THE LONG GOODBYE 2021 DODGE SUPER STOCK DRAG TEST

If the ICE age is ending, the long goodbye starts now.

- JOHNNY HUNKINS

The 2021 Dodge SRT Super Stock Challenger is a bucket-list car. Its 807 hp supercharged, inter-cooled 6.2-liter Hemi-like 2018 Dodge Demon's 840hp unit was deemed so powerful none of these benchmark cars were ever put into the press fleet. In most hands, it would've been the equivalent of giving a box of shotgun shells and a hammer to a 13-year-old and not expecting anything bad to happen. Then the pandemic hit, and any thoughts of promoting these uber-muscle cars through press programs or test loaners were put on ice. We're finally testing a 2021 Super Stock in 2022. That's not a typo, and we're not complaining.

In the full gallop toward Dodge's 2024 EV engineering freeze, some gracious soul in Auburn Hills thought it would be nice to stamp out one of these devils for the press fleet before pure internal combustion engines (ICE) are stamped out by the Feds. This is that car. Love it or hate it, the reality of a world without new gasoline-powered Hemi V8s is imminent. While the end of the ICE road seems far off (2035 or thereabouts), it will be here soon enough. With that background, the unscripted appearance of the Super Stock in the press fleet was a welcome reprieve.

DODGE SRT SUPER STOCK CHALLENGER: NOT A MIRAGE

Fans of Dodge's latest performance offering have spent the past couple of years figuring out if the Super Stock really exists beyond mystical appearances on the internet, and whether they could afford the payment on one. The $83K cost of entry for a base-model Super Stock (our tester topped $97K) might seem high, but considering the totality of the Super Stock's capabilities, it's a performance bargain. As the owner of an "ordinary" narrow-body 2017 Hellcat with 707 hp, I was excited to get the call, mainly because it had all the appeal of a weeklong driver's vacation. It made me seriously wonder if it was Dodge's latest attempt to get me to call my banker (again!).