{"id":69499,"date":"2023-04-03T09:43:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T13:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=69499"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:19:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:19:51","slug":"chris-shawvers-stock-looking-challenger-srt-hellcat-runs-low-8s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/owners-clubs\/2023\/04\/chris-shawvers-stock-looking-challenger-srt-hellcat-runs-low-8s.html","title":{"rendered":"Chris Shawver’s Stock-Looking Challenger SRT®<\/sup> Hellcat Runs Low 8s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are only a handful of modern Dodge Challenger racers out there running quicker than Chris Shawver\u2019s \u201cLIMECAT\u201d. The modern Challengers that are quicker have long lists of aftermarket components, elaborate exterior upgrades or both. Meanwhile, Shawver\u2019s Sublime Challenger doesn\u2019t look all that different from it did when it rolled off of the assembly line, with the exception of some aftermarket wheels and tires, some unique decals on the body and the Barth Tuning windshield banner. However, for those in the know, the Barth Tuning banner on an SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat Challenger with skinnies up front and drag radials out back usually indicates something a bit spicier than stock, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What might pass as a stock car with decals and an aftermarket wheel\/tire package is actually one of the quickest Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats on the scene today, and making all that much more impressive is the fact that Chris Shawver is still running a great many factory-based drivetrain components. He is running the factory 2.4-liter IHI supercharger, the factory ZF 8-speed automatic transmission and the stock Bilstein dampers with factory springs from a 2018 SRT Demon. He is officially the quickest SRT Hellcat racer in the world with an IHI supercharger, as all of the the quicker SRT Hellcat cars are running an aftermarket supercharger or turbochargers. However, Shawver is likely to run quicker times than those currently ahead of him today \u2013 but we will get to that later on in the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you are a member of the modern Dodge drag racing community, you may recognize Chris Shawver\u2019s name and his Sublime Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat that he calls LIMECAT, as he has been one of the most active SRT Hellcat racers since getting his supercharged muscle car. He has participated in No Prep Kings, Roadkill Nights, Street Car Takeover and three Hot Rod Power Tours, racing on everything from a bare street to a fully prepped track and everything in between. No matter the surface, Chris Shawver has raced his SRT Hellcat Challenger on it and best of all, he still drives the car to work on nice days and takes it to car shows around the Little Rock area \u2013 piling up more than 40,000 miles along the way. It is a legitimate street car, but it one of the quickest street cars that you will encounter in daily traffic, being able to lay down low-8-second quarter-mile times on sketchy surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Heart of the Beast<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Chris Shawver\u2019s Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is powered by an SRT Hellcat-based 426-cubic-inch HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> engine, built by AJ Berge of Hemituner Performance with \u201ca lot of his special touches\u201d. This monstrous HEMI engine features a custom camshaft from AJ Berge, ThiTek cylinder heads, Stainless Works two-inch headers and, as mentioned above, the 2.4-liter IHI supercharger. While Shawver uses the factory supercharger, it has been modified by Jokerz Performance, with their \u201cfull tilt port\u201d and race bearings, along with a clutched 2.66-inch pulley from Satera Tuning. This engine also features an elaborate nitrous oxide setup, with Nitrous Outlet spray bars in the blower, a Nitrous Outlet plate on the blower snout and a standalone Nitrous Outlet fuel system that works in conjunction with a Fore triple pump setup to feed the hungry HEMI engine. The engine is tuned by Tim Barth \u2013 and has been since Shawver began racing this car back in 2015 \u2013 to run on Ignite Red 114, which is a 90% ethanol mixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The power is sent to the rear wheels by a factory ZF 8HP90\n8-speed transmission, but the internals have been built by the race\ntransmission mastermind Jon Sipple of Sipple Speed and Performance and it is\nfitted with a torque convertor from Brian Carter. Out back, Shawver has a full\nbillet differential from AJ Berge\/Hemituner Performance with 3.09 gears and\nDriveshaft Shop axles. Putting the power to the ground is a set of Weld\n15×11-inch rear wheels wrapped in either 315\/60\/15 Mickey Thompson ET Pros or\n275\/60\/15 Mickey Thompson ET Pros, depending on the requirement of the class in\nwhich he is racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned above, Shawver runs the factory Bilstein Dodge\nChallenger SRT Hellcat dampers with 2018 SRT Demon springs, but he does use the\nDiablo suspension controller to fine tune the dampers for the perfect launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Body of a Heavyweight<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

We talked at the top of the piece about how the exterior of\nChris Shawver\u2019s Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat looks very near-stock, shy of the\nwheels, tires and decals, but he has also switched to the newer \u201cRedeye style\u201d\nrear spoiler, but that is the only actual change to the body of this car. He is\nrunning full factory metal body panels and factory glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the inside of LIMECAT, Shawver has swapped out the factory leather seats for a set of lightweight race seats (with 5-point racing harnesses) and he added a Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> rear seat delete kit, making plenty of room for his RPM 6-point roll bar. Everything else inside of this SRT Hellcat Challenger is stock, from the carpeting to the power windows to the dashboard. He still has functioning air conditioning and a full exhaust system, showing that this Challenger is the furthest thing from a gutted racecar. It is driven to work, to car shows and to dinner on a 93-octane tune, but with a quick change of fuel, this street-friendly Challenger obviously gets down the track with the best of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The only downside to having a fully dressed cabin and stock body panels is that this car is pretty heavy, tipping the scales at 4,250 pounds when he hits the track, but that doesn\u2019t stop him from running low 8s. Also, while Shawver is more concerned about winning races than chasing times, he fully expects to break into the 7-second quarter-mile range this year. He explained that this car seems to run better in the heat, so he is looking to run 7s while the temperatures come up a bit with just more seat time and fine tuning. He points out that he doesn\u2019t have to be the fastest SRT Hellcat in the world, so long as he is always a little quicker than the car in the other lane. One of his keys to success is having the best crew chief in the world in his wife, Karen, while his good friend (and well-known shop owner) Tim Holmberg of Holmberg Motorsports has been providing key assistance over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aside from getting LIMECAT into the 7s and moving further up\nthe list of the quickest modern Dodge racers in the world, Chris Shawver is\nlooking forward to a 2023 packed with racing, including \u201cmost of the 14 Street\nCar Takeover events\u201d, Roadkill Nights Detroit and some smaller Daily Driver\nClass events around the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are only a handful of modern Dodge Challenger racers out there running quicker than Chris Shawver\u2019s \u201cLIMECAT\u201d. The modern Challengers that are quicker have long lists of aftermarket components, elaborate exterior upgrades or both. Meanwhile, Shawver\u2019s Sublime Challenger doesn\u2019t look all that different from it did when it rolled off of the assembly line, with the exception of some aftermarket wheels and tires, some unique decals on the body and the Barth Tuning windshield banner. However, for those in the know, the Barth Tuning banner on an SRT\u00ae Hellcat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":69583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2624],"tags":[526,528,2011],"class_list":["post-69499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-owners-clubs","tag-challenger","tag-drag-racing","tag-hemi-engine"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ChrisShawver_Feature.jpg","social_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ChrisShawver_Social.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\/69499"}],"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\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69499"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69606,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69499\/revisions\/69606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}