Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology division has
announced that they will have a major presence at the return of the Detroit
Belle Isle Grand Prix next week – including an exclusive area for SRT owners to
park their vehicles and enjoy the race with other Mopar diehards.
The SRT fan package costs $150 and includes parking on Belle
Isle in the special SRT Car Corral parking area for June 2nd and 3rd,
two grandstand tickets for Saturday and Sunday and with two Paddock passes for
both days – giving you and a guest access to check out some of the high
performance cars racing around Detroit’s Belle Isle road course.Those who opt for the SRT ticket package will
also receive meal vouchers as well as having their SRT vehicle entered into a
virtual car show on Facebook with the winners receiving “valuable prizes”.These passes are only available by clicking
here and visiting DriveSRT.com.
It is interesting that SRT is so involved with the Detroit
Belle Isle Grand Prix considering that the four racing leagues who will compete
don’t have any Chrysler Group products in their fields.Two of the classes are open wheel and really don’t
apply to the Chrysler Group and the other two – while packed with lots of
competition from Ford, GM and a variety of European and Japanese competitors – don’t
have any registered Dodge or SRT entrants.
There has been speculation that the 2013 SRT Viper, SRT
Viper GTS and SRT Viper GTS-R could be in attendance to show off the newest
Chrysler supercar to race fans in Detroit. These rumors have not been confirmed but considering that SRT is putting
so much effort into getting people to the event – we expect that there has to
be something special planned.
Could it be that the new 2013 SRT Viper will be entering
either the Grand Am Rolex or the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge – both of which
feature plenty of cars that the Viper will face in the American LeMans Series
later this year?With the Detroit Belle
Isle Grand Prix just a few weeks away – we could have some big Viper racing
news over the next month.
"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.
Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology division has