Radford Racing School is the Official High Performance Driving School of Dodge//SRT®, with plenty of signage around the facility to go along with the Challengers, Chargers and Durangos that serve as student and instructor vehicles for every program. However, there are a few Dodge products that regularly appear in the employee parking lot, as several of the folks who work for Radford Racing School are members of the Brotherhood of Muscle.
Kaelyn Andresen
First up, we have Kaelyn Andresen, who runs the front desk at Radford Racing School. When students check in for a program or stop in to buy apparel, Kaelyn is often the first person to meet with customers.
She drives a white 2020 Dodge Challenger R/T with some simple appearance upgrades, including window tinting and the popular cat scratch over the headlight. This is her first Dodge product and she bought it because the classic muscle car exterior design appealed to her. As her daily driver, she enjoys the power of the 5.7-liter HEMI® engine and she appreciates the fact that the cabin isn’t too busy. Andresen explained that she gets lots of compliments and that she will always own a muscle car, as she loves her Dodge Challenger R/T.
While this Challenger R/T is Kaelyn Andresen’s first Dodge, she comes from a Mopar®-heavy household. Her dad currently drives a 2021 Ram and her mom currently drives a Jeep® Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, having previously owned a Ram 1500 TRX. Andresen points out that they are a “V8 family for sure” and that they all love fast vehicles.
Cameron Rosario
Next up, we have Radford Racing School mechanic Cameron Rosario, who daily drives a modified 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody that helped shape his life – including getting him his job at Radford.
Back in 2020, Rosario bought his 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody in Hellraisin from a dealership in Ohio, although he lived with his family in New York. He bought the car because of the classic muscular exterior design and because the “I don’t care attitude” of the Dodge Brand appealed to him. Shortly after getting the car, he saw posts online about how Dodge SRT buyers got a free one-day class at Radford Racing School. He didn’t want to make the trip across the country on his own, so he and his dad flew from New York to Arizona for the SRT Experience program. He loved the program and enjoyed his time in the area.
A few months after getting back to New York, Rosario read online that Radford was looking to hire a mechanic. Although he didn’t have any formal training or experience as an automotive mechanic, he had always worked on cars with his dad in the garage when growing up, so he figured that it couldn’t hurt to apply and see if anything came of it. Imagine his surprise when Radford called to set up a phone interview, but to show his dedication to the position, Rosario asked them to give him a few days and he would organize a trip to Arizona to interview in person. The school agreed, he made the trip to Arizona for the interview and it went so well that they hired him on the spot.
Although Radford management told him that he could take his time in moving from New York to Arizona, he got right on it, renting a trailer and using his 2015 Ram to tow his Redeye to his new home in the desert where he started his new life and his new career. A year later, Cameron Rosario loves his home and his job, which happens to be in an area where he can drive his Challenger Redeye pretty much every day.
Over the years, Rosario has added a few key upgrades to his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, including a Ripatuned lower pulley, an oil catch can and a Per4Mance Development DIRS differential brace, along with a set of 17-inch Forgestar wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Street R tires for the track. Also, in addition to the Redeye and the 2015 Ram that towed it from New York, Rosario also has a 2011 Charger R/T and a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 – which was his first Dodge when he started driving.
Rosario’s current life and career stemmed from his free SRT Experience trip that came with his Dodge Challenger Redeye.
Mike Kessler
Finally, Mike Kessler is the General Manager of Radford Racing School, making him responsible for many aspects of the business, from strategic relationships, sponsorships, human resources and the growth of the business, to ensuring the ultimate customer experience through an always-evolving performance driving education program.
Kessler had experience with the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat thanks to the car’s presence at the school and he enjoyed driving them, but when the 2018 models came out with the then-new widebody design, he had to have one of his own. He traded in his Porsche 911 for a black Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody with the 8-speed automatic transmission, which was a head-turner to begin with, but he didn’t want to just drive a stock SRT Hellcat. Instead, the teams at SRT Autoworks and Super Duty HQ each played a role in transforming an awesome muscle car into into a legendary street machine.
The 6.2-liter HEMI engine has been completely built from the bottom up with the best available aftermarket components, the 2.4-liter IHI supercharger was ported to allow better air flow, a beefier fuel system was installed and the whole system was tuned to deliver 1,200 horsepower at the rear wheels. Kessler’s Challenger rides on HRE wheels and features a unique gloss black paint job that extends to all of the factory matte black trim around the bottom of the car.
In addition to his SRT Hellcat Challenger, Kessler has a Durango SRT Hellcat and a Ram 1500 TRX, as well as a 2023 TRX and a 2023 Challenger SRT Super Stock on order. He plans to trade his current TRX on the 2023 model while the 2023 Super Stock will join his fleet alongside his 2018 SRT Hellcat Challenger.
Needless to say, with a 1,200-horsepower Dodge Challenger, a 710-horsepower Durango and a 702-horsepower Ram 1500, Mike Kessler’s interest in Dodge performance goes well beyond his job at Radford Racing School.