Imagine if Dodge handed you the keys to a brand new Charger Hellcat. Now imagine if after they gave you the keys, they also handed you $10,000 to modify it in any way that you see fit. You might think that something like that could never happen to anyone, anywhere but that exact thing has happened to YouTuber “Tavarish.”

If you are on this site then you are probably familiar with who Tavarish is. If not, Tavarish (real name Freddy Hernandez) is an automotive YouTube personality who specializes in finding the cheapest version of a coveted car and bringing it back to its former glory. His exploits in the wild and whimsical world of forgotten project cars have netted him nearly 2 million subscribers.

How did Tavarish get a free Dodge Charger Hellcat?

Apparently, the folks at Dodge are big fans of Tavarish and they also happened to have a surplus of pre-production cars. For those who don’t know, pre-production cars are cars built by a manufacturer for testing purposes. They are nearly identical to the final retail versions in every way. However, regulations forbid pre-production vehicles from being titled, registered, and cannot be driven on public roads without special documentation.

Sadly, most pre-production cars are sent off to a crusher after a manufacturer is done with them. Though, in this case, Dodge decided instead of sending some prime pre-production muscle cars off to the crusher, they would send them to a few of their favorite YouTubers first. Hence, Tavarsh was given a 2021 Dodge Charger Hellcat. Furthermore, they agreed to let Tavarish have as many parts as he wants off the Hellcat before the chassis goes off to the big junk pile in the sky.

What is the catch?

As mentioned previously, not only did Tavarish get the Hellcat, but Dodge is also going to send him on a $10,000 shopping spree for performance parts. This all seems much too generous. There has to be some type of catch, right? Well, that is true.

In exchange for the car and the cash, Tavarsh had to agree to use the car to participate in an event called “Roadkill Nights”. Roadkill Nights is a car culture event in which the iconic Woodward Avenue is closed down for street-legal drag racing. Tavarsh has to attend Roadkill Nights and drag race against other YouTubers in the Hellcat that Dodge provided. Tavarish needs to use that $10,000 to prep his Hellcat for the race.

Can the Dodge Charger Hellcat win a drag race?

The 2021 Dodge Charger Hellcat comes stock with a supercharged V8 engine that makes 707 hp. However, Dodge did not just send Tavarsh a regular Hellcat, they sent him a Hellcat “Redeye”. The Redeye version of the Hellcat comes with a bigger supercharger that pushes power output to 787 horsepower. On paper, that should be enough to defeat just about any production car on a drag strip (except a Tesla).

But as we mentioned previously, Tavarish is not the only YouTuber that was given a massively powerful muscle car by Dodge. Furthermore, he has no idea what type of car his competitors were given or what modifications they will go with. He will have his work cut out for him, but considering the terms, it looks like he has already won.