World’s quickest 2018 Dodge Demon leaves a fiery trail of pavement destruction at Orlando Speed World in Florida.
This week’s Track Time Tuesday comes to us from the YouTube channel of Hector Nieves and it features the world’s quickest 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon making a test blast down the quarter mile. This car is a VIN-correct Demon, but it has been heavily modified and transformed into the lightest and most-powerful Dodge Challenger of its type in the world.
Carbon Fiber Demon
If the Challenger in the video above looks familiar, you likely remember if from our SEMA coverage last year. This car was on display in Vegas to showcase the full Speedkore carbon fiber body and the twin turbo induction setup. The car is the exact same shape as a production car, but all of the metal panels have been replaced with carbon fiber components to cut the weight down by hundreds of pounds. There are also two large holes cut in the “bumper area” of the front fascia where the big twin turbochargers draw in their air.
That’s right, this once-supercharged Challenger has been fitted with a twin turbo setup from Gearhead Fabrications which feeds the 6.2-liter Hemi by means of a custom intake manifold that was also made by Speedkore. The twin Precision 6875 billet turbos, the intake manifold and a beefed up fuel system are the only power-adding upgrades, but in looking around online, we found that this car laid down a whopping 1,203 horsepower at the rear wheels.
Monstrous 8-second Blast
When this 2018 Dodge Demon made its record-setting run last year with a run of 8.77 at 161 miles per hour. NHRA superstar Leah Pritchett was at the wheel. We are not sure if she is driving here but the helmet in this video does appear to be the helmet that she wore on the record run. In other words, in addition to having more than 1,200 rear wheel horsepower and the lowest curb weight of any new Demon, it has a world-class driver who helped with the early testing of the car.
On this run, the carbon fiber Dodge is easing up to the starting line when the video begins. After carefully lining up, we can hear the engine speed roar as the two huge turbos begin to spool up. When the car reaches the ideal boost level, the new Demon rips away from the starting line with the wheels in the air.
After the wheels come back down, the twin turbo Challenger storms down the track of Orlando Speed World in a hurry, stopping the timers with an 8.79 at 160.67 miles per hour. That is just two-hundredths of a second off of the world record run turned in by this same car.
"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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