it your tow pig? Are you looking to w...

Chris Ehmke and Anthony Bruneni are back to touch on a subject we got quite a few listeners asking us for, 2017+ L5P Duramax horsepower recipes! The boys break down what the ultimate towing recipe is for this Duramax. Then they tackle what they think is the best daily driver recipe. Followed by going big on a build for this RPO and what you should look out for when pushing your newer Duramax truck...

Chris Ehmke is joined by Nick Priegnitz, of Duramaxtuner, to discuss in detail the evolution of engine control modules and how tuning has progressed over the years! Nick breaks down the history of GM's Duramax ECM platforms, walking through key model year ranges,from early LB7 and LLY trucks to LBZ, LMM, LML, and the latest L5P platforms, and explains how hardware changes, operating systems, emiss...

We got a bonus episode! Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke are joined by Charlie Fish of KC Turbos. He called in to discuss a new diesel class he created for this weekend February 26-28th, The Average Joe Blue Collar 2WD No Prep Diesel Truck Class. Why did he create this race? The spirit of racing isn't how much money you throw at a truck, it's about the passion. Charlie breaks down the rules, what d...

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke are joined by Lavon Miller to discuss what he's been up to, but really they had to get the scoop on what's up with the Seventy2fast race going on this year down in Indy during UCC weekend. The amount of interesting aspects and the amount of money that is on the table for the competitors is mind boggling. The Seventy2fast has $500 callouts, where racers can target a...

Anthony Bruneni and Chris Ehmke have on our resident engineer / engine dyno / data man / destroyer of turbos guy Dan Timmer! Dan sits down to discuss what it actually takes to get the engine dynos running, the tyoes of testing he conducts, the occasional fire and explosion and more. We've now utilized 6.7L Cummins engine; LBZ, L5P, and 3.0L Duramax engines, and soon a Powerstroke 6.7L engine. If y...

The Diesel Performance Podcast is back! Chris Ehmke and Anthony Bruneni have resurrected the show and we have plans that will make our fellow diesel enthusiasts excited for what the future holds. Interviews, horsepower recipes, diesel events, competitions. Get ready! First off, we reintroduce ourselves with what has been happening around the industry with tuning (specifically the 2024+ L5P, 2023+...

Chris Ehmke and Tim Mahoney are joined by someone you have heard a few times on this show, Josh McCormack! Josh fresh off his UCC win earlier this spring decided he was done with wowing the masses and put down a new record on the dyno. 4,157 HORSEPOWER. Insanity. He walks the boys through how he accomplished it and what you can expect to see out of him in the future. 

Chris Ehmke is joined by the lead tuner at Calibrated Power, Tim Mahoney, to discuss how the 2020+ Powerstroke 6.7 liter world is about to change. They discuss what this means for your 2020+ 6.7L, the ease at which tuning for the end user will be, and how adding 100+ HP is going to feel a lot different in these newer Powerstroke trucks. 

Show favorite, Chris Patterson, owner of Unrivaled Diesel, took second at the Ultimate Callout Challenge 2025! He sits to talk with host Chris Ehmke to discuss how grueling and how much it takes out of the competitors and their teams. The whole thing is about survival. Chris is a survivor, he put down a screaming 5.54 at the drags, 2,300 horsepower on the dyno, and 318 feet in the sled pull. He gi...

Josh McCormack has won the Ultimate Callout Challenge 2025! He joins Chris to discuss the weekend. Family man, YouTuber, and an overall great guy. Josh lef it all out there and came back with first place. He breaks down the weekend, his big 3,100+ horsepower dyno run, racing, and his Sunday at the pull. Congrats on the win, Josh!    Follow him on Instagram & TikTok: @justacommonrail24v YouTube: Ho...

You have to see Patrick Brown's Cummins he is bringing to his first run at the UCC event. Chris sat down and talked with him about what he expects to see it do. Patrick is no stranger to competitions with having his eyes one time set on the Diesel Power Challenge nd having competed at King Of The Streets, he's ready to throw down at the UCC. Humble, determined, and doing wild things with such a co...

One of the show's favorites is back, Robby Garcia joins Chris to discuss what he expects of his truck at this years UCC! This will be his 4th time competiting, a seasoned vet, and continually improving his results; these factors position Robby to finish quite high this year. One thing we know will happen, Robby will have a blast and bring that vibe to the whole field. Good luck, Robby!

Cody Hawk sits down with Chris on this episode! We get the scoop on the new competitor, from his roots with 7.3s to his preferred Duramax platform. He breaks down what he wants to see out of his truck at his first event. The man is in hustle mode and it's hard not to admire the drive and work ethic. Last year two spots on the podium were grabbed by rookies, will Cody continue the trend? We hope so...