Watch a stock Hellcat Challenger with drag radials walk away from a Nissan GTR in a quarter mile drag race.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is considerably more powerful than a Nissan GTR, but the Japanese supercar has the advantage of a high tech all-wheel drive system which makes it one of the quickest 0-60 cars ever with reported times in the 2.X range. It is no slouch in the quarter mile either, with reported times of 11-flat, but we all know that the Hellcat Challenger is a quarter mile monster, with the official stock times of 11.2 being easily eclipsed with a good set of tires.
On paper, a Nissan GTR should be able to keep the race with a Hellcat Challenger very close, if it didn’t beat the Mopar muscle car, but those numbers are all dependent on a skilled driver and a good track. In this case, only one car had a good driver – and it wasn’t the Nissan.
The Sublime Hellcat Challenger is driven by Paul Georges, the man in charge of the charity-raising group of racers at Team Hellcat, and after a nice, smoky burnout, he pulls his supercharged Mopar to the line for a battle with the car known as Godzilla. When the green lights drop, Paul eases away from the line on the slick track and takes an early lead while the Nissan sits at the line. After a short time, the GTR launches as well, but the race is already long-over.
Not only does the big starting line advantage give the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat the win, but based on the numbers, a better reaction time wouldn’t have made any difference. Paul’s Hellcat ran an 11.34 at 126 miles per hour while the GTR ran a lackluster 12.22 at 121 miles per hour, so even had the two cars both launched at the exact same time – the Mopar would have gotten to the finish line first.
Crank up your speakers and enjoy this video of a Mopar monster eating Godzilla.
"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.
