Images credit: Rick Tyre

Chrysler and Mopar’s glorious reemergence in the sport of drag racing with the Super Stock Hemi Shootout and the factory Drag Pak Dodge Challengers has brought a lot of nostalgic flavor into the mix of class racing and the sport as a whole.  The Drag Pak’s have provided an avenue for the return of many retired racers and long-since-forgotten car names and paint schemes that harken back to yesteryear.

Les Norton, a tough NHRA Division 7 Stock Eliminator competitor from South Jordan, UT is the latest racer to debut a Drag Pak, a brand spankin’ new ride adorned with The Rod Shop colors that were made famous in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Norton’s Salt City Dodge qualified #4 in Stock at the Division 6 LODRS in Boise, ID this weekend, with a 10.233 best against the altitude-factored 11.37 A/SA index.   In addition to the on-track performance, Norton garnered the weekends’ Best Engineered award. Like many of the Drag Pak racers have experienced while sorting out their cars, as the transmission was binding up on the gear changes.  This lap factors out to high 9.80’s at sea level, and with the transmission issues cured, it should be a real player.

Norton’s Challenger was recently completed by MR2 Performance in Lebanon, IN, which has made a name for itself producing some very trick, award-winning Stock and Super Stock cars over the years.  The HEMI motivated ride is backed by a Pro Trans with an electric shift valve body. Among the sleek features of the car is a carbon fiber side panel toolbox of sorts in the drivers side cross brace that hinges open and holds the shoe polish, dzus tool, and tire pressure gauge.  This car is a real looker, and we can’t wait to see Les duke it out at sea level with the other Drag Pak Challengers.