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Mopar® Puts 'Elephants' in the Room at Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show

Mopar® brought truckloads of new product to the PRI show in Orlando?including the reincarnation of its famed "elephant motor" from the 1960s, an all-aluminum HEMI® Gen III Crate Engine. Production for the new motor begins this month.

"More than any other show, PRI attracts the Mopar brand?s core customers of racers, muscle-car owners and ultra-performance enthusiasts," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO, Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC?s service, parts and customer-care brand. "We showed this core group of enthusiasts what Mopar has under the hood."

In addition to the new elephant motor, the 2011 Mopar Challenger V-10 Drag Pak, the first and only 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car on the planet, headlined the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show, Dec. 9?11 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

The new Drag Pak was joined in the Mopar Image Center by a Moparized 2010 Ram Laramie Crew 4x4 Diesel and the Mopar ?10 Challenger, the first-ever Mopar edition of a Chrysler Group LLC vehicle. The Mopar exhibit on the PRI show floor featured five other examples of Mopar steel:

• Mopar Ram Runner, Mopar?s premier pre-runner kit
• Mopar Direct Connection Test Lab Vehicle, a rolling test lab of new parts and ideas
• Dodge Viper ACR-X, a factory-built race car ready to romp
• Sox & Martin?s 1972 Pro Stock Dodge Demon, a true piece of Pro Stock history
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd?s new 1964 Dodge 330. Powered by a Mopar Gen III 426 all-aluminum HEMI crate engine, this car mixes old-school classic with new-school performance

Mopar stars, past and present, signed autographs and met fans at PRI. Mopar racing legends "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and Herb McCandless and current Mopar-powered NHRA Pro Stock stars Allen Johnson and V. Gaines participated in meet-and-greets at the Mopar booth.

"We come to PRI to see the Mopar folks and take part in activities and autograph signings in the Mopar booth, said Allen Johnson. "Everything that we use on our Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car, every one of those vendors is here at PRI. It's an awesome show."

The PRI Show also marked the debut of 10 new Mopar performance parts geared for high-performance applications: the Mopar 426 Aluminum HEMI Gen III Crate Engine, Mopar Valvetrain Tie Bars, Mopar Rear Strut Tower, Mopar Midget Race Cylinder Head, Mopar W2 Heads, Mopar Gen III Distributor Kit, Mopar Aluminum Engine Blocks, Mopar Cylinder Head Stud Kit, Mopar Cold-Air Intake and Mopar Cold-Air Intake ? Long Ram Performance Version.

For complete information on all the Mopar parts and vehicles on display at the PRI Show, visit Mopar?s PRI information page at http://www.mopar.com. For additional coverage, visit Mopar?s social media links at http://www.facebook.com/moparcaptured, http://www.flickr.com/photos/moparcaptured/, http://www.twitter.com/moparcaptured or http://www.youtube.com/user/moparcaptured.

Dodge Viper Cup Series Returns in 2011

Following a successful first season of intense on-track competition, Dodge Motorsports has announced the official schedule for the return of the Dodge Viper Cup series in 2011. Beginning May 13?15, at the famed 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla., the 10-race series schedule promises more intense and competitive road racing at five different road courses across the country.

"The first season of Dodge Viper Cup series was simply awesome and a great learning experience," said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO ? Dodge Car Brand. "We?re going to keep building on that momentum in 2011 with an expanded contingency program, a reduction in entry fees and the continuation of our successful celebrity driver and charity payout programs to once again generate lots of serious excitement for all Viper enthusiasts."

Two races per weekend for five weekends will make up the 10-race 2011 Dodge Viper Cup series schedule, which in addition to the Sebring stop includes June 10?12 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, N.J.; July 8?10 at Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Va.; Sept. 2?4 at Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas; and Oct. 21?23 at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, Fla.

The series contingency program sponsored by Dodge Motorsports and Mopar has been revamped for 2011 to expand the number of payouts to the top-10 drivers. Drivers from each race will earn payouts in cash and Mopar vouchers awarded as credit toward the purchase of Mopar parts and accessories. The 2011 Dodge Viper Cup series champion will win an additional $10,000 cash award. Dodge Motorsports also is reducing entry fees for series competitors by 43 percent from $1,400 to $800 per race in 2011. Celebrity drivers also will be back competing in the Dodge Viper Cup series in 2011. In 2010, Dodge Motorsports donated close to $50,000 to various charities as part of the program, which included Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock star Allen Johnson as a guest driver.

Dodge Viper Cup competitors do battle in the Dodge Viper ACR-X, which combines the best performance attributes of the record-setting, street-legal Dodge Viper American Club Racer (ACR) and the safety equipment of the championship-winning Dodge Viper Competition Coupe. Dodge Motorsports continues to market and sell the nonstreet legal 2010 Dodge Viper ACR-X. For more information call Viper Race Headquarters at (888) 960-3333 or visit http://www.viperheadquarters.com.

2011 Mopar National Midget Schedule Opens at Dodge City

Dodge City (Kansas) Raceway Park serves as the opening venue for USAC?s 2011 Mopar National Midget Championship campaign, which contains 27 preliminary dates spanning the country. The April 29?30 races at Dodge City mark USAC?s first National events at the 3/8-mile banked clay oval.

Once again, the series is scheduled to conclude with the 71st "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Irwindale, Calif. on Thanksgiving Night, November 24. "Indiana Midget Week," as always, is a highlight of the schedule, with five races from June 8?12 at Hoosier dirt venues.

The Milwaukee Mile returns to the schedule June 17?18 as the USAC Silver Crown cars and Mopar .25 Midgets share the billing in an event held in concert with IndyCar. The "Night Before the 500" is scheduled May 28 at O?Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis; the "4-Crown Nationals" is set for Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio September 24.

New events include a July 23 date at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in conjunction with the Silver Crown cars, a 100-lapper at the Indianapolis Speedrome July 29 and a date at the LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway September 2.

Mopar first signed on as title sponsor of the USAC Mopar National Midget Championship in 2008 and saw the popular circle track racing series visit 22 different venues in 2010, both dirt and pavement tracks, and hit nine states. For more information on the 2011 Mopar National Midget Championship, visit http://www.usacracing.com.