We Love The “Hate Tank” Road Runner! Long, Low, Black, And Keeping The Underhood A Secret!


We Love The “Hate Tank” Road Runner! Long, Low, Black, And Keeping The Underhood A Secret!

Dan Belcher’s 1969 Plymouth Road Runner is one of the meanest mothers we’ve seen in small tire and no-prep racing. The Plymouth looks absolutely monstrous next to a field of Camaros, Mustangs, and other small, lightweight machinery that would make sense for the strip. It’s almost beyond belief seeing the big B-body squaring off against a Fox body and promptly putting said Fox onto the trailer, but that’s exactly what the Beeper, known as the “Hate Tank”, does…and does well. Not to be evil about it, but imagine an aircraft carrier that accelerates like one of the jets on the catapult chasing you down…that’s what it looks like!

There’s lots to like about the Runner, but there’s two things we really dig. One is that this is a car with a personality that matches it’s name. In these outlaw-style classes, cars and drivers tend to acquire nicknames, and the Plymouth, rolling up like some ex-government machine turned bad, suitably lives up to the name. The other is that under no circumstances will Belcher or any member of the crew divulge what’s going on under that hood. It’s obvious that turbochargers are part of the program, but after that…leave ’em guessing!


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6 thoughts on “We Love The “Hate Tank” Road Runner! Long, Low, Black, And Keeping The Underhood A Secret!

  1. Andy

    YEP!!! LOVE this thing!!
    Got to see them run on Saturday at Empire drags in Leicester NY!
    Unfortunately they were paired up against Boost12 first round, had the setup on KILL and completely blew the tires off!!! It was NUTS!!!

    But a buddy watched the show on Friday night and said these guys were kicking ASS & had a ball watching them.

  2. Ron G

    Yeah, my guess is some sort of GM ‘style’ motor. If it was a Mopar engine, why keep it a secret? But, then again…….

    1. Mopar Guy

      I never told anyone what I was running in any of my Mopars even though I always ran a big block. I told them it was a stock slant six if I said anything at all..

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