The first Modern Street HEMI® Shootout event was held back in 2010, making 2024 the 15th season of what has become the premier racing series for modern Dodge, Jeep®, Chrysler and Ram Brand vehicles. The series has grown tremendously over the past 15 years, with the crowds getting bigger and the vehicles getting faster, and the series even added a home track when MSHS boss Dan VanHorn purchased Rockingham Dragway – all of which have led to this being the most exciting racing for the modern Mopar® community.
The 2024 Modern Street HEMI Shootout schedule consists of five events for the 15th season, with stops at Orlando Speed World, Rockingham Dragway, Cecil County Dragway, Milan Dragway and Maryland International Raceway. So far, two of those five events have been completed so today, we bring you a look at the results from the first two races of the 2024 Modern Street HEMI Shootout season – and a look at the standings after 40% of the season.
Orlando MSHS Presented by Legmaker Intakes
The 2024 Modern Street HEMI Shootout season began on March 9 at Orlando Speed World, with 9 classes for the season opener – East Coast Moparts Bracket, HemiTUNER/REVPAR HEMI Outlaw, Demon Performance 8.50 Index, Flyin Ryan Performance 9.00 Index, AAD Performance 10.00 Index, True Street Performance 10.50 Index, LegMaker Intakes 11.50 Index, HemiTUNER/REVPAR 12.50 Index and TC2 Motorsports Rookie Class. For those who are unfamiliar with the series, each racer registration includes entry into two classes, and the vast majority of competitors enter a time-based index class along with the Bracket class. There is also the Cometic Gasket King of the Hill class, which is composed of the winners of all of the other classes, going head-to-head in a bracket format, so each racer has a chance to collect three wins on a single registration.
Of the ten main classes, including the King of the Hill class, a Dodge product won nine of them, with the one non-Dodge being an Oldsmobile (powered by a HEMI engine, of course).
In the HemiTUNER/REVPAR HEMI Outlaw class, Jimmy Chavis opened the season with a win in the Nate Jenkins-owned, HHP-built Dodge Magnum, beating Dan VanHorn’s Dodge Challenger in the final round.
Image courtesy of Neichaun “MsMopaarr” Tatum
Tommy Falk and his Dodge Challenger SRT® Hellcat took the win in the Demon Performance 8.50 Index class over Brandon Garcia.
The Flyin Ryan Performance 9.00 Index class may be the first win for an SRT Demon 170, with Larry Rose driving his brand-new 2023 Dodge Challenger to the win over Mike Yant and his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.
In the AAD Performance 10.00 Index class, Brian Bednar took the win in his Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme over the Ram 1500 of Bobby Pazos. You read that right – Bednar is campaigning a 1980s Oldsmobile with modern HEMI engine power and the MSHS accepts any vehicle with a modern HEMI engine. Non-Mopar products are rare, but there are a handful that have participated successfully in the series over the years and Bednar’s Olds is the latest.
True Street Performance 10.50 Index final round saw Robert Sharp take the win with his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat over the Dodge Charger of Jonathon Rahmani.
In the LegMaker Intakes 11.50 Index class, Bill Lee Jr. took the win in his Dodge Challenger Scat Pack, beating Jon Sipple in a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.
The HemiTUNER/REVPAR 12.50 Index class was also won by a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack, with Craig Peterson taking the win over Rupert Flood in his Dodge Charger.
In the TC2 Motorsports Rookie Class, Stephen Crookes and his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat took the win in his first-ever event with the Modern Street HEMI Shootout series.
Finally, the King of the Hill class saw Robert Sharp drive his Dodge Charger SRT to the win against Joe Tan and his Dodge Challenger Scat Pack Shaker.
Of course, with this being the first event of the season, all of these class winners are also the leaders in the championship race for each class.
MSHS at the Rock Presented by Sipple’s Speed and Performance
The second event of the 2024 Modern Street HEMI Shootout season was held on April 5-6 at Rockingham Dragway. This event included 8 of the core classes from the first event (no Rookie Class), as well as the King of the Hill class that pits all of the winners head-to-head, but this event added three additional classes – the Blackbird Performance Drag Pak Spec Shootout, the Bad Boyzz Garage Stick Shift class and the HHP 5.0 Index class. Also, the popular Mopars at the Rock event was held on April 6th alongside the MSHS event, leading to an even larger group of racecars and show cars.
