This past weekend, hundreds of vehicles headed to Colorado for the annual Pikes Peak hill climb, and among those cars was a new Dodge Viper ACR. Not just any Viper ACR, but the exact same Viper that Chris Winkler drove to track records all over the United States. After the addition of a safety cage and a full exhaust system including headers, the team from Hot Rod headed to the hill to see what America’s baddest supercar could do in America’s most rigorous racing event.
Not surprisingly, the Viper ACR handled the hill quite well, and thanks to a camera mounted above the windshield, we can ride along as the Dodge supercar races to a second-place finish in the Time Attack 2 class.
Early on, the Viper ACR was cooking right along the twisty course, with the Extreme Aero Package helping the Dodge supercar cut quickly through the turns. However, once Wesley got the Viper into the higher elevations, the lack of good air left the V10 gasping for breath. This caused a slight misfire and reduced engine power, but the ACR was hardly deterred, finishing second in the class by just 11 seconds.
Even when the thin air toward the end of the run caused the naturally aspirated Viper V10 to misfire a bit, driver Kevin Wesley was able to cover the 12.4 miles and 156 turns in just 10 minutes and 39 seconds — less than 2 minutes behind the overall winner who was in a fully prepped race car.
The Viper might be leaving the lineup after the 2017 model year, but before it does, the folks at Dodge are making sure to show off the V10 beast’s racing capabilities in all sorts of venues.
So grab a drink, crank up your speakers, and enjoy this video of the Dodge Viper ACR attacking the Pikes Peak hillclimb.
"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.
