– FUN ON THE TIGHT AND TWISTY AUTOCROSS TRACK
– FOR $5.00 A CHANCE TO WIN A ’66 PLYMOUTH SATELLITE
– SOMETHING FOR EVERY MOPAR_® TASTE AT THIS EVENT

Last time, we covered the 1/4-mile drag strip action from the MATS event, and in this PART II it’s all about autocross, a give-a-way Mopar muscle car, drag trucks and a girl with her HEMI^® ’70 Bee!

JENNA THOMAS’ PLUM CRAZY HEMI BEE

It’s a 1970 Dodge Super Bee with a GEN III SRT^® Hellcat engine transplant, 8hp90 “War Viking” transmission upgrade, coil-over adjustable suspension front and rear from Reilly Motorsports, 17-inch diameter rolling stock, Baer 4-wheel discs (6-piston front, 4-piston rear), Baer Hydrobooster master cylinder, tons of attention to detail everywhere! The end result: old-school looks, modern handling.

Jenna Thomas is no rookie when it comes to Mopar muscle, she and her dad built this immaculate 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee over a seven-year time period, and they performed nearly all the work themselves (including the fitting of a brand-new SRT Hellcat HEMI crate engine). “We are a big Mopar family!” she shared with us in-between her runs on the drag strip, where she was running solid 12.6-second runs, easing it off the line to prevent uncontrolled tire spin. “I did very soft launches since it was the first time on the track, the last thing I wanted to do was spin,” she added, knowing there’s a lot more left in the car with a set of proper slicks.

She also went over to the autocross track with the car and took part in the road-race fun, no shortage of power, and the secret is to be smooth and consistent. A versatile “dual-purpose” machine!

“My dad has a black 1970 GTX and a yellow 1971 Challenger convertible. My grandpa has a green ’68 HEMI Charger R/T, plus another black ’68 Charger R/T, a Plum Crazy ’71 Challenger, plus a Little Red Express truck.” Yes indeed, a serious Mopar family of three generations!

AUTOCROSS ACTION

“General Lee” lives on! Yes, there were a lot of Dodge Chargers destroyed in the making of the TV show, however there’s still some out there, including this 440-cube version that was sliding and drifting all through the autocross course! Yes we all know the quickest way around the track is smooth and precise, but if your car is orange and has the big “01” on the doors, you’ve got to live up to a certain standard…

WHAT IN THE HELL???

With a certain amount of shock and horror, when first viewing this 1971 E-body running on the track, it was needless to say a head-scratcher. What and why? As it turned out, a talk with the owner revealed he was given a Barracuda shell that was destined for the crusher, and he had a nice 440 RB big block, and the autocross promoter and organizer “Racing Byrds” had set up a “Jalopy” class for those that just want to have some fun.

Add in some custom-fabbed safety bars here and there and set up the suspension for cornering, you’re out to have a blast on the track! After all, who needs doors, a hood, front fenders, deck lid and, in this particular case, passenger’s side rear quarter? Keep the hood hinges on for that “trailer part” look!

How do you know exactly what year the car is? The zip-tied gills on the driver’s side tell all.

KEEP ON (DODGE) TRUCKIN’

Running down a drag strip with Mopar power under the hood doesn’t necessarily have to be in a “car” and at this Las Vegas gathering there was a broad selection of trucks, and even an A100 Series ’60s van doing its thing down the quarter-mile. The old saying goes like this: the engine does not know what it is bolted into!

$5 DONATION – WIN ME!  

The host of “Spirit of Nevada”, Samantha Chian, was on hand when it came time to announce the winner of this well-detailed 1966 Plymouth Satellite, and the excitement grew to a roar when the winner’s name was announced … the son and father were there but he was driving home! It didn’t take much persuading to get him to turn around and head back to get the keys to this sano B-body! It was a Charity Car Giveaway organized by Phil Painter and all for a great cause, inspired by Quinn Petersen’s personal fight with bone cancer. Phil met him at the gym and the next thing you know, something good was to happen in the way of supporting Childhood Cancer Charities. The car was completely gone through and makes for the perfect street machine, and with a wonderful story behind it!

BLINGED OUT AND PART OF THE MODERN SCENE

All cars are welcome and for the Mopar community, it’s all about enjoying the car you brought, either on the drag strip, the autocross track or in the car show. That’s the beauty of what Phil and Jill Painter created all the years ago with this long-running event, there’s something for everyone!

Plans are already underway to the running of the “2025 Muscle Cars at The Strip” event, presented by ARP, and it’s well worth your while to see all this gathering has to offer – plus Las Vegas is a fun town to be it! 

Author: James Maxwell