The videographer behind the aptly-named Wheels channel on YouTube is a big fan of (in)famous The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as well as Mission Raceway Park in Canada. He's also into Mopar muscle cars and 'Vette sports cars, as it turns out.
Dodge and Chevrolet have long been opponents across North America – mostly in terms of sales and performance, but now also of ideology. At the behest of Stellantis, Dodge has forsaken its Hemi V8 ways of old and now wants to live an EV lifestyle or make the 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six twin-turbo mill popular instead.
So, the latest Charger – the eighth by its name – will not only go back to its classic two-door fastback coupe form alongside the novel four-door sedan but also has Daytona all-electric versions and Sixpack Hurricane models. Meanwhile, the Challenger is biting the dust all over again after it was previously sent into retirement also in 1974 and 1983.
Over at Team Chevrolet, on the other hand, things cannot be more ICE-powered. They don't seem to have any intention to bring out an all-electric Corvette on the market anytime soon. Instead, following the up-to-495 hp Stingray, the record-breaking 670-hp FPC Corvette Z06, and the inaugural electrified and AWD 655-hp E-Ray, they are apparently ready for another first – the inaugural Corvette with turbos, as per the latest teaser for the C8 Corvette ZR1.
However, over at the local quarter-mile dragstrips, the bread and butter when it comes to Mopar rides and C8 Corvettes is represented by the L-bodied Challenger and Charger, as well as the Stingray. But there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have an eloquent example – this videographer has recently set up a compilation focusing on The Strip as well as a lone race from MRP and featuring Dodges and Stingrays in abundance.
The first skirmish is between a crimson C8 Corvette and a Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 392, as evidenced by the proud bee decals on the side. Those seem to have brought good fortune for the Mopar driver because the C8 rival was slower than a snail off the line! However, that was all a ruse because, in the end, the Chevy dropped an 11.55s ET on its opponent's 12.34s pass.
The second one is an excerpt from Mission, British Columbia, Canada – where Mission Raceway Park is better known as 'Thunder by the River' and features a blue and black-striped Dodge Charger 392 (with gold wheels!) going up against an all-black Stingray. On this occasion, they start and finish together, but the difference between the 11.99s and 12.89s is still in Chevy's favor.
Back to The Strip for the final three skirmishes, another black C8 races a gray Challenger to show it who's boss, a blue and black Stingray dukes it out with a different gray Challenger 392 (with black stripes), and then the first Corvette is back for one last hurrah against a dark and menacing black Charger – and all three battles resulted in absolute Mopar annihilation.
Obviously, as far as Stellantis is concerned, they did the right thing retiring the Hemi V8 from production – maybe they'll be able to avoid the shame of losing so many battles at the local quarter-mile dragstrip when the 550-hp Sixpacks start facing off with the C8 Corvettes in the near future. Or is that merely wishful thinking?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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