Chris Patterson’s Green Ram and the Rise of a 3,000 Horsepower Legend

There are few builds we cover at Diesel World magazine that need no introduction, but this one might be the exception. Piloted by the one and only Chris Patterson, better known as Mr. 3,000, this 2007 Ram 3500 has been just about everywhere a serious diesel can go, and it usually leaves with a record in its wake. This green Cummins-powered Ram is the kind of truck that changes the way people talk about power, durability, and what a race-ready street truck can actually be.

What makes Patterson’s truck special is not just the size of the numbers, although the numbers alone would earn it a chapter in diesel history. Over the last several seasons the build has broken the 3,000 horsepower barrier more than once, including a 3,089 rear wheel horsepower pull at the 2021 All Truck Challenge and a staggering 3,401 horsepower run the following year at Weekend on the Edge. Both figures were documented on the rollers in front of spectators, proving that Patterson is not interested in bench racing. He deals in receipts.

The truck continued its streak at the King of the Street Challenge 2025, where it produced over 2,400 horsepower on a limited spray. On the drag strip, it has posted ⅛-mile passes in the low five-second range at around 131 miles an hour, which is absurd for a machine that still holds a registration tag.

The man behind the truck is every bit as interesting as the machine. Chris Patterson owns and operates Unrivaled Diesel in Weatherford, Texas, a Cummins-only performance and repair shop backed by more than seventeen years of hands-on experience. Patterson comes from a long line of automotive tradesmen and grew up in an environment where work ethic mattered more than polish. That heritage shows in everything he builds. For Chris, it’s not enough for the truck to make power; it has to repeat it. It has to survive it. And it still has to drive home afterward. Chris is known for pushing limits, testing boundaries, and driving the industry forward by asking, “Why not?” when someone says he can’t.

People who meet Patterson in passing sometimes assume he is guarded or overly intense, but anyone who has spent real time with him knows better. If you were to look up Texan in the dictionary, we’re pretty sure Chris would be pictured. He’s a red-blooded Texan through and through, as he’s proud of where he comes from and is unbothered by whether someone else understands that pride. He likes burnouts. He likes horsepower. He likes giving people straight answers when they ask straight questions. He doesn’t polish himself for the comfort of others, and that honesty can come across as being standoffish. In reality, that transparency is more than a characteristic of who he is. It’s an incredible showing of respect to the diesel industry and the people in it.

The green truck reflects that same clarity. At its core is a 6.7-liter Cummins block, the foundation for the kind of power only a handful of diesel builds have seen so far. To keep the beast breathing, Patterson hangs a set of compound turbos on it—a pairing meant to move air at a rate that would embarrass commercial machinery. The nitrous system pictured here is surprisingly modest relative to the rest of the truck. A spool jet helps bring the compounds to life, and a 375 hit through a showerhead supports the top end. For a truck chasing 3,000 horsepower and beyond, that restraint says a lot about the efficiency and health of the core engine package.

Behind the power plant is a fully built manual-valve-body 48RE from Chris and the Unrivaled team. The setup is simple on purpose. The ratchet shifter gives the driver direct control of every gear change with no electronics deciding anything. Inside, the cab follows the same logic. Two race buckets, a full cage, and only the factory dash pad and pillar trim are left in place. Everything else has been pulled to save weight and to make room for the safety gear a truck at this level actually needs. It’s built to do a job, and every part of the interior reflects that. Oh yeah, did we mention it still has a factory headliner?

What surprises most people is how well-mannered this monster of a truck can be when the nitrous is off and the mirrors are folded out. When I drove the truck for the first time, the expectation was chaos. A machine documented to make over 3,000 horsepower several times should fight the driver at every stoplight. Instead, it pulled away with the manners of a heavy-duty tow rig. The throttle rolled in smoothly. The chassis stayed planted. There was no bucking or surging—just controlled, confident movement in an almost effortless manner. The Cummins groaned a deep mechanical note that carried the weight of the build’s intentions, more like a Peterbilt stretching on a cold morning than a temperamental race engine. The ratchet shifter added a kind of mechanical joy, each click a reminder that something serious was happening at your fingertips.

The balance between brutality and composure is where Patterson’s philosophy shows. Plenty of builders chase sky-high dyno numbers or incredibly fast ⅛-mile times, but very few chase results they can drive away from. Every time this truck pushes past 3,000 horsepower, Patterson dials it back down, drives it off the rollers, and takes it home. There is a quiet kind of pride in that, the proof that the build is more than just a trailer queen or a fast pass. It’s a system that works again, and again, and again.

For the diesel community, Patterson’s build serves as both a mile marker and a benchmark. It shows what is possible when attention, discipline, and patience meet a simple desire to do things right. It reinforces the idea that a competition truck does not have to be a brittle, temperamental animal. It can be predictable, methodical, and downright enjoyable to drive if you know what you are doing.

In a culture where shortcuts are easy and big talk costs nothing, this truck stands as a reminder of what real work looks like. It’s loud, a little bit outrageous, and incredibly honest. And every time Chris Patterson leans into the throttle, it proves its point all over again.