The Shift Sector crew recently held a half mile top speed event on an airstrip outside of Marion, Indiana, and among the many high performance cars in attendance were a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat built by Forza Tuning & Performance.
Each of these Hellcat Dodge cars have the Forza 4R package, leading to an output of roughly 1,000 horsepower while the Challenger has a little extra power thanks to a nitrous setup – but we don’t get power numbers on the Challenger.
After we get a look at a few of the cars on hand, we see the beautiful B5 Blue Hellcat Charger go head to head with a worked Cadillac CTS-V sedan said to have around 800 wheel horsepower. Even with quite a bit of wheelspin, the Hellcat Charger quickly walks away from the blown Caddy, topping out at 171 miles per hour on the half mile track.
We then see a handful of other cars in action, including a few Lamborghinis beating a Supra and a GTR along with a Corvette beating up a Viper. The video finishes up by showing the Forza-built Hellcat Challenger with nitrous going head to head with a 5th gen Viper (mods unknown). The Challenger hits 173mph and in doing so, we never see the Viper.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
