The owner of this Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat says goodbye to his dad in true gearhead fashion.
Most of our featured burnout videos are just footage of someone roasting their tires for the sake of showing off, but the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is doing a burnout for a much more serious cause. The Challenger-owner’s father had recently passed away and he was a car lover, so to say goodbye in proper gearhead fashion, the son did a gigantic burnout in his Mopar muscle car.
Tim, His Dad and His Hellcat
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in the video above is owned by a guy named Tim, who asked that his last name not be used. Tim’s dad, Darrell, passed away back in January, and one of the passions his father had passed onto his son was his love of muscle cars. Darrell was known by friends as “The Bandit” due to his Trans Am and his cowboy hat. It should also be noted that Tim bought this Hellcat in bright red because his mother spent some time driving a 1970 Plymouth Cuda in TorRed, so his car was somewhat of a tribute to his mom’s old muscle car.
While Darrell was a big Pontiac fan, he enjoyed the high-speed ride-alongs in Tim’s Hellcat, so at the funeral, Tim performed a sort of muscle car-owner’s version of the 21-gun salute.
Tribute Burnout
The video above comes from my own YouTube channel because Tim couldn’t get it to upload properly to his account, and it begins with the bright red Hellcat Challenger revving the engine while waiting to pull out onto the street. Once traffic clears, the 707-horsepower beast pulls out onto the road, stops and lets it rip.
Smoke instantly pours from the rear tires and as the Hellcat Challenger crepps forward, a cloud builds behind the car. For more than 300 feet, Tim roasts his rear tires – performing a burnout that would have surely made his dad smile.
Some people won’t understand doing a burnout to say goodbye to your father, but those muscle car lovers and gearheads in general who learned their love of performance cars from their dad will find this to be the perfect tribute to a fellow car fanatic.
"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.
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