Bucky Hess to Start from Top Spot in Quest for Coveted Mopar HEMI® Challenge Trophy

• Bucky Hess claims No. 1 qualifying position in 16th annual #mopar HEMI® Challenge
• Defending #mopar HEMI Challenge champion Wofford qualifies No. 7
• Erica Enders debuts #mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak at U.S. Nationals

September 1, 2016 , Indianapolis, Indiana - The 62nd annual U.S. Nationals are well underway and #nhra Sportsman competition is in full swing. One of the highlights of the #event is the #mopar HEMI® Challenge, a race within a race that pits Mopar-powered Super Stock/Automatic-HEMI (SS/AH) Sportsman class competitors in head-to-head battle. Qualifying for the premier #mopar sportsman race has concluded, and long-time #mopar campaigner Bucky Hess has earned the coveted No. 1 position.
 
Hess, driving his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda painted with the striking and notorious King Cuda scheme, wheeled his way to a best time of 8.459-second to secure the top qualifying position. He will square off with Jim Keyes and his Barracuda in the first round of the competition scheduled to take place on Friday morning at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
 
Last season's #mopar HEMI Challenge winner, Lloyd Wofford, earned the No. 7 qualifying position and will race Matt Welker in round one.
 
An assortment of 1968 HEMI-powered Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda entries, considered the classic #mopar package cars, were vying for position before contending for the $15,000 winner's prize. Along with the cash prize and bragging rights will come a specially designed HEMI Challenge trophy that weighs a whopping 42.6lbs. All entrants will receive special #mopar HEMI Challenge decals, hats and posters, and a numbered print by lauded drag #racing artist John Jodauga.
 
In the world of modern era #mopar package cars, all eyes were on a new entry in the Stock Eliminator category.
 
For the first time in her career, two-time and reigning #nhra Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders was behind the wheel of a sleek #mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak vehicle in the School of #auto Machinists & Technology Factory Stock Showdown at Indy. Enders wheeled a supercharged 354-cubic-inch Gen III HEMI engine-powered #mopar Dodge Drag Pak prepped by the Joe Welch #racing organization and outfitted in official Dodge and #mopar graphics. Enders made one solid qualifying pass but tune-up gremlins cut her weekend short.