Redeye Challenger Goes from a Charred Mess to Low 9s

Redeye Challenger burned on the street at the Woodward Dream Cruise, but it’s back on track a month later.

Our Track Time Tuesday usually focuses on a racing video from YouTube, but this week we are featuring the Redeye Racing Instagram account. This the official account of an F8 Green Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye that became famous for catching fire at the Woodward Dream Cruise, but owner James Golden has the Mopar muscle car back up and running just over a month later, and he is running in the low 9-second range on a break-in engine tune.

Redeye on Fire

If you are not familiar with the story of this Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the owner traveled from New York to Metro Detroit for the 2019 Hemi-Nsanity event of the Modern Street Hemi Shootout.

That began with a day of drag racing at Lapeer International Raceway, followed by a day of relaxing at the Woodward Dream Cruise. The MSHS has the best location for Mopar owners, so James Golden was headed there with his Redeye, but before parking, he wanted to be one of the many people to do a big, smoky burnout on the famous street.

Unfortunately, during this burnout, Golden blew the motor, which led to a pretty significant fire, right in front of a massive crowd of spectators. The fire was battled by spectators with things like coolers full of ice and water bottles until many racers from the MSHS area ran over with fire extinguishers.

The engine was a total loss, but Golden shipped the broken and burned car to AJ Berge at HemiTuner Performance, who with help from Jim at True Street Performance and Tim Barth of Barth Tuning, got the Redeye Hellcat completely rebuilt in less than a month. After some custom dyno tuning, Golden and his Challenger hit the track this past weekend to break-in the new build, roughly six weeks after the fire in Detroit.

Although Golden is running a conservative tune on the new engine, he is already running some big numbers, turning a best time of 9.27 at 149 miles per hour this past weekend at Atco in New Jersey.

Aiming for 8s

James Golden’s goal for his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is to break into the 8-second barrier, and based on his first day out with the new engine on a conservative tune in higher-than-ideal density altitude, that goal is very realistic.

On the Redeye Racing Instagram account, there is footage of the car on the dyno with the new engine, making 948 horsepower and 938 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels, followed by several videos of the car on the track. The first run with the new engine ended with a time of 9.78 at 148 miles per hour, followed-up with a 9.28 and a 9.27, with the trap speed nearing 150 miles per hour.

His mod list includes a 2.72 Hellraiser upper pulley, a 10% lower pulley, a Fore triple pump fuel system, ID1700 injectors, a 95-millimeter throttle body and, of course, the custom engine tune by AJ Berge and Tim Barth. Golden’s Redeye also has BMR tie rods, K&N lowering springs, 1300hp G-Force axles, an aluminum Driveshaft Shop driveshaft and Weld wheels wrapped in 315-50-17 Mickey Thompson Street ET drag radials with drag skinnies up front.

We have included a few videos here, but for more videos of this beastly Redeye in action, along with tons of pictures of the car before and after the fire, check out the Instagram channel.

Woodward Images: Patrick Rall

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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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