Dodge Race Cars

Until about a decade ago, when it came to high-horsepower builds, it was pretty much the Chevrolet LS engines, with the occasional 2JZ or RB26 builds making an appearance. Nowadays, people have started noticing the Viper V-10 as the next platform capable of massive horsepower figures. With this in mind, “That Racing Channel” is giving us an inspiring YouTube video that gives the story behind the “six-second kid” and his 1999 Dodge Viper GTS that makes 3,200 horsepower.

We talk about how the upcoming electric pickup trucks are fast and heavy on performance. Trucks like the Tesla Cybertruck, the Rivian R1T, the GMC Hummer EV, etc. are all quicker than some of the famous supercars of this era. Although internal combustion-engined trucks aren’t known to be ‘fast’, there are a handful of them that could are quite agile. Doug DeMuro decided to list 10 such cool fast trucks, and we agree with every entry on this list.

The Model S Plaid’s dominance continues. In case you’re unaware of what a bully the Model S Plaid can be on the drag strip, let us remind that the car has obliterated and humiliated cars like the Nissan GT-R and even the Porsche Taycan Turbo S! Surprisingly, it lost to a remote control car on one occasion.

But, anyway, DragTimes has brought the Model S Plaid to the drag strip to take on the Dodge Demon, a muscle car known for its ferocious nature. But, the Model S Plaid tames it with utmost ease. How often do you see a Demon get humbled like this?

Dodge’s Viper, arguably Lee Iaccoca’s biggest gift to gearheads ever, has been seen racing on the world’s race tracks for almost three decades and, although the last road-legal Viper rolled off the production line in 2017, its race-bred namesake is still homologated for racing in the GT3 category which is why famed German tuner and race entrant Zakspeed decided to give the Viper one more shot of proving itself in a 24-hour race next January as it will contest the annual 24 Hours of Dubai.

Leave it to people power to get something done that an automaker of Dodge’s status wasn’t able to do. Most of you will probably remember a few months ago, a group of Dodge Viper enthusiasts started pooling their resources together to accomplish one goal: send the fifth-generation Dodge Viper to the Nürburgring to attempt a lap run. I didn’t think that it could happen, but I’m happy to have been proven wrong. The crowdfunding movement actually worked and a bone-stock Viper ACR found its way to the famed German race track. More importantly, it was able to set a lap time of 7:03.45, almost nine seconds quicker than the 7:12.13 lap time set by its predecessor back in 2011.

It’s true that the current-generation Viper ACR’s lap time is still a long ways away from the current production car lap record of 6:52.01 held by the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. But just because it’s still over 10 seconds away from the record, it doesn’t mean that the Viper ACR’s time at the ‘Ring was a complete waste. In fact, the lap time set by the American sports car placed it sixth-fastest of all time among production cars, faster than the Nismo-prepped Nissan GT-R, the Mercedes-AMG GT R, and the Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06. More importantly, driver Dominik Farnbacher and the team behind the attempt will make a go at the track a few more times this week with the goal of besting the lap times of the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce. Looks like the Dodge Viper ACR’s quest for Nürburgring glory isn’t done just yet.

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As Honda deals with the growing discontent among its consumer base on the aggressive mark-ups dealerships are putting on the Honda Civic Type R, Dodge is determined not to irate its consumers by instituting a unique dealership ordering process for the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. The process itself was designed to prevent the experience prospective Civic Type R customers are going through as they see the prices of the hot hatch skyrocket to almost double Honda’s own asking price.

A big part of Dodge’s allocation plan for the Challenger Demon is to place priority on dealerships willing to sell at or below the automaker’s suggested retail price. Specifically, these dealerships stand to get priority scheduling and receive lower serial-numbered cars as opposed to those who are putting mark-ups on the price of the highly sought-after muscle car. On top of that, dealerships who have sold more than one SRT Hellcat in the last 12 months are the only ones who are eligible to receive a Challenger Demon. And to make it in even more difficult for these dealers, those who meet the previous requirement will be allocated a certain number of models depending on how their sales performance for the Charger, Challenger, and SRT Hellcats are. As for those dealerships planning to sell the SRT Demon above the automaker’s MSRP, they’ll get theirs “after priority production is completed.”

