Stellantis Media Site Mopar Sportsman Racer Barton Wins Factory Stock Showdown at NHRA Carolina Nationals                                                Contact:                                                             Tom                          Blattler                                                                                                                                                                                   Mopar Sportsman Racer Barton Wins Factory Stock Showdown at NHRA Carolina Nationals                                              Sportsman racer Barton wins Factory Stock Showdown held during the Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway    Barton’s winning 2010 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak debuted third generation 426 HEMI® engine at Indianapolis    Barton defeats Dave Connolly in FS/AC runoff to advance to final against Bo Butner    Barton wins Factory Stock Championship title with an eight-second run, fastest recorded pass by a V8 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak                                                                                                                                                           September 14, 2013,                                                                                                                      Concord, N.C.                                                       -                                               Mopar Sportsman racer David Barton put his 2010 Dodge Challenger with the brand new Gen III 426 HEMI® engine into the winner’s circle with the victory in the Factory Stock Showdown, a modern-day muscle car shootout, at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway this weekend.Barton, son of legendary HEMI engine builder Ray Barton, debuted the third generation 426 race HEMI at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis two weeks ago. In Charlotte, for just its second appearance, the Mopar defeated adversary Dave Connolly, who was at the wheel of Victor Cagnazzi’s COPO Camaro, in the FS/AC runoff for the class win. While Connolly (9.206 sec / 144.78 mph) had the advantage off the start with a 0.040-second reaction time to 0.108, Barton chased him down then passed him with a 9.019 second (146.15 mph) elapsed time run for the decisive victory.As the class victor, Barton then advanced to take on the winner of the FS/DC class Bo Butner, who was aboard a 2013 Ford Mustang, in a handicap start for the overall Factory Stock Showdown championship. Butner red-lighted his start giving the 2010 Dodge Challenger (8.999 sec/ 147.29 mph) the win and the Gen III 426 HEMI engine a first overall Factory Stock championship and trophy. Most notable about Barton’s run was that it produced the first eight second pass by a V8 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. He later improved on that time in Stock eliminations with an 8.90-second pass.“The new Gen III 426 HEMI has been really great to us,” Barton said. “We realized early even on paper that this was going to be a great combination, but to actually piece it all together and make something of it is a different story. Mopar was quick in getting us the parts we needed. We did the best we could to get it done with the tools and time we had and here we are in the winner’s circle with an 8-second run and a Wally.”The Factory Stock Showdown is a competition showcasing the Dodge Mopar Challenger Drag Pak, Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, and Chevrolet COPO Camaro factory-built race cars with “heads-up” racing. In order to provide a level playing field, entries are split into two classes, designated as FS/AC for naturally aspirated engines and FS/DC for supercharged entries. Entrants then race in a heads-up, no-breakout format until a finalists in each class is crowned. The winners of each class then return for a final showdown using a handicap start (three-tenths staggered) to determine the overall Factory Stock Champion.The showdown debuted in 2012 at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis to rave reviews despite a limited entry field and was expanded to three races for the 2013 NHRA season to include the Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J., a return to Indianapolis, and this weekend’s Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, N.C.“It’s like it was 50 years ago,” Barton said. “They’re bringing out the factory stock hot rod and it’s basically who has the fast stuff between Chrysler, Ford and Chevrolet. It’s just a big battle. This is a way for them to run head to head, have fun, the best stuff wins and get back to the true spirit of drag racing.”About Mopar MotorsportsMopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2013, Mopar looks to defend its two NHRA 2012 World Championship titles in Pro Stock and Funny Car categories, and celebrates 25 consecutive years as title sponsor of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Colorado. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honor its roots by being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar Sportsman Cup.Mopar BrandMopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the industrial alliance between Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A., Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories that are distributed in more than 130 markets. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group brands as well as Fiat brands.Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com. Mopar-first FeaturesMopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:    Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with customers    Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format. First to offer complete vehicle-information kits in Spanish    Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot    Wireless charging: first to introduce in-vehicle wireless charging for portable devices    Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters    wiAdvisor: first to provide factory-connected tablet technology in the service lane for instant vehicle diagnosis    wiTech: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network    2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car More than 75 Years of MoparMopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked for antifreeze product in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – the muscle-car era. The former Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use. The brand has expanded to include technical service and customer support.