NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

John O’Malley finished what he started on Woodward Avenue, winning the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match championship Saturday, Oct. 31, with a 9.193-second pass at 151.14 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Boosted Motorsports builder from Tampa, Fla., defeated Adil Adams and the Orlando-based Titan Motorsports team in the final at the Mopar NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge. Adams finished with a 10.567 at 136.54 mph, giving O’Malley the season title after he also won the opening phase at Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge in Pontiac, Mich. 

Eight automotive builders began the competition with the same foundation: a 550-horsepower, twin-turbo Dodge Charger Scat Pack. By Saturday’s final, O’Malley had turned his SIXPACK-powered entry into a repeatable nine-second performer capable of topping 150 mph. 

O’Malley took control of the championship matchup immediately. His .549-second reaction time gave him a .070-second starting-line advantage over Adams’ .619, and his Charger covered the first 60 feet in 1.506 seconds against Adams’ 1.779. O’Malley reached the eighth-mile in 5.961 seconds at 121.69 mph before charging through the quarter-mile at 151.14 mph.

The final backed up his semifinal performance almost to the hundredth. After running 9.180 at 149.36 mph in the opening round, O’Malley returned with a 9.193 in the final — just .013-second slower, with a higher finish-line speed.

Adams also delivered two closely matched elimination runs, following his semifinal-winning 10.544 at 135.52 mph with a 10.567 at 136.54 mph in the final. Both were substantial improvements over his 11.344 at 133.30 mph in Friday’s time trials. 

The semifinals demonstrated how much progress the four remaining teams had made in getting their Chargers’ horsepower to the pavement. Every driver recorded a 60-foot time of less than two seconds, and O’Malley’s matchup with Johnathan Rimbo produced a pair of nine-second passes. O’Malley advanced with his 9.180 against Rimbo’s 9.918 at 135.66 mph.

On the other side of the bracket, Adams defeated Rob Dahm, whose 1.471-second 60-foot time was the quickest of the opening round. Dahm encountered trouble near the top end but still completed the quarter-mile in 12.008 seconds at 85.92 mph. 

O’Malley’s winning combination reflected the engineering freedom at the heart of the competition. His 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six uses a single HPT 7175 turbocharger in place of the factory twins, with MoTeC engine management and a separate TurboLamik controller for the eight-speed automatic transmission.

He also developed a controller for the front-drive system, allowing the Charger to launch in all-wheel drive before switching to rear-wheel drive after the first 60 feet. Saturday’s results showed how effectively that approach could combine starting-line traction with acceleration downtrack. 

The championship also earns O’Malley’s Charger a place in the Mopar display in the West Hall at the SEMA Show, Nov. 3-6, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.