{"id":40388,"date":"2020-07-13T16:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T20:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=40388"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:40","slug":"the-mission-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/showcase\/2020\/07\/the-mission-chapter-4.html","title":{"rendered":"The Mission: Chapter 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Excerpt\nfrom chapter 3: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations on\nyour win. Don\u2019t spend all night celebrating in the casino, you need to get some\nrest. Wheels up at 7 a.m.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yikes, that\u2019s early.\nWell, one round at the tables couldn\u2019t hurt, right? I take a quick shower and\ndecide to make my way downstairs. When the elevator doors open, I see\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026two large men in Bondurant High\nPerformance Driving School uniforms standing there with their arms crossed in\nsunglasses so dark I couldn\u2019t even see their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere you headed?\u201d says the one on\nthe right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, where you headed?\u201d says the\nother one on the left, almost as if it had been rehearsed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUmmm \u2026 to the tables,\u201d I said rather\nlightly, as if I was about to do something wrong and got busted by the principal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot tonight,\u201d they both said in\nunison. \u201cWe saw that race earlier and were not impressed. Sure, you won, but\nthat SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat Redeye had a lot more than what you used to get\nthat win light, and while a win is a win, we expected to see gapplebees. Time\nfor some real instruction on how to use ALL of those 797 horses. Come with us,\nyou\u2019re going for a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, I wasn\u2019t sure if I\nshould scream like a 5-year-old who just had their ice cream eaten by a dog or\nlatch on to the ankles of the casino security guard staring at me. When he\nnodded at me and said, \u201cYou\u2019re in for the time of your life,\u201d I knew I\u2019d been\nset up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we walked through the casino, I was\nhaving flashbacks of the race and began doubting my abilities. We made it to\nthe back entrance and when I stepped outside, there was an Octane Red Dodge\nChallenger SRT Demon decked out in Bondurant graphics sitting there growling.\nOne of the brutes opened the passenger door and I peered in. \u201cGet in and buckle\nup,\u201d he ordered me. As I situated myself in the seat, I looked over and the\ndriver was staring forward with no acknowledgement of me, or King and Kong. As\nI buckled up, I could hear the first brute laughing like the Joker and the\nother leaned in and whispered, \u201cYou all drive careful now, ya hear?\u201d and then\nhe also burst out laughing. I remembered that was what Joe Higgins, the old \u201960s\nDodge Safety Sheriff, used to say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as he slammed the door, the\nroar of that 840-horsepower engine muted all my senses. As the neons and LEDs\nflashed by, the whine of the supercharger and g-forces pushing me into the seat\nwas an incredible experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is how you launch a possessed 6.2L.\nRemember what Mr. Kuniskis said \u2026 the SRT Hellcat Redeye is an SRT Hellcat\npossessed by an SRT Demon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a flash, we were already pulling\ninto the Bondurant compound. Now my senses were on overdrive and I could see\nthe dragstrip next door all lit up, and a group of people standing like\nsoldiers in front of the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The driver gets out, leans back in and\nsays, \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen nothing yet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to be schooled by the pros! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just then, a Ram ProMaster\u00ae<\/sup>\npulls up. The driver smiles and says, \u201cWe\u2019re riding in style over to the drag strip.\nLet\u2019s go, no time to waste. We have to get you back for at least a couple hours\nof sleep before 7 a.m.\u201d The whole crew piles in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the doors shut, the guy in\nthe front passenger seat chimes in. \u201cI\u2019m Mike, the head instructor here at\nBondurant, and I\u2019ll be your drag racing teacher tonight. Are you ready to show\nthe world what you’re made of?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHell ya!\u201d I yelled, and the whole van\nburst into the chant of \u201cHell ya! Hell ya! Hell ya!\u201d The excitement was\nexuberating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got dropped off right behind the\nChristmas tree. The air was crisp by now and the lights shined off the shiny,\nblack \u00bc-mile. I went to walk and one of my shoes came off when it stuck on the\ntrack. Mike chuckled, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s what you call a well-prepped track right\nthere!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night was a blur of run after run\n\u2013 first as a passenger, then as a driver. Warming up the tires using the line\nlock feature made it so simple. Staging, loading up that supercharger with a\nlittle boost, go on the last yellow. Each run gave me confidence and I logged\nevery part of instruction in my memory banks for future use. These experts were\nmore than willing to share their craft with those hungry for horsepower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the training, I swear\nyou could see daylight under those front skinnies. And low 10s were as common\nas the SRT Hellcats sitting in the parking lot. Once that 9 sec. slip popped up,\ntraining was over. Mike handed me the final slip with a big grin on his face\nand said, \u201cYou are ready, Red-Jedi Knight. May the g-force be with you. 7 a.m.\nis coming up quickly. We have to get you back for some shuteye, so you\u2019ll be\nready for your next journey in your SRT Hellcat Redeye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could smell the burnt rubber on my\nclothes as I hopped back in the ProMaster. The cool seats felt like ice on my\nback and the van was empty except for the driver and me. I sat in silence,\nstill in awe from what just happened. Like some kind of intergalactic cowboy, I\nhad controlled 840 horsepower a \u00bc-mile at a time and was now ready to harness\nall 797 of the SRT Hellcat Redeye. Thanks to the Bondurant clan, I was\nprepared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bam! Bam! Bam! was the next thing I\nheard as someone was pounding on my hotel door. \u201c6:00 a.m., sir! It\u2019s your\nwake-up call!\u201d someone yelled from the other side of the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it all just a dream? I thought to\nmyself. No, couldn\u2019t have been. My clothes were folded on the chair next to the\nbed and I don\u2019t recall changing into the Dodge PJs I had on. Freaky! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did have a sense of Dodge-Zen as I\nleapt out of bed as if I had done this before \u2013 a calmness that I was prepared\nfor anything the SRT Hellcat Redeye would dish out. I threw on my clothes and\nas I walked out the door, I reached into my front pocket and found another new keychain\nwith a tag that read \u2026 YOU\u2019VE GOT THIS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out the door I went\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Mike Lavens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send your Chapter 5 submissions to us here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mission \u2013 Intro<\/a>
The Mission \u2013 Chapter 1<\/a>
The Mission \u2013 Chapter 2<\/a>
The Mission \u2013 Chapter 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excerpt from chapter 3: \u201cCongratulations on your win. Don\u2019t spend all night celebrating in the casino, you need to get some rest. Wheels up at 7 a.m.\u201d Yikes, that\u2019s early. Well, one round at the tables couldn\u2019t hurt, right? I take a quick shower and decide to make my way downstairs. When the elevator doors open, I see\u2026 \u2026two large men in Bondurant High Performance Driving School uniforms standing there with their arms crossed in sunglasses so dark I couldn\u2019t even see their eyes. \u201cWhere you headed?\u201d says the one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":40390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[638],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-showcase"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/missionchapter4.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40388"}],"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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40388"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40399,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40388\/revisions\/40399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}