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In case you missed our in-depth coverage of the Dodge Demon debut last month, here are the highlights: highest horsepower production V-8 ever, first production car capable of doing wheelies, fastest production car in the quarter mile (9.65 seconds at 140 mph), fastest production car 0-to-60 mph time (2.3 seconds), and highest g-force acceleration for a production car (1.8 g). Not too shabby, eh? If that list of achievements sounds like the sorta thing you want in your garage, now’s your chance, as Dodge has officially announced an MSRP for the Demon. Pricing starts at $84,995, which includes a $1,700 gas guzzler tax, but excludes a $1,095 destination charge. Compare that to the “standard” Hellcat’s MSRP of $64,195, and you’re looking at an extra $20,000 to get your hands on a Demon.

“Eighty-five thousand dollars is not just a number in a business case to Dodge,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Cars at Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and Fiat, FCA North America. “We know it’s a lot of money and a significant up-charge over a Challenger Hellcat. We worked very hard to build as much value into the Challenger SRT Demon as possible – features, performance and exclusivity that simply can’t be duplicated with a goal of maintaining, and possibly even growing, as much future value as possible.” Fair enough. But beyond the insane power and impressive performance, what do you get for the money? Read on for the details.

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Labor Day is approaching fast, and that means that it’s time for the 62nd Annual NHRA U.S. Nationals. This year, the nationals are taking place from August 31 to September 5, and will feature six different events leading into the Championship playoffs. This year, Dodge and Mopar are showing up to the scene with a special Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak that will be piloted by Erica Enders during the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology Factory Stock Showdown at Indy.

While this is the first time we’re looking at a Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak, this version will feature official Dodge and Mopar graphics and has been prepped by none other than Joe Welch Racing. Pietro Golier, Head of Parts and Service at Mopar, said, “We are thrilled to have an NHRA champion like Erica Enders carry the Mopar and Dodge colors into competition not only in Pro Stock but also in the Factory Stock Showdown. The U.S. Nationals event provides a great opportunity to put Erica in the seat of a supercharged Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak and reach a wider audience of fans at one of the most prestigious events on the NHRA circuit.”

Tim Juniskis, the Head of Passenger Cars for Dodge, SRT, Chrysler, and Fiat, said, “Dodge already has the most powerful muscle cars on the street with the 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats, and now America’s performance brand brings even more muscle to the track with the supercharged Drag Pak. The ‘Domestic. Not Domesticated.’ Dodge spirit will be at full throttle for racing fans to see at the NHRA U.S. Nationals.”

So, it’s certainly shaping up to be a fun-filled weekend. We won’t get to see Enders and the Drag Pak hit qualifying until Friday night, but she’ll be tearing up Lucas Oil Raceway starting on Wednesday in preparation. With that said, let’s take a good look at the Drag Pak that will grace the Nationals this year.

Continue reading to learn more about the Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak.

In 2014 Dodge unveiled the 2015 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak Test Vehicle, a full-fledged factory dragster crafted by the folks over at Mopar. Now, after nearly a year of development, the brand has launched the actual production version that will take on the 2014 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet and the 2015 Chevrolet COPO Camaro on drag strips across the U.S.

The updated Challenger Drag Pak joins the 2014 Dodge Dart Pro Stock car introduced in 2014 and the 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car launched in 2015 to round off Mopar’s efforts in the drag racing scene.

The production Drag Pak retains everything Dodge showcased on the Test Vehicle, but this time around it has given us access to more details. The big news here is the availability of a supercharged V-8 in addition to the all-motor Hemi we saw last year.

"We are extremely pleased with the results obtained during our testing," said Dale Aldo, Mopar Motorsports Marketing Manager. "In the first runs the new Drag Pak ran consistently in the eights (eight-second range) while improving times at the 60-ft. mark and also performing very well in the quarter mile. Once our customers get the car on the track, we feel it’s going to be a clear winner."

Updated 07/23/2015: Mopar announced it is now taking orders for the recently announced Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. The model will be limited to only 60 units: 35 with the first-ever supercharged engine from Mopar and 25 with the naturally aspirated 426 Hemi engine.

Continue reading to learn more about the Dodge Mopar Challenger Drag Pak.

