Ever wondered what it would be like to tear down the Texas Mile – perhaps in a super rare 2011 Dodge Challenger 392 Kowalski Edition? You’re in luck as one of the ten lucky individuals who owns a Kowalski 392 Challenger took his modified Mopar muscle car to the famed Texas high speed strip to see what he could do. The result… a standing mile top speed of 172.1 miles per hour.
The camera is located inside of the special edition dealer-ordered Kowalski Edition Challenger 392 so we get a great chance to hear the driver work through the gears while the Hemi thrusts this brawny muscle car down the mile-long speed strip. While the Kowalski Edition was just an appearance package, this particular 392 cubic inch Hemi packs a supercharger with water and methanol injection to help this Challenger SRT8 make well beyond the standard 470 horsepower and 470lb-ft of torque.
This video of the 2011 Dodge Challenger 392 Kowalski Edition rocketing down the Texas Mile is long as it begins while the car is still in the staging area and runs through the end of his drive. But to catch the real action, skip forward to 6:12. Take note of the speed at which things are blowing by the car once the driver gets up into the gears. Even though we cannot see the speedometer, it becomes clear at some point that this modified Challenger SRT8 is going very, very fast. It is really one of the best videos I’ve seen of a modern Mopar muscle car running the Texas Mile. Towards the end of the video, the driver holds up the time slip to show us his top speed f 172.1 miles per hour. The picture atop this piece shows that time slip from the video.
"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.
