Rob Goss Clocks The First Gen III Hemi Run In The 3’s!

For the better part of the last decade, Rob Goss and his all-black Hemi-powered Dodge Challenger have been a perennial front-runner in the X275 category, emerging from frequent mechanical woes early on with this unproven combination, to a place of pure dominance, winning races and championships and amassing records  by the handful. From Lights Out, to No Mercy, the World Cup Finals, the NMCA, and other series and venues, Goss’ machine was for years a beacon in 275 drag radial racing, inarguably its most recognizable and well-traveled entry. And so you can imagine the sport’s collective shock when Goss and longtime racing partner Bruce Maichle unloaded at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, Florida with a fresh look, bigger tires, and entered in an entirely new category for the first time.

After earning a number of penalties for his combination in recent years as a result of dominating, often punishing on-track performances, Goss decided in the offseason it was time to try something new. That something new was the nest category up the elapsed-time pecking-order in drag radial racing: Limited Drag Radial.

“Moving classes is mostly due to rules. In X275 we would be 350 to 400 pounds heavier than other small blocks, and on top of that, had to run a 102 blower versus a 106,” Goss explains. “We likely would have made the move sooner if the car had been capable. The X car could get to a race weight of 2,875 to 2,895; our weight in Limited Drag Radial (LDR) for 2022 was 2,675, and I couldn’t run that much overweight. We had the X car scheduled for chassis maintenance and had an appointment with Michael Carbone at MPH Fabrication for the week following our last race. I made the call to go ahead and swap classes the Friday after Orlando. I had a feeling rules wouldn’t be kind to our combination, and if we waited to see, it would be too late for changes. 

“We took the car to MPH on November 18th so he could put it back on his jig and check it over. While there I made the decision to change classes, and Mike went to work cutting it apart and building the new LDR car. Five weeks later he returned the car. It can’t be over stated how impressive that is,” Goss says.

“The car then went to Jamie Bartlebaugh at Modern Street Customs for paint and body work,” he adds. “With swapping classes I wanted to change colors to start fresh and also leave the black car being remembered for what we were able to do with it in X275. Jamie and his…