There was no shortage of incredible machines and even more incredible performances at Hot Rod’s Drag Week this year, and to pick out the single most impressive vehicle to hit the road for drag racing’s most grueling challenge would be virtually impossible. But if we had to name one that’s certainly in the running, without a doubt, it would have to be Dom Vallejos’ twin-turbo Dodge SRT-10 pickup.
Vallejos, unfortunately, fell victim to mechanical woes that ended his week on the road before it ever began, but not before he captured the attention of everyone on the opening days of Drag Week at the Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.
As Vallejos’ team shared with the crew at 1320Video, the Dodge pickup sports an original 540 cubic-inch Dodge Viper V-10 powerplant with aftermarket JM Striker cylinder heads and Garrett twin GTX-88 turbochargers. That combination produces enough horsepower to motivate the all-steel Ram to seven-second elapsed times at over 180 mph, and hang the hoops off the startling line like nobody’s business. On the test-and-tune night that preceded the Drag Week opener, Vallejos went a 7.973 at 183.07 mph (the first ‘seven’ the truck has recorded) on a run that was anything but nice, smooth, and straight. He recorded just a 9.00 on Day 1 and then bowed out of competition in the Pro Street Power Adder category.
The truck is, according to the team, the quickest street legal SRT-10 pickup in the world by a bunch — as in a couple of seconds.
But the best part of this truck, in our opinion? The sweet, sweet sound of that turbocharged V-10 at full song!