Dodge and Don Schumacher Racing Unveil New Hellcat Charger Funny Car Body

Dodge’s venerable Hellcat lineup just reached a whole new level of FAST! Working in conjunction with Mopar, Don Schumacher Racing has been working to revamp their Dodge Charger Funny Car body to be more competitive in the fastest class in professional drag racing.

At first glance, the changes in the new Hellcat-inspired body may not be obvious, but DSR gave us a sneak preview about a month ago at their expansive headquarters in Brownsburg, IN and when you place the two bodies side by side, the changes are much easier to see.

One of the most notable changes, at least in terms of visibility, is in the nose, where you’ll find the addition of a front splitter along the lower lip that will help tremendously with downforce on the nose of the car. The splitter itself is built to mimic that of the production Hellcat Charger and will be made of carbon kevlar composite to ensure strength and durability while remaining as lightweight as possible.

The new body also features deeper bodyside scallops that serve to tie the car visually to the production version of the car, as well as combat the trademark “body burn” seen on the side of all Funny Cars. Pushing the sides deeper will move the body away from the searing hot exhaust, helping preserve the body itself and the wrap graphics.

Finally, the burst panel has been relocated to help dissipate energy in the event of an engine explosion. We’ve all seen how these bodies can disintegrate in an instant when there is an explosion, so the goal with the burst panel is to absorb as much of that energy as possible and contain the damage to a small, replaceable section of the body instead of the whole body being destroyed.

You can see the visual cues in the graphics call upon the production Hellcat Charger, tying the 330+ MPH-capable Funny Car to the 700+ horsepower production version of itself. The body will debut this weekend on Matt Hagan’s Mopar Express Lane Funny Car, and DSR teammates Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr. will all transition to it over the next few races.