The Dodge Charger’s return in 2006 following a 20-year hiatus prompted the company to develop a funny car racer wearing the moniker. The Charger R/T Funny Car debuted the same year and went on to win two consecutive NHRA Funny Car championships with Matt Hagan and Jack Beckman behind the wheel in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Although it failed to win titles in 2013 and 2014, the Charger Funny Car added no less than 86 national titles, 77 runner-up finishes and established 12 of the 33 three-second runs in Funny Car history. With such a strong resume to its name, the Charger returns to the drag strip for the 2015 season with an updated body carrying the already familiar front and rear fascias of the facelifted production sedan.

Upgraded inside and out and with a more aerodynamic shell at its disposal, the 2015 Charger R/T Funny Car is set to make its debut at the 2015 Winternationals on February 5th at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. The Charger will try to win its third Funny Car championships at the hands of Don Schumacher Racing.

Click past the jump to read more about the Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car Competition.

Remember how Dodge retired from NASCAR right after winning the Sprint Cup Championship in 2012? Well, the Michigan-based automaker did it again, this time around announcing it’s pulling the plug on its sports car racing program; effective immediately. Specifically, Dodge is discontinuing the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program following a successful IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship season at the end of which SRT won both the team and driver titles in the GTLM class.

The news is heartbreaking to say the least.

"Our company has made a business decision to discontinue the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program," said Ralph Gilles, Senior Vice President of Product Design, Chrysler Group LLC. "We are very proud of the amazing achievements our fantastic teams, drivers and partners have achieved on track the last few seasons."

So how does Dodge explain this decision? Rather briefly, saying it "will redirect its focus and efforts on the brand’s product lineup." Although there’s no official confirmation, what really happened isn’t much of a mystery. Dodge is obviously trying to cut expenses, and the first hint that the Viper racing program is in danger surfaced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chrysler cancelled the Viper’s trip to France due to lack of sponsorship and ultimately decided to kill the program altogether.

Let’s hope that racing money is going to improve the Viper and make it a better competitor to the new Corvette Z06.

Click past the jump to read more about the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R.

Introduced in 1969, the first-generation Dodge Challenger was more than just an awesome muscle car. Chrysler also fielded modified versions of the two-door coupe in various motorsport events, including the Trans Am Series. Although it failed to win against strong competition from Ford and AMC in 1970, the AAR-built Challenger finished the season ahead of Chevrolet, Plymouth and Pontiac, a fantastic achievement during one of the most disputed Trans Am seasons. In 2014, 44 years since its debut, the Challenger returns to Trans Am with the facelifted, third-generation model.

The Challenger joins the series mid-season, with only five of 11 races to go, as Miller Racing, last year’s champion in the TA2 class, switches manufacturers from Chevrolet to Dodge. The two Sublime Green-painted Challengers — they’re wearing the same livery as the 1970 entry — are driven by Cameron Lawrence and Tommy Kendall. 21-year-old Lawrence leads the TA2 class with a 35-point margin over second place and will retain his points. Kendall, on the other hand, returns to Trans Am, a competition he already won four times, after 10 years.

The all-new, SRT-prepped Challenger makes its Trans Am debut at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 16th.

Click past the jump to read more about the Dodge Challenger SRT Trans Am.

The race-spec SRT Viper is already a successful track machine, having won many prestigious trophies since its introduction in 1996. The latest iteration of the race car, the GT3-R, has yet to reach the heights of its forerunners, but its recent success during the Detroit leg of the Pirelli World Challenge Series in May 2014 is proof enough that the Viper is headed in the right direction. More recently, the "Snake" developed by Riley Technologies made yet another step toward track glory by setting the fastest lap in the Ultimate Track Car Challenge.

The event took place on July 18th at Virginia International Raceway, where the SRT Viper GT3-R rendered its competitors obsolete. The race car, built by Riley Technologies and driven by American Le Mans Series ace Ben Keating, wasn’t shy about tackling the track at full throttle and set the fastest lap at 1:44.71. The Viper was quicker than a 2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo and its benchmark would have been enough to earn it the pole position at last year’s American Le Mans Series on the same track.

The Ultimate Track Car Challenge is an annual event held by Grassroots Motorsports at Virginia International Raceway. The competition is open to any type of car, including classic vehicles, and its sole purpose is to find America’s fastest track cars. Hit play to watch the SRT Viper GT3-R in action as it reaches speeds of up to 171 mph.