Jeff Teuton of Houma, La., driving a Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak powered by a Mopar 5.9L Magnum V8 engine, took the win in G/Stock Automatic class eliminations on Saturday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. He becomes the first-ever Mopar Drag Pak driver to win at the U.S. Nationals.

  “We did what we came here to do,” said Teuton, who is one of fourteen Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak drivers at the event. “We still have another tenth in the car,” he added, referring to the potential tenth of a second he hoped to trim from his time in the quarter mile this weekend. His best time so far in the G/SA class is 10.629 seconds, which qualified the car to run in the U.S. Nationals Stock Eliminator event.

But Teuton wasn't the only Mopar driver piloting an LX-Body Mopar Challenger Drag Pak to Victory Lane at Indy. Irvin Johns, from Charlestown Indiana, recorded a 10.16 second ET to win the D/Stock Automatic championship later in the day.  He won for the fourth time in major NHRA events over the last two seasons, though his string of four top qualifying times in Stock Eliminator was broken when he was second-best with a time of 10.087 seconds.

Johns and Teuton, as well as two other New Challenger drivers (Randy Warford of Nashville, Indiana and Doug Duell of Newburgh, indiana--who both raced in A/Stock Automatic) later competed in Stock Eliminator, a competition that combines all stock classes in a handicap event for the overall stock championship. Unfortunately, Johns lost in Round 1, while the three other LX-Body Challengers all went out in Stock Eliminator's second round. (Drag racing legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits was also running his A/SA Mopar Challenger Drag Pak at Indy, but he failed to qualify for  Stock Eliminator.)

Teuton’s Mopar 5.9L Magnum V8 engine is one of three engine options made 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 Gen III Mopar HEMI® V8. Automatic and manual transmissions are also options. Engine and transmission choices determine a Drag Pak’s NHRA classification.

The Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak is based on the 2009 and the 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8, and finished in a Stock Eliminator configuration. Mopar engineers eliminated certain production components and systems to reduce vehicle weight by approximately 1,000 pounds. To accentuate weight savings, the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak features unique drag-race components including composite lift-off hood with functional scoop, Dodge Viper-style front seats, polycarbonate door windows, a light-weight cooling module with electric fan, manual rack-and-pinion steering, a special cable-operated deck-lid release, special light-weight front-brake assemblies and special cable-operated throttle linkage and pedal assembly.

(Info & images courtesy Mopar)