Sumit Goyal was 37 years old when he saw his first Dodge Challenger SRT^® Hellcat at a dealership where he had stopped with his brother-in-law, who was there to look at a new Jeep_® vehicle. Goyal had always dreamed of owning some kind of ultra-high-performance car when he was growing up, but at 37, he had never owned any performance vehicles at all. After seeing that Challenger at the dealership, Goyal began looking into the Dodge brand for the first time. He was planning on ordering an SRT 392 when the “Hellcat Pennzoil commercial” caught his eye on television. As Goyal kept seeing that thrilling ad, he found himself growing more drawn to the SRT Hellcat and as a result, he ordered his 2016 B5 Blue Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in September of 2015. The car arrived on October 17, 2015 and the image below shows Goyal’s family packed into the car for a quick picture shortly after he got it.

Seven years later, that Dodge muscle car has transformed Goyal from a guy who had never driven a high-performance car or been to a drag strip to the owner of one of the fastest daily-driven SRT Hellcat Challengers in the country and one of the men behind a popular aftermarket upgrade in the SRT Hellcat community.

The B5 Blue SRT Hellcat Challenger

When Sumit Goyal bought his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, he had never driven anything that packed the power of the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI^® engine and he literally didn’t know that the sport of organized drag racing existed. He bought the car as a weekend cruiser and his B5 Blue Dodge served that role well, but it didn’t take long for him to end up at the drag strip. When he bought the Challenger, Goyal began participating in online SRT Hellcat communities and through them, he met some owners in his area who were heading to Atlanta Dragway. Goyal headed to the track one day to meet those online friends and to watch them race, but they talked him into registering to race, as well.

Goyal was nervous as he pulled his new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat into the burnout box for the first time, having only ever seen drag racing online and on television at that point. He mistakenly began his burnout in Reverse and once he got things all straightened out, he ran in the high-11-second range. He wasn’t incredibly quick that first time out, but his first taste of drag racing drew him in and he was instantly hooked. He began regularly drag racing at Atlanta Dragway in addition to some 1/2-mile high-speed events in his area.

As Goyal got more involved with the local racing scene, he wanted to go faster, but he has always been a “take it slow” guy, so rather than jumping into a huge build, he took small steps toward his SRT Hellcat Challenger becoming the beast that it is today.

“I strongly believe that there is no ‘cookie cutter’ design and every car is different. Gather your data to see what works for you,” said Goyal. “I’ve never thought of going all in one shot because I’ve seen that big builds can take time and need a lot of patience. Small, step-by-step modifications can allow for sweet opportunities.”

With that in mind, he made the modifications needed to run consistently in the low-10-second range, which led to some impressive success in the drag racing world. He attended the 2016 Southern Super Heavy shootout at Atlanta Dragway, having never participated in an event before, and he went on to win his class. As time went on, Goyal built his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat to run in the low-8-second range, leading to more strong finishes at major racing events. He finished second in the Modern Street HEMI Shootout Outlaw class when the series stopped at No Problem Dragway in 2019 and in 2021, Goyal won the Factory Forced Induction class at the Diablosport Horsepower Wars event in Orlando. When he won that class, he got to face NHRA Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett in a Challenger that had been provided for her to compete in by Diablosport, and in that match race, Goyal beat the popular pro drag racer.

To date, Goyal’s best elapsed time in his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat was an 8.30 at 166 miles per hour with the help of nitrous oxide, while his best blower-only (no nitrous) pass was an also-impressive 8.45 at 164 miles per hour. Those numbers were achieved with a Redeye-based engine that has been enlarged to 399 cubic inches and fitted with a long list of the best parts on the market. This includes a forged Molnar crankshaft, Callies ultra connecting rods, Diamond pistons, factory cylinder heads ported by BES, a Drag Pak Whipple 3.0-liter supercharger, DSS CF DS and axles, and a fuel system that is set up to provide the hungry HEMI engine with plenty of E90 ethanol blend. The engine was built by Carlos Lopez and the transmission was built by Jimmy Vuong both with Allpar Garage, and the engine and transmission were both tuned by Sumit himself.

