Westcott Jr. Wins Fourth Consecutive HEMI® Challenge Event at Indy
The 2008 Mopar® HEMI® Challenge Race Series dominance of Charlie Westcott Jr. and his 1968 War Fish Barracuda continued at the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on Aug. 27 – Sept. 1 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Westcott, the current Mopar HEMI Challenge points leader, won his fourth consecutive HEMI Challenge event and notched his third victory in the last four years at the U.S. Nationals.
Westcott, a Parma, Mich., native, captured the pole with an 8.63 ET (his father, Charlie Westcott Sr., qualified second). Westcott then defeated Al Smyth, Don Bales, and John Rains before defeating the King Kuda II Barracuda driven by Bucky Hess. The Mopar HEMI Challenge features HEMI-powered 1968 Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Darts in head-to-head battle in NHRA Super Stock/A-HEMI (SS/AH) divisional competition.
"This car is for sale but the price just went up," said Westcott, as quoted from nhra.com. Westcott also banked a $10,000 bonus from Mopar for the event win. "I had the field covered today but that doesn't always guarantee a victory. You can't win if you don't have a fast car, but you can lose even if you've got the quickest car so I had to do my job as a driver. I think the final round was right about where I wanted to be. Other than having my dad in the final we did just what we wanted to do this weekend."
"This year's Mopar HEMI Challenge at Indy yielded a record number of competitors as there was 28 SS/AH entries from all over the country taking part at this prestigious event," said David Hakim, Mopar Brand Licensing Manager, Marketing & Strategy. "Our Mopar HEMI Challenge Grand Marshal was legendary Mopar Super Stock racer ‘Akron' Arlen Vanke who won the U.S. Nationals in '68. We even had his original class winning HEMI Barracuda on-hand in which Arlen got to go for one more ride down the famous IRP return road."
A pair of Mopar-powered sportsman racers also had strong weekends at Indy. Mark Nowicki scored a runner-up finish in the Super Stock class driving a 1998 Avenger in GT/GA, while David Buckner took runner-up in Stock competition behind the wheel of his 1972 Duster in E/SA.
The next stop for the 2008 Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series is the JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTS nationals in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 19 – 21. For complete updates on all 2008 Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series action, visit http://www.moparspeed.com.
