Hellcat Dakota Battles 392 Counterpart in Fateful Duel at Roadkill Nights: Track Time Tuesday

Battle of built Dodge Dakota pickups on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue goes to the supercharged machine.

This past weekend, all sorts of vehicles including these two Dodge Dakota pickups went racing on Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Michigan as part of the annual Roadkill Nights event. This unique festival includes a huge car show, thrill rides and loads of Dodge-branded attractions, but the centerpiece of the event is the legal street racing program on the public road. We will bring you a closer look at that event later this week, but in the meantime, we wanted to showcase one of the coolest races of the event.

The video above comes to us from my own YouTube channel and it features the Hellcat-powered Dodge Dakota going head-to-head with a similar truck packing the 392-cubic inch Hemi from the modern Scat Pack lineup. Seeing these two modern Mopar-powered machines battling is rare enough, but to see them go at it legally on Detroit’s famous avenue adds an extra cool factor to the race.

Hemi Dakota Pairing

The Dodge Dakota in the far lane is owned and driven by Greg Snider, and it is powered by the 6.2-liter Hellcat Hemi. The power from the supercharged V8 is channel to the rear wheels by means of a Tremec six-speed manual transmission. The truck in the near lane is owned and driven by Rob Rohe, and it is powered by the 392-cubic inch Hemi, similar to the one in the Challenger and Charger Scat Pack models. This Rohe’s engine was previous in Snider’s truck, so it is safe to say that these two racers are familiar with each other.

In stock form, the Hellcat Hemi delivers 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque while the 392 Hemi packs 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque, but neither of these trucks are stock. We don’t know the specific output of either, but we know that those “stock” figures are low estimates at best when predicting the outcome of this race. Of course, you would expect the supercharged Dakota to have a huge advantage, but Rohe’s automatic transmission gives him an advantage on the launch and in getting through the gears.

Racing on the Street

As you can see, the two Dodge Dakota pickups line up on the closed Detroit street, which is lined with concrete barriers and fences to make the event as safe as it would be on a dedicated track. After carefully staging, the started drops his arms and the two launch hard.

Snider appears to have a small early lead as the Hellcat hops out, but Rohe appears to briefly pull even as they head down the impromptu track. However, the big power of the Hellcat Hemi takes over at higher speeds, allowing the black Dakota to cruise to a victory of a length or two.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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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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