July 2012
Since 2010, Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has hosted ChallengerFest, a weekend of drag racing and car shows for folks who own Dodge Challengers. Mopar (a term that refers to vehicles under the Chrysler umbrella, such as Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth) enthusiasts from throughout North America come to this event to see some of the sharpest and fastest vehicles Chrysler manufactures.
Dr. Tom Bunnow, F378955, of Bryson City, North Carolina, is among the hundreds of Challenger fanatics who have made the trip to this southwestern city of the Bluegrass State, which, ironically, is home to General Motors’ Corvette assembly plant and the National Corvette Museum. Tom owns a Plum Crazy Purple 2010 Challenger SRT8 that he races at these and other events. Initially he raced it stock, but this past year he had some engine work done and the car is now producing 566 horsepower at the rear wheels, which has translated into speeds of up to 120 mph in the quarter-mile. He believes the addition of drag slicks will enable the car to go even faster.
While the Challenger provides Tom with his on-track thrills, the job of getting him and his car to and from events such as the ChallengerFest is left to his 41-foot 2005 Fleetwood Revolution. However, during the 2011 event, the motorhome was given a moment in the spotlight as Tom convinced event organizers and the track owners to allow a one-time motorhome drag race following the day’s races.
Tom challenged his pastor’s stepfather, Jerry Shust, who owns a 30-foot Fleetwood Flair, to an on-track duel, which was accepted. The motorhomes were staged, and as the Christmas tree lights flashed from yellow to green, the motorhomes launched from the line. Well, a more accurate description would be that they pulled away from the start, slowly gaining momentum down the quarter-mile track. Compared to the Challengers that sped down the track all day, the larger RVs appeared to be moving in slow motion. When asked about the difference between racing a high-performance car and a motorhome, Tom joked, “There was almost enough time during the RV race for me to run back to the galley and cook up a burger, get a cold drink out of the fridge, and maybe even take a short nap.”
However, what the race lacked in speed, it more than made up for in competitiveness. The motorhomes raced cap to cap all the way down the quarter-mile track, with neither able to gain an advantage. When the vehicles crossed the finish line and the elapsed time and speed were displayed on the scoring pylon, it was revealed that Tom’s Revolution nipped the Flair by 0.001-second (23.379 seconds to 23.380 seconds), the closest race of the weekend. Neither motorhome was able to break the 60-mph barrier, with the Revolution clocking a top speed of 57.54 mph and the Flair crossing the line at 57.23 mph.
The race was a lot of fun for both the participants and spectators, as cameras snapped off shots and recorded video of the race. If you would like to witness this slow but exciting race yourself, it can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-49tSe_XqvU.
Tom will continue to race his Challenger at least for the next year or so before he and his wife, Jennifer, ship out to Papua, New Guinea, to serve as missionary doctors with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Although he will likely make passes in his Challenger that exceed 120 mph in the coming months, he will never forget the time he posted a winning speed in a motorhome that wouldn’t even get him a ticket on the highway.