{"id":28109,"date":"2019-09-05T10:07:46","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T14:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=28109"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:24:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:24:17","slug":"dragging-down-to-indy-for-the-nhra-big-go-in-the-challenger-r-t-scat-pack-1320","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2019\/09\/dragging-down-to-indy-for-the-nhra-big-go-in-the-challenger-r-t-scat-pack-1320.html","title":{"rendered":"Dragging Down to Indy for the NHRA \u201cBig Go\u201d in the Challenger R\/T Scat Pack 1320"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you\u2019re driving to the oldest\nand most prestigious drag race on the planet, your mode of transportation\nshould be in that same theme. That\u2019s why when it came time to head to Indy for\nthe 65th<\/sup> annual NHRA U.S. Nationals, we grabbed an F8 Green Challenger\nR\/T Scat Pack 1320 and pointed that sucker southwest out of Motor City and to\nthe crossroads of America. With a 485-horsepower 392-cubic-inch HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> V8 engine under\nthe hood that has no limit, I had to practice some restraint with my right\nfoot. Those long straight stretches on Highway 69 between the Michigan state\nline and Indianapolis became a blur while the mile marker signs on the side of\nthe road zoomed by with increasing frequency. Come on, man, step on it! We\nneeded to get to the U.S. Nats, the \u201cBig Go,\u201d the granddaddy of drag races. The\none event any competitor would give up their firstborn to win. With Sportsman qualifying and eliminations beginning\nin the middle of the week and Pros running throughout the weekend, the U.S.\nNats features a multitude of classes competing on the same track during the\nsame event. Taking six days to complete all eliminations, the U.S. Nats is the\nlongest race on NHRA\u2019s grueling 24-event schedule that crisscrosses the country\nlike a power grid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have been attending the NHRA U.S.\nNationals for over two decades – yeah, I know, I\u2019m old in age but young in\nspirit. That\u2019s why I still get giddy and excited when I roll into Indianapolis\nRaceway Park, otherwise known as IRP among the racers who live life going as\nfast as they can in 1,320 feet (or 1,000 feet if you\u2019re a Top Fuel or Funny Car\nracer). I had raced here many years ago in the Stock Eliminator class behind\nthe wheel of my 1972 Plymouth Road Runner. Now, the drive to the NHRA U.S. Nats in a stock Challenger\nScat Pack 1320, with all the comforts of home, is faster than in my\nall-out, non-street-legal, Stocker racecar. Technology is a good thing and the\nfact the Challenger Scat Pack 1320 averaged over 23 mpg on the highway meant\nonly one stop on the five-hour drive down from Detroit. I was able to get through\nthe front gates and into the pits at IRP sooner than expected. Good thing, they had\nalready called the Super Stockers into the staging lanes for their first\nqualifying session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was also carrying some precious cargo in the Challenger 1320\u2019s cabin. I was transporting the Dodge HEMI Challenge winner\u2019s trophy. Weighing in at over 42 pounds and with a height close to three feet tall, it\u2019s quite a sight to behold. The Dodge HEMI Challenge has been a U.S. Nats tradition since 2001 that celebrates the iconic 1968 Super Stock HEMI Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda that have raced and won here for over 50 years. The lightweight, purpose-built, \u201cpackage cars\u201d epitomized Chrysler\u2019s efforts to dominate the Super Stock classes back in the late 1960s. Classified in various categories over the years, these HEMI engine-powered Darts and Barracudas race in SS\/AH class and have been a fan favorite at the \u201cBig Go\u201d for decades. That\u2019s why I felt it was appropriate that we lead this pack of angry elephants up IRP\u2019s return road before the first round in Dodge\u2019s purpose-built Challenger 1320 drag machine that you can drive every day. Speaking of driving, I corralled former Chrysler factory racer Herb McCandless and put him behind the wheel of the 1320 for the parade lap. Herb was more than qualified for this task, he won here in 1970 driving the Sox & Martin HEMI engine-powered Plymouth Duster in Pro Stock. Herb also worked directly with the Chrysler Race Engineers in developing performance parts and was instrumental when Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>\u2019s Direct Connection program was launch in 1974.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another doorslammer class that was racing for all the\nglory at Indy was the Factory Stock Showdown. It\u2019s here that the supercharged\nHEMI Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Paks battle with COPO Camaros and Cobra Jet\nMustangs. I stopped by Leah Pritchett\u2019s trailer and checked in with Kevin Helms\nand Terry Snyder. These two crew members tune and prepped both Leah\u2019s and Mark\nPawuk\u2019s 1,300-horsepower Challenger Drag Paks. Both Kevin and Terry work their\nbutts off in making sure these seven-second machines are ready to race when\nthey roll out of the trailer. That was evident as Mark Pawuk was the number-one\nqualifier out of the 29 Factory Stock Showdown entries. It\u2019s amazing how close\nthe Challenger 1320 resembles its Drag Pak cousin and vise-versa. I could\nvirtually unbolt anything off Leah\u2019s world championship Drag Pak and put it on\nthe 1320, that\u2019s how close these two machines are related. While I was there,\nthe NHRA Tech Department made an unannounced visit to check the 354-cubic-inch\nHEMI engine in the Drag Pak to make sure it was \u201clegal\u201d and built within the stringent\nrules for the class. After an hour of probing and checking, the Drag Pak passed\nwith flying colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having the Challenger 1320 at a drag strip but not able to make a pass was sheer torture for me, especially after racing the weekend before at the NMCA All-American Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, in my 2015 Challenger Scat Pack Shaker. I wanted more but after all, I was at NHRA\u2019s biggest show, which included Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars, Pro Stocks and numerous Sportsman classes. There were almost 1,000 racecars in the pits at IRP that had to get down the track, so I didn\u2019t want mess up the program. The Challenger 1320 did get a lot of attention at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. How cool was that, here\u2019s a production street car among all these million-dollar race machines and yet many fans still asked me what it runs in the quarter-mile, what engine is under the hood and how much it costs. Yep, the Challenger 1320 was among its people and in its natural environment. I\u2019m hoping the 1320 and I will have another date soon so I can give its Nexen Drag Radials a workout while throwing it in Drag Mode, activating the Line Lock and Trans Brake. But until then, we will always share the memory of the 2019 NHRA U.S. Nationals and being a part of the \u201cBig Go.\u201d But for those of you that didn\u2019t make it this year, check out the awesome photo gallery from this year\u2019s NHRA U.S. Nationals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n