Dodge Hellcats Drag Mustangs Until C8 Interrupts, Appearances Can Be Deceiving

The Chevy Camaro’s fate is still uncertain – some say it may be abandoned altogether after the 2024 model year, while others claim it will join Caddy’s Escalade and ‘America’s sports car’ (Corvette) in turning into fresh sub-brands. Meanwhile, the seemingly eternal war between Mopars and Blue Ovals is going to take a forced OEM timeout.

This is because Dodge has already announced that after no less than seven ‘Last Call’ special editions and the end of 2023 model year production, the ICE-powered Challenger and Charger pony/muscle cars will be no more. Instead, they will retire in favor of those fresh nine levels of Banshee (EV) power promised alongside the electrified Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept.

Alone, the 2024 Ford Mustang will soldier on and keep the ICE banner alive with help from the S650 seventh generation. In EcoBoost and upgraded Coyote V8 form, including the 500-hp Dark Horse variety. But is that going to be enough? Nobody knows, for sure. Alas, that does not mean we cannot enjoy them all – and while we still can.

So, here are the videographers behind the Wheels and Drag Racing and Car Stuff channels on YouTube, who have a bundle of Dodge vs. Ford (vs. Chevy) races in their latest features. First, we are off to Bandimere Speedway, also known in the NHRA as Thunder Mountain, located near Morrison and Lakewood, in Colorado. There, a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye (supercharged 6.2-liter V8 good for 797 hp and 707 lb-ft/959 Nm) met a seemingly underpowered S550 Ford Mustang GT (435/460/450 hp, depending on the model year).

However, appearances can be deceiving – and in more than one way. First, because the dark and menacing Blue Oval muscle car is of the tuned variety and secondly because there was enough wheel slip galore to last us for ages. As such, both skirmishes in the first video embedded below ended up a lot less interesting than we imagined at first (the winner was in the 12s and the loser in the 14s, on both accounts).

Moving on, the second video embedded below (courtesy of D.R.A.C.S.) shows footage captured at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida, and is a lot more enticing from the get-go. There, the hero of the action is a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat that launches like a bat out of hell (pardon the pun) and shows a feisty Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 how it’s done, to the tune of 10.71s versus 11.25s ETs.

Then, ‘all of a sudden,’ a C8 Chevy Corvette interrupts and even thinks it can pose a challenge for the quick Mopar rascal. Well, you would better see for yourself if that was the case or not!