The birth of the Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car body featured a process that began more than a year ago, and stretched from the race shops of DSR and Don Schumacher Motorsports (DSM) in Indianapolis, Indiana, to the research and development facilities at FCA US headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, to a drag strip in Ohio.Mopar and Dodge//SRT engineers worked in unison with the DSR team at each and every step of the process, from creation of the original body mold to wind tunnel testing to on-track vetting. The NHRA was also closely involved in the process, with Mopar, Dodge//SRT and DSR working with the sanctioning body to ensure the new Funny Car was in compliance with all specifications and guidelines.“We are really excited to run the new Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat body in competition, both in qualifying and the race itself at Denver,” said Don Schumacher, owner of the DSR team and a former Dodge Charger Funny Car driver himself in the 1960s. “It’s been a great project, working together with Mopar, Dodge//SRT, DSR and DSM to get the whole project finished and done in this period of time. We are really looking forward to how it’s going to change our program.”
The new Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car body replaces the current generation Mopar Dodge Charger R/T race car. First introduced at the dragstrip in 2015, Mopar Dodge//SRT drivers have raced the Charger R/T to 50 wins to date — including back-to-back wins by Hagan leading into the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Powered by Mopar — and 42 runner-up finishes, as well as 40 No. 1 qualifier spots. Ron Capps claimed his 2016 NHRA Funny Car World Championship in the current Charger R/T body.Initial plans were to restrict the new body to just one or two qualifying sessions in its debut this weekend at Bandimere Speedway, due to the unique atmospheric challenges presented by the Mile-High venue. However, after a promising test session in late June following the NHRA event in Norwalk, Ohio, the call was made by Hagan’s Mopar Express Lane crew chief Dickie Venables to let the Hellcat prowl for all of qualifying and race day as well.“We made four good, solid runs in testing at Norwalk,” said Hagan. “We put the body through a lot of different things and were really, really pleased with it. I really think it’s going to translate over to performance on the race track, and hopefully more win lights in the future.”