From the second that the Hellcats were unveiled, Dodge was rather quick to remind us that they play in a different arena than the Viper did. And, naturally, most people don’t bother with that request. Why should they? The Viper has been Mopar’s King of the Hill since the concept debuted in the late 1980s, and even in the current, slow-selling form, is still a very formidable car, one that has a “suffer no fools” reputation. The Hellcat, on the other hand, was FCA telling the world to go sit in the corner, with a power figure that used to be in the realm of race-only machinery, an end-of-the-world soundtrack, and a haze of tire smoke wherever it shall go. Supercar versus overkill muscle car, Viper versus Hellcat. It had to be done.

This footage, brought to you by Bay Area Racing, is a Shift S3ctor half-mile race. We know that the Hellcat has bolt-ons (though we don’t really know just how many bolt ons it has) while the Viper ACR is stock, minus it’s rear wing. Stacked deck? Take your pick…heavier but more potent Challenger, or lighter Viper?