Ever since I first heard a Chevrolet 327 cross the 8,000 RPM threshold as a kid, I’ve been in love with high-revving V8s. I’ve always equated the blunt power of a good mill with violence, but once you get into serious revs you get an amazing soundtrack to go along with it. And I’m not talking the shift-at-6K kind of revs…I’m talking 7,500…8,000…the sky is the limit. Normally, that’ll last for a second or two before either you wind up in valve float territory or experience the joy that is involved with the phrase “catastrophic engine failure”. But some engines are designed to remain in the upper end properly…

NASCAR engines, for example. Say what you will about the racing, the cars, the drivers or the constant barrage of sponsorship advertising, but the V8 that’s plonked into a typical Cup car is just what the doctor ordered some days. In my world, all I need to know is one code: R5P7. That’s the NASCAR Dodge motor, a howler that we’ve heard in applications that range from Australian burnout cars to street cars with the proper amount of work. Joel Skogland’s 1969 Dodge Dart is the body that holds the screaming beast…built as a tribute to a 1968 Hurst car, Skoglund’s car was probably one of, if not the best sounding car at Drag Week 2019. It’s deep in the nine-second range and sounds properly furious on each pass!