{"id":29707,"date":"2019-10-17T19:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=29707"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:57","slug":"worlds-fastest-srt-hellcat-blaze-a-path-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/video\/2019\/10\/worlds-fastest-srt-hellcat-blaze-a-path-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s Fastest SRT<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Hellcat &#8211; Blaze a Path Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Last year, we covered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news\/article\/showcase\/2018\/11\/blaze-a-path.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"backstory and feats of the Epling family (opens in a new tab)\">backstory and feats of the Epling family<\/a> and their journey to be the world&#8217;s fastest Dodge Challenger SRT<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, we are back with an update to their story. Leon Epling gave his word last year that the story wasn\u2019t over, and boy did he deliver. To this day, his car is still the world&#8217;s fastest SRT Hellcat, but now it is so far ahead that it\u2019s likely no one will catch him. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"336\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0884-336x450.jpg\" alt=\"drag race slip\" class=\"wp-image-29747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0884-336x450.jpg 336w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0884-244x327.jpg 244w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0884.jpg 601w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are too much of a bum to go read the original\narticle, let me drop a few quick specs for you to get you up to speed. Epling\u2019s\nSRT Hellcat, dubbed \u201c007\u201d is a normal production SRT Hellcat purchased from a dealer.\nWhile it\u2019s far from stock, it is still a 100% street legal, insured, registered\nand street-driven car. Fitted with an Epling\/Hensley 426 stroker based off a\nstock 6.2L SRT Hellcat block, it ditched the stock supercharger for a massive 4.9L\nKenne Bell supercharger, and was tuned by Tim Barth. The team also runs a Liberty\nmanual transmission, but last year switched to a setup from a Challenger Drag Pak\ndue to continual part failures. As of the last article, the Epling crew had set\na solid world record with an 8.536 @ 160 quarter-mile slip. There were a few others just a few tenths\nbehind him, but Leon had enough with the cat-and-mouse game and went ahead and threw\ndown the gloves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what is the number? What\u2019s this big record? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7.843 @ 176.241<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEVEN EIGHTY-FOUR!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"7.84@176mph 007 hellcat world record\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bg-d1cSiATo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon Epling took roughly \u00be of a second off his world record\ntime slip. This is no small feat. In a 14-second car, shaving off 1 full second\nisn\u2019t too terribly hard. In the 8-second range, it\u2019s worlds apart. Even more impressive is that this run was\ndone in the southern heat of September and roughly 2500 DA. Also, when you\nwatch the video, you can see and hear them pedaling down the track (letting off\nthe throttle) to keep the car on the ground. Needless to say, that car has a\nlot left in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I linked up with Leon Epling to go over some of the secret sauce that took them from an already insane 8.5 to a ridiculous 7.8. By the way, he is officially running faster than most cars competing in the Factory Stock classes in NHRA and NMCA. Those are purpose-built drag cars that are not street-legal with hundreds of thousands of dollars into them.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1170\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0883.jpg\" alt=\"vehicle parts\" class=\"wp-image-29748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0883.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0883-614x299.jpg 614w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0883-768x374.jpg 768w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0883-700x341.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The wild Tennessee bunch does have the car on a heavy diet.\nIt has a variety of parts and components removed from the car to reduce\nweight. Epling managed to find another\n75 pounds to slice out of the car between now and then. While it&#8217;s not revolutionary\nscience, every little bit helps!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The car is running Thitek heads. The heads were re-tested\nand flowed to get very detailed data on what sort of air could flow through\nthem. They then paired up with a company to custom spec a cam to take full\nadvantage of all that data and make sure the cam was perfectly paired to what\nthe heads could do. Epling claims this made a big difference in how the car\nperformed and the power it makes. It makes sense, no point in over- or under-sizing\na camshaft by not matching it to what the heads can flow in and out! Unfortunately for you, we cannot give out\nthose specs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those who don\u2019t know, we are all continually surprised by the power curve on these 6.2L motors. It seems as though they never stop making power. The more you run out the RPM, the more power it keeps making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0885.jpg\" alt=\"HEMI engine\" class=\"wp-image-29749\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Suspension is proving to be a massive player in this car.\nOutfitted with a custom suspension, a lot of time was spent dialing in the\nsuspension at the track. There really is only one way to do this for us racers\non a normal budget: make an adjustment, run it down the track, see how it did\nand repeat as necessary. The car still gets way too high up in the air and\nrequires getting off the throttle to keep it under control. Leon adds that\nalthough they have made great progress with getting the suspension set up\nbetter, they still have a ways to go in getting it exactly where they need it.\nSuspension tricks are one of those close-kept secrets that other\nshops\/racers\/builders don\u2019t like to share, so the Eplings have been on their own\nto sort that out the hard way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other major change to the car was in the valvetrain. If\nyou know, you know, these 6.2L cars will keep making power as far as you can\nrev them. Generally speaking, a 426 is a pretty huge motor and spinning them\nmuch beyond 6,500-7,000 RPM is no easy feat with that much mass turning inside of\nthem. Most of the people racing 6.2L HEMI<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> engine-powered cars are shifting in the 6,500-6,800\nrange, which is already a big push from where they shift stock. The Epling gang\nconsulted with Jesel to come up with a set of rockers that allows this insane\nbunch to run this car up to over 8,000 RPM! Needless to say, between 6,500 and\n8,000 RPM, the motor is picking up a huge amount of power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Epling team will be at the Modern Street HEMI Shootout\nNovember 2, 2019, at Atco Raceway with hopes to pushing the envelope even further with\nmore boost, more nitrous and more suspension tweaks in the making. Epling has\nalso teamed up with Geoff Turk and his &#8220;Blackbird&#8221; Factory Stock car for a\nspecial cancer charity grudge race in the spring of 2020. More details on that\nevent coming soon. If you know the\nEpling gang, you know this story is far from over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep your eyes open for updates on 007 in the near future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year, we covered the backstory and feats of the Epling family and their journey to be the world&#8217;s fastest Dodge Challenger SRT\u00ae Hellcat. Now, we are back with an update to their story. Leon Epling gave his word last year that the story wasn\u2019t over, and boy did he deliver. To this day, his car is still the world&#8217;s fastest SRT Hellcat, but now it is so far ahead that it\u2019s likely no one will catch him. Let\u2019s dive in. If you are too much of a bum to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":29752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2624,1921],"tags":[528,905],"class_list":["post-29707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-owners-clubs","category-video","tag-drag-racing","tag-nmca"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/feature-40.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29707"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29778,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29707\/revisions\/29778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}