Ned Dunphy Defends HOT ROD Drag Week Title With Record-Setting Viper

Ned Dunphy came into the 2026 HOT ROD Drag Week with a title to defend and unfinished business with his twin-turbo 2013 Dodge Viper. By the end of the week, he had secured his second straight Overall and Unlimited championships while setting another drag-and-drive record.

The success did not happen overnight. Dunphy debuted the Viper at Drag Week in 2023 after spending years building it for this exact kind of competition. Unfortunately, an engine issue ended his week before he could reach the finish.

He came back in 2024 and opened the event with a 6.196-second pass at 247.16 MPH, showing exactly what the Viper was capable of. However, another engine failure during the road portion of the event brought his week to an early end once again.

After two difficult attempts, everything finally came together in 2025.

Dunphy and co-driver Jey Clegg completed the entire week and earned the Overall and Unlimited championships with a five-day average of 6.1754 seconds at 247.08 MPH. That performance broke a record that had stood since 2016 and earned Dunphy the title of America’s Fastest Street Car.

Dunphy returned in 2026 ready to back it up.

He started the week at Route 66 Raceway with a 5.994 at 245 MPH. After rain canceled Tuesday’s racing, he followed with identical 6.080-second passes at Cordova Dragway and World Wide Technology Raceway. That gave him a 6.0513 average heading into the final day back at Route 66 Raceway.

A 5.993 at 245 MPH during Friday’s opening session was enough to secure Dunphy’s second consecutive Overall and Unlimited championships. He could have called it a day, but he and the team knew the Viper had more left in it.

They cooled the car down, waited through a light rain delay, and returned to the starting line for one more pass.

Dunphy ran a 5.974 at 249.16 MPH, the quickest pass ever recorded in drag-and-drive competition. The run also lowered his four-day average to 6.0320 seconds, breaking the overall HOT ROD Drag Week average record he had set just one year earlier.

Powering the Viper is an SMX billet engine combination refreshed and updated by Proline Racing for the unique demands of Drag Week. Twin Precision 98mm turbochargers help the combination produce an estimated 4,000 horsepower, while a FuelTech FT600 manages it all.

Making that kind of power at the track is only half the challenge. Drag Week competitors also have to drive hundreds of miles between tracks without a trailer or dedicated support vehicle. After dealing with heat-related problems during previous attempts, Dunphy and his team spent a lot of time improving the Viper’s reliability. Updates to the street-cooling system and larger rear tires helped the car manage temperatures, find traction, and stay consistent throughout the week.

Dunphy’s back-to-back championships mean even more when you look at everything it took to get there. The first two Drag Week attempts ended in disappointment, but the team continued learning and improving the car. In 2025, they finally reached the finish and set a new overall average record. One year later, they returned, defended the title, broke their own record, and made the quickest pass in drag-and-drive history.

Congratulations to Ned, Jey, and everyone involved in this accomplishment. Proline Racing is proud to have played a part in the power behind this record-setting Viper.