Tom Filbert
'98 Dodge DakotaHailing from Marysville, Ohio, Tom Filbert brought his '98 Dakota to the Nats this year and entered our contest in the normally aspirated class. Tom built the 360 Magnum engine in his Dakota himself, adding a Hughes .544 lift camshaft, Mopar Performance M1 intake manifold, ported 52mm throttle body, and Firecore 50 spark plug wires. Edelbrock shorty headers help expel the gasses and power is transferred to the 3.92-geared Sure Grip differential through a manual transmissionfeaturing a cool B-Body Pistol Grip shifter. Tom loves Dakotas because they are goodlooking and inexpensive to build, claiming a best 1/4 mile time of 14.3 seconds at nearly 100 mph. On the dyno, Tom's small-block cranked out 281 horsepower on the Dyno Tune USA chassis dyno.
Tom Filbert: Spectators at the Mopar Nationals could not only see and hear these vehicles run on the dyno, we also had a computer screen set up so they could see the power each Mopar made in real time. Tom Filbert's '98 Dakota is powered by a mild 360, making 281 horsepower at the rear wheels.
Jon Brooks
'08 Dodge Super BeeJon Brooks didn't have to make much of a road trip to the Mopar Nationals as he hails from nearby Zanesville, Ohio, but we're sure the trip was fun in his B-5 Blue '08 Dodge Charger Super Bee. As a retired math teacher, Jon knows firsthand that numbers don't lie, and enjoys running his car on the street, strip, and chassis dyno. Jon's Super Bee has the factory 6.1 Hemi in it, but has an AirAid cold air kit and scoop, along with a Diablosport tuner calibrated for 93 octane unleaded gasoline. Jon's back-to-back dyno pulls in our normally aspirated class were almost identical, netting a best horsepower of 381 at the rear tires. With a smooth idle, cold air-conditioning, and plenty of conveniences, Jon tells us it's hard to compete with late-model Mopars in terms of power, reliability, and comfort.
Jon Brooks: Jon brooks' '08 Dodge Super bee made 381 rear-wheel horsepower, proving that late-model Hemi powered Mopars not only look good but make respectable power as well. Say what you want about the new Charger, but there were big-block Mopars in our contest that wish they posted these kind of numbers.
Jason Thompson
'02 Dodge Dakota R/TRunning in our power adder class, Jason Thompson from Jacksonville, North Carolina, brought his '02 Dakota R/T to the showdown with the intent of posting some big numbers. Also running on the track at the Nats, Jason's low-eleven second Dakota features a 408-inch Magnum small-block with Indy X-heads, Ross forged pistons, a Hughes roller cam, and a Scat forged crankshaft. Giving this 9.3:1 compression small-block a big boost is a Paxton Novi 2000 centrifugal supercharger feeding air through an F & B 58mm throttle body. During our contest, Jason's Dakota made a stout 540 horsepower at the rear wheels, impressing the crowd on the midway and making a good showing for Mopar small-block enthusiasts.
Jason Thompson: As an active-duty member of the United States Marine Corps, we'd like to thank Jason Thompson for serving our country, and also for bringing his powerful Dakota r/T to our dyno competition. At 540 rear-wheel horsepower this great looking Dakota runs as good as it looks, and was one of the most powerful entrants in our contest.
Keith Brunn
'70 Plymouth SatelliteKeith Brunn made the trip to the Mopar Nationals from Cloverdale, Virginia, to compete in our normally aspirated class, and works as a steel fabricator, explaining the arrow straight panels on his '70 Satellite. The 440 in Keith's B-Body is bored .030- inch over, with Eagle H-beam connecting rods, a factory forged crankshaft, and Diamond forged pistons for a compression ratio of 10.2:1. With a Comp Cams .510-inch lift hydraulic camshaft, roller rocker arms, and mildly ported 906 casting cylinder heads, Keith's big-block is topped with an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and 750 cfm Demonfour-barrel carburetor. Power is transferred to the wheels through a 727 transmission with an ATI 3,500 rpm converter, and 3.91 geared Sure Grip 83.4 rear. On the dyno this
combination made 332 horsepower at the rear wheels, representing big-blocks well.
Keith Brunn: with a mild cam and pump gas-friendly compression, this bigblock is representative of many 440s found in street driven Mopars. keith's Satellite is also a super-clean Mopar b-body, and we heard plenty of comments on how good it looks throughout the weekend.
Patrick Friel
'04 Dodge Ram 2500Entering the only diesel powered Mopar in the showdown, was University of Cincinnati student Patrick Friel. He may not have made the most horsepower, but impressed everyone in attendance with giant torque numbers. Patrick's '04 5.9 liter Cummins is basically stock with the exception of a straight through exhaust, a Diablosport tuner, and the injectors have been changed to improve power. With a factory turbocharger installed this Dodge ran in the power adder class, making 370 horsepower and an impressive 824 lb-ft of torque. For next year's contest we're considering a diesel only class, which will be judged by torque rather than horsepower, so plan on bringing your trucks to the 2013 Mopar Nationals. We're sure Patrick will want to come back and compete in next year's truck class, perhaps with a few more modifications to his Ram.
Patrick Friel: The only modifications to patrick Friel's 5.9 liter Cummins are injectors, a Diablosport tune, and straight through exhaust. Making 370 horsepower and well over 800 lb/ft of torque, this Dodge made a great showing as the only diesel powered vehicle in our contest.