Nathan Wheeler showed up to the Outlaw Diesel Revenge event unsure which class he would be racing in. He knew he could slow his Cummins-powered ’10 F-250 down enough to run 5.90, but ultimately he decided to enter the Crazy Horse Ford in Pro Street. Initially, “I was thinking I would run 5.90 Index because my tune-ups are for no-prep surfaces and junk roads,” Nathan informed us. “So I thought I couldn’t compete in Pro Street.” But at the same time, signing up for Pro Street meant he’d have to push the truck harder than he ever had. In the end, he was glad he took a chance in running the faster category and put up a new personal best of 5.28 at 135 mph in the process! Now, we’re pretty sure Nathan is hooked. “Make no mistake, I plan to run Pro Street this year,” he told us.


With an 88mm GT55 feeding his Cummins, weighing 4,640 pounds (the class minimum is 4,400), and never having competed in Pro Street before, you could say Nathan was an underdog in Indy. However, in the handful of passes he made at Lucas Oil Raceway it was apparent that he has a solid recipe to build on. The engine—a sleeved and filled block 6.7L with a wet Stage 2 D&J head that was built by Truck Source Diesel —is S&S fueled by way of a 14mm and 12mm CP3 combo and also equipped with 450-percent over injectors. The Cummins is backed by a BTS-built and PCS-controlled 4R100, and also sports four kits of nitrous that’ve yet to be fully utilized. The single turbo Cummins is tuned by Truck Source Diesel’s Chris Buhidar, with Nathan making subtle, track-side adjustments as needed.

The truck itself retains the factory axles (a Dana 60 front and a 10.5-inch Sterling rear, with a spool), but has been back-halved and converted to a four-link rear suspension. Nathan’s biggest holdup at the present time is the truck’s cage, which is certified for 8.50’s. This means he can’t legally go quicker than 5.35 in the eighth-mile. It’s something he plans to address over the winter by updating to an SFI 25.6 cage, along with scrapping another 200-plus pounds.

In the meantime, and especially due to the fact that his 5.28-second personal best came on a fairly conservative tune-up, he plans to continue mixing it up in Pro Street whenever possible. “I love ODSS,” he exclaimed. “I want to support ODSS as much as possible. It’s a ton of fun.” Nathan’s next Pro Street gig is coming up on July 30-31, where he’ll be making the call at the Rocky Top Diesel Shootout, his favorite event and venue to race at along the ODSS circuit. Look for him to throw a nasty tune-up in the truck on Friday evening (a time when records are often set) and go after a sub-5-second pass.