“This Rockingham event joined up with Mopars at the Rock and was a huge success bringing that MSHS up to a full rounded event,” said Dan VanHorn.
Starting in the HemiTUNER/REVPAR HEMI Outlaw class, Josh Schwartz of High Horse Performance drove the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat named TomCat (not to be confused with the record-setting TopCat Hellcat Challenger, also from HHP) to the win over the 2018 SRT Demon-powered Ford Mustang of Matt Kesatie. Schwartz is now tied with Nate Jenkins for the HemiTUNER/REVPAR HEMI Outlaw championship chase.
In the Demon Performance 8.50 Index class, Jessica Sipple and her SRT Hellcat HEMI engine-powered Dodge Challenger showed up with a new livery for 2024 and she took home a win, beating Challenger SRT Hellcat of Tommy Falk. After winning the class at the first event of the season, Falk now leads the title chase for the Demon Performance class by 7 points.
Flyin Ryan Performance 9.00 Index saw Doug Reddicopp and his 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 beat Terry Arnold to get the class win. Reddicopp was one of the first SRT Demon 170 owners to run in the 8-second range, but his new Challenger is proving to be a beast in the 9.0 class. Reddicopp now leads the race for the Flyin Ryan Performance 9.00 class championship by 1 point.
In the AAD Performance 10.00 Index class, Brandon Melton drove his family-built Dodge Challenger to the win over Jason Fredenburgh and his Jeep Grand Cherokee. Chris Fuller, who had strong showings at each of the first two MSHS events of 2024 in his Dodge Challenger Super Stock, now leads in the AAD Performance 10.00 class championship, leading the Oldsmobile of Brian Bednar by 3 points.
The True Street Performance 10.50 Index class saw a battle of Dodge Challengers, with Delano McFarland getting the win over Rich Scotto. Justin Rems and Robert Sharp are now tied for the lead in the True Street Performance 10.50 class title race, with McFarland 1 point behind in third.
In the LegMaker Intakes 11.50 Index class, Alan Scanlan drove to the win in his Dodge Challenger 1320 over Mike England. England is usually a front-runner in his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat that runs in the high 8s-to-low-9s, but due to mechanical issues, he competed in a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat at the first two events of the season. Scanlan sits second in the LegMaker Intakes 11.50 class championship race, trailing Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat racer Jon Sipple by 2 points.
The HemiTUNER/REVPAR 12.50 Index was one of the few with a truck in the class, and Noah Ryan did a fine job of representing the Ram brand – taking the class win over the Dodge Magnum of long-time MSHS racer Stell Savarino. Ryan now sits first in the HemiTUNER/REVPAR 12.50 class, leading Challenger driver Craig Peterson by 2 points.
The new Blackbird Performance Drag Pak Spec Shootout was won by Katherine Kosiba, who has spent time in the MSHS racing her 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, but having graduated to the Challenger Drag Pak, Kosiba is the early front-runner in that class.
In the Bad Boyzz Garage Stick Shift, Donald Carter drove his classic Dodge Dart to the win over Gary Payne in his modern Dodge Challenger.
The HHP 5.00 Index saw Leon Hudson in his King of the Street Plymouth Barracuda taking on Andy Wagner in his Dodge Challenger, with the classic taking the win.
The massive East Coast Moparts Bracket class was won by Matt Broyles and his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, beating out Daevon Thompson in the final round of the largest class in the field. After a strong showing in Orlando, Broyles sits first in the East Coast Moparts Bracket title chase, leading Joe Tan by 4 points.
Image courtesy of Scott Newhouse
Finally, the Cometic Gasket King of the Hill class finals saw a pair of Dodge Challengers doing battle, with AAD Performance 10.00 Index winner Brandon Melton knocking off True Street Performance 10.50 Index winner Delano McFarland. Like the other classes, the King of the Hill class has a season championship and right now, Melton, McFarland, Robert Sharp and Joe Tan are all tied for the top spot in that class winner’s shootout.
The next event on the 2024 Modern Street HEMI Shootout schedule will take place on June 22 at Cecil County Dragway, sponsored by High Horse Performance. That event will include all of the core classes, along with the Drag Pak Spec Shootout, the Stick Shift class and event-exclusive AWD classes. Click here for a closer look at the rest of the MSHS schedule for 2024.
Photo credit: watermarked Rockingham event pictures provided by Sam Cook Productions, and you can view her massive gallery of images from that event here.