Dodge Challenger Hellcat Runs a 7.39 Quarter-Mile

Epling Garage Dodge Challenger keeps resetting their own Hellcat records.

Over the past few years, we have talked about the black Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat shown here many times. This is the Epling Garage family racing team car that has served as the world’s quickest Hellcat car for many moons, setting and resetting records along the way. The most significant mark lately was when this Challenger became the first Hellcat car to run a 7-second quarter-mile.

While that is an amazing mark, the Eplings definitely weren’t going to sit back and simply enjoy having a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat that runs 7-second quarter-mile times. As they have done for the more than five years, the team of Leon, Jason, Logan and Aiden continued to modify the monstrous Mopar muscle car and as a result, it has continued to get even quicker. The current goal is to break into the 6-second range and they are getting close, running a 7.39 at the last Modern Street Hemi Shootout event.

Epling Garage Hellcat Details

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but taking a street car that runs in the 10-second range in stock form and building it to run in the 7-second range is no simple task. Keep in mind that in running low 7s, this Hellcat Challenger is nearly as quick as the NHRA Pro Stock cars and this car is technically street legal. Seriously – Leon Epling has shared videos of the car being driven on the street – but this Challenger has been massively modified to run these numbers.

That being said, this car still has all of the factory metal body panels, windows that roll up and down (no fixed Plexiglas), the factory dashboard and even the factory passenger seat. The factory driver’s seat has been replaced with a seat that offers appropriate safety in a car going over 180 miles per hour in 7 seconds and the rear seat has been removed to clear space for the elaborate roll cage, but this car still looks like a Hellcat Challenger inside and out. Sure, it has a big spoiler out back and a massive air intake sticking up through the hood in front of the windshield, but this is a VIN-correct Hellcat Challenger that still looks the part.

Under the hood is a Epling/Hemsley 426-cubic inch Gen III Hemi, topped with ThiTek cylinder heads and a Kenne Bell 4.9-liter dual inlet supercharger providing around 30 pounds of boost. Other engine components include a Molnar billet crankshaft, custom Ross pistons, Callies connecting rods, a custom Comp Cams camshaft, an Epling Garage custom supercharger hat, a NOS 200 shot injected thru FAS supercharger spacer, Snow Injection for the supercharger, Kooks Headers, Dual Magnafuel 750 external fuel pumps, a 2.5-gallon fuel tank, a 5-gallon ice tank in the trunk, Hot Shot Secret Oils and a Holley EFI engine management system. This motor, transmission, clutch and supercharger have been in this car, running 7s and 8s, for four years without any breakage.

Sending the power to the rear wheels is a Liberty 5-speed racing manual transmission with a Ram 10-inch triple-disc clutch and a custom shifter, a Driveshaft Shop chromoly driveshaft with 1480 u-joints, a 10-inch Moser floating rear differential and Moser 40-spline axles. Helping to make the most of the power is a trick suspension setup featuring Strange front shocks, Menser rear shocks and the chassis has been back-halved by Firepunk Diesel.

Running Low 7s

We have included a pair of videos below showing the Epling Garage Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in action. The first is an 8^th mile run and it is very good quality, showing the car running a 4.78. For comparison, on the 7.39 quarter-mile run, they got to the eighth-mile in 4.75 seconds, so the eighth-mile video is nearly as quick as the quarter-mile record run.

The second is the 7.39 run in the quarter-mile, but the quality isn’t as great. The first video provides the best look at the world’s quickest Hellcat Challenger leaving the line while the second video provides a slightly grainier look at the record being set. For those wondering, their previous record was a 7.48 in the quarter-mile.

Leon Epling images for DodgeForum.com

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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