Leaders of the Pak

Words: Darren Jacobs

After 40 years, Mopar® racers and enthusiasts were understandably impatient.

The Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar, re-birthed in 2008, is the first drag-race-only factory package car to be built in 40 years by the brain trust in Centerline, Mich. Team Mopar legends “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and Judy “Miss Mighty Mopar” Lilly debuted prototypes of the car in July 2008 at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals near Denver, Colo. The reveal was a smashing success, but Mopar fans far and wide no doubt shared the same sentiment: Show me the HEMI®! How long before the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak hit their local quarter-mile, they wondered?

The answer: not very long at all. In fact, the first factory Drag Pak may have launched down the strip on its maiden run by the time the ink is dry on the magazine you hold in your hands.

Mopar wasted no time in ramping up production on the minimum of 100 Challenger Drag Race Package vehicles needed to meet NHRA requirements. Garlits received serial No. 001 of the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak vehicles in December 2008 at the PRI show in Orlando, Fla. Veteran Super Stock racer Larry Griffith took delivery of the second Drag Pak in March 2009.

Garlits and Griffith are neck-and-neck in the running to be the first drivers to make a competition pass in the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar (Garlits’ run against Lilly during the Mopar Mile-Highs was an exhibition, not competition, run.)

Garlits sent his Drag Pak to MPR Race Cars shop in Almont, Mich. for post-production work, including installation of the roll cage. Upon completion, Garlits himself made the trek to Michigan to pick up his new “baby” and bring it back to his home base in Ocala, Fla., where “Big Daddy” planned to complete the final work needed to make the Drag Pak race ready.

Griffith has also made fast progress on his Drag Pak, which like Garlits’ will be powered by a 6.1L HEMI V-8 engine (the Drag Pak is also available in 5.7L HEMI V-8 and 5.9L Magnum® V-8 engine options). The chassis 4-link and roll bar were installed by Chassis Comspect in Milan, Ill. The paint and body work are complete, with racing graphics installed by Competition Graphics® in Farmington Hills, Mich. Remaining work included installation of the fuel cell, fuel line, brake lines, hydraulic clutch linkage and shifter (Griffith’s car is a 4-speed, while Garlits’ is an automatic).

“We’re pushing real hard to get this car done in the next three weeks,” said Griffith back in mid-May. He plans on plenty of test runs before racing in A/Stock NHRA competition. “We’ll install the engine and do all of the electrical wiring, and then we should be ready to go make smoke.”

Garlits called for the same forecast as Griffith: He plans to be smoking the competition in his HEMI-powered Drag Pak sooner rather than later.

“We should be at the track very soon,” predicted Garlits, who plans to celebrate 60 years of racing by competing in the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in September. “I plan to test at Gainesville before entering any races. I need to tune myself up, and I look forward to driving the new car.”

The race to be the first to race—who will it be, “Big Daddy” or Griffith? Stay tuned!