Photos: Chrysler LLC

A total of fourteen Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak drivers showed up this past weekend at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, IN. Four days of ideal weather led to record-breaking performances on the racetrack and near-capacity crowds for the event.

Jeff Teuton, from Houma, LA, became the first-ever Mopar Drag Pak driver to take a win at the U.S. Nationals, driving in the G/Stock Automatic class. Teuton’s Mopar 5.9L Magnum V8 engine is one of three engines available for 2009 and 2010 model-year Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Paks. The other two engines are the 5.7L and 6.1L versions of the HEMI V8. Engine and transmission choices determine a Drag Pak’s NHRA classification.

“We did what we came here to do,” said Teuton. “We still have another tenth in the car,” he added. His best time in the G/SA class is 10.629 seconds, which qualified the car to run in the U.S. Nationals Stock Eliminator event on Saturday.

Cooler than normal temperatures and low humidity produced elapsed time and speed records in each of the four professional classes in qualifying. The conditions also helped fill the grandstands each day until Monday, when a few hundred empty seats were evident.

Later, in the the D/Stock Automatic class, Irvin Johns, of Charlestown, IN, won the Championship with a 10.16 second run in his Drag Pack Challenger.

First introduced for the 2009 model year, with all one hundred cars quickly sold out, Dodge continued the 2010 Challenger Drag Pak program for 2010. The non-street legal cars are sanctioned for NHRA Stock, Super Stock and Comp Eliminator drag racing.