When stories began swirling around about the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak model aimed at hard core drag racers, The Garage wondered how long it would be until we see a road racing version to take on the variety of competition Mustangs Ford has on offer. Today Chrysler announced that design guru Ralph Gilles will tackle the 2008 Targa Newfoundland rally in a Snake Skin Green 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8.

With a Drag Pak car being used as a base, could this be the precursor to a competition model that turns as well as it goes?

Regular readers are familiar with tarmac rallies through the writings of Gary Faules who has taken us to La Carrera Panamericana and back. Targa Newfoundland is our Canadian version, which pits competitors from around the world against each other and some of Newfoundland’s most challenging roads. There are classes for classics and modern equipment, along with overall wins and even a navigational class for those who don’t wish to compete in full attack mode.

This will be Gilles’ 3rd visit to The Rock, where he has DNF’d due to leaving the tarmac and a class win last year in the Dodge Caliber SRT4.

Read Chrysler’s full press release after the break
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This year’s CIAS began in style with the annual Chrysler media dinner, during which the 2009 Dodge Ram made it’s Canadian debut. It was pretty cool watching Chrysler’s VP of Ralph Gilles (who also happens to be Canadian) describe the process that went into developing the new Ram. Hearing that they worked with existing truck owners to learn what they want was encouraging, as is the fact that Gilles seems truly excited about the finished product. A quick glance around the interior showed lots of neat, functional features that will be appreciated here in The Garage. The truck on display was a base model, but you would never know it from the quality of materials used on the inside.
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