Shelby GT500 chases down a Hellcat Durango at Las Vegas, while another Durango posts repeatable 10-second passes against multiple rivals.
A blue Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 overcame a slow launch to reel in a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, capping a night of quarter-mile matchups that showcased the advantages of all-wheel drive off the line and the raw pace of high-horsepower coupes once they hook up.
Video posted by the Wheels channel on YouTube shows the supercharged, rear-drive GT500 stumbling at the hit while the all-wheel-drive Durango surged ahead. The recovery was swift. The Shelby’s 760-hp, 5.2-liter V-8 gathered traction and closed fast, stopping the clocks at 10.83 seconds at 146 mph. The Durango, rated at 710 hp, finished in 12.31 seconds at 111 mph.
The clip then follows a second Durango SRT Hellcat — white with black stripes — through a series of clean, consistent passes. Against a black, gold-striped S550-generation Mustang GT, the SUV posted a 10.81-second elapsed time, to the Mustang’s 12.25 seconds. In a later pairing, the same Durango defeated a black Cadillac with a 10.71-second run to the sedan’s 12.59 seconds. A final matchup against a maroon Dodge Charger ended 10.83 seconds to 13.05 seconds.
The results underscored a familiar lesson at the drag strip: traction and repeatability are decisive. With power routed to four wheels and launch control calibrated for sticky surfaces, the Durango Hellcat produced a string of high-10-second passes. By contrast, the Shelby — faster through the traps — needed a clean start to translate power into time.
Track officials did not report incidents or delays during the testing. Weather conditions and lane prep were not disclosed, but the elapsed times suggest a well-prepped surface typical of the venue’s nightly “The Strip” programs, where street-legal cars run heads-up.
The video arrives amid broader debate over the future of performance cars, though the quarter-mile scene at Las Vegas still provides a narrow, numbers-driven answer: the stopwatch decides. On this night, an all-wheel-drive SUV looked surgical from the tree to the stripe, while a twitchy launch from a supercharged coupe set up the most dramatic comeback.
Enthusiasts online split their votes: some favored the Shelby’s recovery run; others pointed to the Durango’s trio of tidy, 10-second performances as the night’s standard.