You read that correctly. Sumit Goyal, who had never driven a performance car prior to buying his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, handles the tuning of his 8-second, daily-driven muscle car. That might seem crazy to some people, but in his short time in the racing industry, Goyal has gotten far more involved than just going fast. He has launched his own tuning company, as well as partnering on the development of an aftermarket intercooler chiller system that is quickly becoming the first choice among the fastest racers in the SRT Hellcat community. We talked to Goyal more about how he got so involved in the racing community so quickly.

Supporting the Go-Fast Community

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When Sumit Goyal began racing and modifying his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, the tuning work was handled by one of the popular companies in the community, but when the SRT Demon was introduced for the 2018 model year, transmission (TCM) tuning became a popular topic of conversation in the modern Mopar_® racing world. Goyal’s experience in computer programming allowed him the ability to read vehicle data logs and understand how changes can improve performance.

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After studying information that was available online for tuning GM 4L60E/6L80E transmissions, he coupled that with his programming knowledge to begin to tune the SRT Hellcat’s 8HP90 transmissions using HPTuners software. By mid-2019, he had also begun doing engine tuning in addition to transmission tuning. So much so that he now offers his services under the business name 1320Tunes.

Sumit Goyal’s other product in the SRT Hellcat aftermarket world is far more unique. Along with another SRT Hellcat racer named Charlie Link, Goyal founded IC Chiller – a line of plug-and-play intercooler chiller systems that don’t require the owner to cut anything during installation. For someone with no prior performance industry experience, this is a very specialized product to offer, so Goyal explained how he got involved with this project.

Goyal had been running an ice tank in his car since 2017 in an effort to keep intake air temperatures low, as with the 2.65-inch upper pulley and an aftermarket lower pulley, the supercharger was getting too hot and pulling power. When the 2018 SRT Demon was introduced with the OEM chiller system, Goyal saw how much of a positive impact it had on performance. Around this same time, some other companies were beginning to offer intercooler chiller systems for SRT Hellcat cars that were originally designed for General Motors’ products. The key problem with these adapted GM systems was that they required the Dodge owners to cut both the HVAC coolant lines and the front portion of the chassis, right behind the front bumper. The idea of cutting the structural front chassis beam is fairly off-putting to anyone who daily drives their vehicle and splicing into the factory HVAC lines can prove to be a headache in the long run. Seeing these two key shortcomings with the aftermarket chiller systems at that time, Goyal teamed up with fellow SRT Hellcat racer Charlie Link to develop a system that does not require any cutting. The result of their efforts is the IC Chiller brand of intercooler chiller systems, which reduces intake air temperatures without cutting any part of the car. Needless to say, the fact that their design improves performance without cutting apart the car has made their brand very popular within the SRT Hellcat community.

Going Faster in 2023

During his last trip to the track, Sumit Goyal ran his best blower-only time of 8.45 and with both good air and good track prep, he rushed his Challenger SRT Hellcat back up to the staging lanes for another pass. On that next pass, his goal was to add some nitrous to the mix and see how deep into the 8-second range he could get. Unfortunately, in rushing between runs, he did not load the nitrous tune and that led to critical engine failure. That is bad news for him, but it will lead to even more power next season.

The 399-cubic-inch Redeye engine block is being replaced by one that displaces 428 cubic inches. That larger engine will be topped with ThiTek cylinder heads and a 3.8-liter Whipple supercharger using Kong 120MM throttle body, with the power being put to the road with help from a 9-inch differential from Innovative Machining. Having run 8.40s with a smaller engine and smaller blower, the larger engine, larger supercharger and a little nitrous could very well put Goyal’s daily-driven B5 Blue Challenger into the 7-second range.

Sumit Goyal bought his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat to be a fun weekend cruiser without having ever driven a high-performance vehicle. Today, that Challenger is one of the quickest daily-driven SRT Hellcats on the street, Goyal is one of the most respected and well-liked guys in the Hellcat community, and his aftermarket support of the community has led to a flourishing business that offers a popular go-fast upgrade. Goyal’s entire automotive life has been shaped by his SRT Hellcat Challenger, reminding us that for some, a high-performance car is just a fun toy but for others, vehicles like this can be truly life-changing.