This is the kind of relationship we all want to have with our fathers or children, doing burnouts together in Dodge Hellcats as we leave a car show.
A great many automotive enthusiasts learned their passion from their parents, and for the luckiest gearheads, high-performance motoring is a family affair. This is one such case, with a father and son flexing the Mopar muscles of their Hellcat cars as they leave a local car show.
The Fuelling Hellcat Cars
In the video above from the YouTube channel of the Charger owner, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat is driven by Chris Fuelling and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is driven by his dad, Mike Fuelling. Dad’s Challenger is completely stock and Chris’s Charger has a 2.85 upper pulley, a Legmaker cold air intake, freer-flowing mid-pipes and a muffler delete. This means that the Challenger is making the stock 707-ish horsepower while the Charger is making a fair amount more power.
However, even with “only” 707 horsepower, Mike Fuelling’s Challenger puts on just as solid of a smoke show as his son’s supercharged Charger.
Tandem Hellcat Burnout
Now, the video is grainy and the quality isn’t great, but the subject matter is just too good to pass up. Every young car guy would love to sit side-by-side with his dad, doing big, nasty burnouts in a pair of supercharged Dodges. For Chris and Mike Fuelling, this dream is a reality, with the two Hellcat owners being willing and able to put on a massive tandem smoke show.
As the video begins, the two supercharged Mopar muscle cars pull out onto the road, with dad’s Challenger heading to the far lane and the son’s Charger pulling into the near lane. Chris was smart enough to stay back a bit so that everyone could get a good look at bother Hellcat cars as they shaved a few thousandths off of their rear tires.
Within a few seconds, there is smoke pouring off of the back tires of both of these Dodge performance cars and as the cloud builds, each SRT beast roars off into the distance.
"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.
