Words and photos by Jeff Burk

The last time Don Garlits drove anything in competition
that didn’t use  a supercharged Hemi for power was
1963 when he drove a White Challenger with a 426ci
Mopar wedge motor under the hood with a  cross ram
intake, topped with a couple of carbs.

Since then Garlits went on to be named the greatest
NHRA driver of all time mostly on the strength of his
record behind the wheel of a front- or rear-motored
Top Fuel dragster.

Forty years after competing in the  ‘63 season with his Dodge “Max Wedge” doorslammer, Garlits retired from the business of driving  a race car immediately after the 2003 U.S. Nationals  when he parked his latest nitro-burning  “Swamp Rat.”

Fast forward to the fall of 2009 and yet another Gartlits-driven “Swamp Rat” but this one is something different. This 35th race car to carry the Swamp Rat name is a factor- built 2009 “Drag Pak” Dodge Challenger powered by a fuel-injected, gasoline-burning engine built using Mopar’s 6.1 liter (370 ci)  Mopar Hemi parts including a pair of the “new” Mopar Hemi heads.