Ready to Rumble!

2 years ago Events

Dallas resident and Demonology YouTube personality Herman Young is travelling to the Motor City. He’s ready to throw the gauntlet and rumble on the mean streets of Woodward Ave. He and his crew have been working feverously on a tricked-out Redeye HEMI® engine-powered Challenger built to take on the competition during the inaugural Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match at this year’s Roadkill Nights. For Herman, this YouTube/drag racing personality has been a part of the Dodge//Mopar® community for many years, and it began when he bought his brand-new 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT® Demon. Herman showed the world all the goodies that came in the Demon Crate when he posted an unboxing video on his Demonology YouTube channel to thousands of diehard gearheads. “I got my jump start on YouTube by posting a video of the very first Dodge Demon Crate unboxing after noticing that there was nothing about it on YouTube. I never went into this with the intention of starting the channel, but once the video blew up, I decided to take the opportunity to showcase more about the Dodge Demon,” said Herman. “At the time, most people considered their Challenger SRT Demon to be a ‘Garage Queen’ and there were very few owners willing to take it to the drag strip. From there, I started racing regularly to see how the Demon held up against other muscle cars and supercars and to see whether or not the Demon was everything that Dodge had promised. It was never my intention to become a major player in the Dodge community. I just wanted to do things with the Demon that people were not doing and do it in a way that made people laugh. One thing I’ve noticed in the car community is that a lot of people take things way too seriously, so I try to bring in some levity and show that we’re all part of the same community no matter what brand you choose to support.”

Herman’s love for the Dodge brand goes way back to when he was in high school and bought his first Challenger. “I always told myself that one day when Dodge came out with their fastest Mopar I would buy one. In 2016, after searching on the internet, I was able to find a 2015 Sublime Green Hellcat which I began racing. Once the Dodge Demon was announced, I signed up to get myself on the list as soon as possible and I was lucky enough to be able to get one from my local Dodge dealership when the person ahead of me decided to remove themselves from the list,” commented Herman. Being a super fan of all things Dodge, Herman watched Roadkill Nights back in 2019 and right then he knew he wanted to be player and participate. Because of his Demonology YouTube channel, Herman is friends with championship wrestler Bill Goldberg, who just recently oversaw the competition of participants competing in Dodge’s Chief Donut Marker promotion. “Bill Goldberg advised me that if I ever got the opportunity to participate then I should seize the chance. I attended Roadkill Nights in 2021 as just a regular spectator and competitor, but once I received an email from Dodge about becoming one of the influencers for this year’s event, there was no way I could say no,” smiled Herman. “Drag racing has become a major hobby and passion in my life ever since I got my Demon back in 2018. The chance to race against other car enthusiasts and racers in a competitive setting always gets my adrenaline flowing. The combination of high stakes, competition and the opportunity to build another drag car, was more than enough for me to jump at the chance to compete in the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match!”

Upon receiving his email confirmation, Herman procured a Challenger bodyshell and went right to work making the modifications creating a purpose-built drag car for the grudge race. Like any project, there were challenges, setbacks and frustrations as the deadline is always looming to get the car built in time for the grudge match. “The project came with its fair share of difficulties. While most if not all of the other competitors are doing or have done just an engine swap in an already existing car, we started with an empty chassis that had nothing. The entire car was built from the ground up primarily using the parts that Dodge sent us and other parts we obtained through their Direct Connection program like the widebody kit and bumpers. We had to spend time almost ’round the clock for the past 30 days to build a car that would normally take up to 12 months to do. A huge shoutout to Jack Fab Performance for putting in work and putting this car together in near record time,” declared Herman. “Some of the major challenges we faced when putting together this project car ended up being things that had to be changed at the last minute. We had some plans for the interior of the car before the build started like the dashboard and system panels that had to be scrapped or changed. In the words of Mike Tyson, ‘Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’ Because of these last-minute changes and the struggles we faced, we did not get to spend much time working on the cosmetics of the car. However, with the help of my local Dodge Power Broker Dealer in Austin, Texas, Nyle Maxwell, we used factory parts and built this car to be as close to the Dodge Demon as possible and set it up but specifically for no-prep street racing. Using my experience from last year as a starting point, we got custom wheels from RC Components to fit a big set of wheels from Hoosier to help gain as much traction as possible.” Herman’s also been scoping out the competition that’ll be burning rubber at the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match. “Any car that is a back-half with a severely modified chassis has me worried,” noted Herman. “This can offer an advantage over production build cars, they’re able to push their traction into the ground. But we’ll be ready with our Challenger built with Direct Connection parts.”

“You can have all the horsepower in the world, but none of it means anything if you can’t put it to the ground. Spinning ain’t winning,” laughed Herman. He’ll be dialing back some of the massive horsepower the Redeye’s supercharged 6.2L HEMI V8 engine puts out. Herman’s strategy is to get the car off the line then pour on the power while hitting it with some nitrous oxide for some added boost. His friends at Nitrous Outlet will providing the laughing gas.

Herman, along with his fellow grudge match competitors, will take to Woodward Avenue this Saturday, August 13, ready to rumble. And when the smoke clears, he’s hoping he’ll be the last man standing!

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