Fear and Drifting in Salt Lake City |
 
|
Posted on June 14, 2010
“There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” – Hunter S. Thompson
While we are certain the above statement was not written about a car, truer words have never been applied to the Dodge Viper. As the sports car world celebrates the Viper and its Final Edition, Dodge fans at the Miller Motorsports Park were able to enjoy an experience many only dream of. With Dodge’s Thrill Rides, enthusiasts got to sit shotgun in a Snakeskin Green Viper while dancing a thousand-horsepower ballet with all of Dodge’s SRT offerings. For Gary Ullrich and the Dodge Thrill Rides Crew, tire smoke and smiles are the ultimate goal. “I have the greatest job in world,” says Ullrich who as emcee of Dodge Thrill Rides serves as a conductor to the cacophonous orchestra of screaming tires and thundering HEMIs. With 100% factory stock cars, the Thrill Ride drivers show fans the pavement-melting awesomeness of Dodge’s engineering efforts. “That’s probably the most rewarding part of the job,” Ullrich continued. “Getting someone who pulls out their Dodge or SRT8 key chain and says, ‘Hey man, I’m an owner and that’s pretty wild. I didn’t know my car could do that’.”
But despite all the skill demonstrated by the drivers—and there is plenty—the cars are the real stars. Over the course of a three-day weekend, the same four cars (a Dodge Viper, two Dodge Challengers, and a Dodge Charger) were driven for non-stop 8 hour stints, only pausing to have blown-out and shredded tires changed. To even the most experienced of gearheads, watching former NASCAR driver Sam Beam punish an unmodified car on street tires day after day is a miracle of vehicular endurance.
So next time you see the Dodge booth, stop in and buckle up. Before you know it, you’ve gone completely sideways, man.
