How likely are you to toss over the keys of your baby to a buddy? Barring circumstances where it’s for the best, like using a designated driver because you’re three sheets to the wind or because you’re injured and not fit to drive, chances are good that there is some kind of thought process (and risk management) going on in your brain, even if all they want is to go drive for a few blocks. My wife is the only person with free-and-clear access to my cars, and there are a small handful of people that I’ll let drive my cars, like Chad, who not only got to drive Angry Grandpa, but was encouraged to lean into the long pedal a bit on a stretch of Interstate. I’ve always viewed being the “borrower” as a privileged position and have absolutely babied borrowed vehicles…not my car, not gonna be my bill to pay.
Here’s the story on what you’re going to see here, which we found courtesy of Patrick Rall at Allpar: The car is a Dodge Charger Hellcat, the track is the Nurburgring Nordschliefe on a Touristenfahrten lap setup, and the owner of the car, Paul Lobre, is the guy in the passenger seat. In the driver’s seat is a friend, Jonathan Williams. Williams is an experienced racer, former racing instructor, and has more than a few laps on the ‘Ring in cars like a Subaru WRX and a late-model Corvette ZO6. The dude knows what he’s doing, which is a second layer of insurance when you’re taking a 4,500 pound brick outhouse of a musclecar out onto the racing surface. This isn’t a record run, but don’t tell Williams that…excepting the basic courtesy rules and the one caution area they have to slow down for, he’s balls-out in the Hellcat, and at one point while ripping down Schwedenkreuz you can see the big Mopar hit 150 miles and hour before the brakes become a good idea. Lobre sums up the experience perfectly about a third of the way around the track as he tells Williams, “You’re lucky I trust the shit out of you…”
Language Warning: There’s just a bit of language here, so be careful where you play the video.
