2009 NMCA LX Shootout - Heavy-Metal Shootout

If you were to poll any sized group of people about Mopar's LX platform cars, you could just about guarantee a 50/50 split of love it/hate it. Some complain that the cars are too heavy or have too many doors, and yet others simply love them. Well, one weekend in June, the NMCA decided to get as many of these late model, Hemi cars together as they could, and let them go at it. When the guys at www.lxforums.com found out about the shootout, it was easy to find enough people to make the LX Shootout an event in itself.

There were cars that showed up that get driven every day and came to have fun, and others that get driven every day and run some unbelievable quarter-mile times.

Since there were so many LX platform cars to choose from when we got to the event, we had to narrow it down to just a few. We chose a diverse group of cars that represent a myriad of capabilities these cars possess, and if you see one of these "so-called" heavy-metal monsters pull up beside you at a red light, you may want to think twice about a challenge.

Rick, who spends his daytime working with Uncle Sam, brought his 6.1-powered, automatic shifted Challenger out to play. Even though the car had less than 1,000 miles on it, he made sure to run it as best-and hard-as he could. The list of modifications on Rick's car, starts with Arrington CNC ported heads, and a camshaft with lifts of .586/.593 and duration numbers at .050 of .225/.228. To further help it breathe, a 90mm throttle body, ported intake, and Kook's headers were added. Although his qualifying rounds looked promising, a foul start in the first round kept him from continuing on.

Driving to the event to race, Dan really impressed a lot of people with his Charger. Being one of the more modified vehicles, he entered in the Head's Up class. To get his car to run the number, Dan relies on parts like a stroked 6.1, displacing 426 inches, Getting to that displacement is done with K1 4.080-inch crankshaft and 6.125-inch rods with Wiseco pistons mounted to them, altogether, the compression ratio comes in at around 11.0:1. The camshaft is a proprietary grind by Power Ported Performance, so no specs are available. The heads were CNC ported by PPP, and feature 2.10 and 1.60-inch valves. Finishing the engine is a 90 mm throttle body, Kooks headers, and a shot of nitrous. If you're going to make power, you need heavy-duty parts, and that's really evident at the rear. Dan uses Axles made by the Driveshaft Shop that are rated to withstand 1,000 horsepower.

Dave's Maggie may have over 93,000 miles on it, but it's far from being tired. The Hemi was opened up to 372 inches by virtue of an overbore during a rebuild. While he was rebuilding, he added a Frank Racing camshaft with .556/.547-inches of lift, and .218/.212 degrees of duration at .050 inch. He also had the heads ported by Franks Racing. Other than the Kook's headers, that's about all there is to this impressive ride's engine. The transmission is stock, but features a Pro Torque 2,800 converter. Dave's combination helped him get through three rounds of competition before having to bow out after the Semi final round.

Chris Janczy has owned his Charger since it was new, and from the beginning, the mods began. He started with an exhaust upgrade, and has done some serious work to it since then in order to run the reliable times it does. He started with a stock rotating assembly, and added a Frank Racing cam with .568/.570-inch lift and .215/.219-degrees of duration at .050. The heads are ported by Franks Racing, and have JBA Shorty headers attached to them. We know that the time Chris' car runs doesn't sound possible with limited mods, but the addition of a ZEX nitrous kit helps get it there. The stock transmission features a 3,000 stall converter by Edge, and like some of our other participants, Chris also uses aftermarket axles by the Driveshaft Shop.

Although Chris only hit the low 10's during the shootout, he tells us he has run a best of 9.85 at139 m.p.h. To run like that, Chris opened the engine to 392 inches using a 4.055 inch bore, a 3.79 inch stroke Scat crankshaft, and 6.20 inch Eagle rods. The pistons are Ross units that squeeze to a 9.0:1 compression. The camshaft is an HHP/BES special grind with .547/.570 inch lift and .224/.230 degrees duration at .050 inch. The heads and intake are stock, but have been ported and polished by Franks Racing. If you're going to make power, a supercharger will definitely do it, and Novi 1500, and homemade Nitrous set up definitely do. Finally, the exhaust exits though Kook's headers. Behind that, is a transmission built by Southern Hotrod of Kenner, Louisiana, and it features a 2,800 r.p.m. Pro Torque converter. Out back, Chris uses DSS 1,000 horsepower rated axles and a 3.08 gear set.

Having the most stock combination in our group, David had no problem mixing it up with the other competitors. Other than the addition of a homemade cold air kit, a Frank Racing camshaft, SRT 6.1 headers, and a Predator tune, David's car is just as good as it was 93,000 miles ago when it was new.