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SRT back to Dodge, Dart SRT, new Challenger, Charger and Caravan's death outlined in 5-yr plan

The onslaught of news from Fiat Chrysler's layout of five-year plans continued with Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis this morning, including the unexpected announcement that SRT was coming back into the fold.
After just a few years existing as an independent entity within the Fiat Chrysler universe, an unceremonious press release hit in conjunction with today's lineup of announcements, saying "the SRT family of vehicles will be consolidated under the Dodge brand." Group CEO Sergio Marchionne thanked SRT headman Ralph Gilles for his dedication to the high-performance wing, calling out is efforts in expanding the vehicle lineup and including more customized models. He did not reference disappointing SRT Viper sales today, but we sense there's a bit of subtext.
With the SRT reunion at Dodge, it's appropriate that some of the most exciting product announcements for the next five years have to do with upcoming performance products. First out of the gate will be a refresh for that flagging Viper in 2015, which comes as little surprise.

One Lap of America, with three times the madness

Instead of celebrating last weekend face down in a sombrero full of tequila-spiked OJ and a few lime wedges, 71 racing teams with one set of tires each and no support crews began Cinco De Mayo — and this year's 35th running of the One Lap of America — by hitting the wet skid pad at Tire Rack's headquarters in South Bend, Ind. There were Porsches, Vettes, Camaros and BMWs galore. There was a Miata, a vintage NSX, a Honda S2000 and even an old VW Rabbit. There were GTIs, the odd Evo and, oh yeah, six Toyotas, a couple of Vipers and a couple of GTRs. When the skidding stopped, a 2011 BMW 1M emerged triumphant and led the pack out into the heartland, where it will spend 5,000 miles this week hitting road courses, dragstrips and time trials at tracks as far west as Denver, as south as Fort Worth and then New Orleans. From there, it will barrel north through Mississippi, Alabama, Nashville, Kentucky and back home again to Tire Rack in Indiana. Twenty events, eight venues, with a three-hour window for each event. It's a nonstop, no-sleep, one-week road trip comprising 150-ish friends and brothers, partiers and pro racing drivers, spouses and other family-member combo packs. Some will never speak to each other again, some might end up divorced, some might get married. All of them are nuts. I know this because I made three laps. Three laps I will never forget.LAP ONE: 1984 Vehicle: 1984 Dodge Van Team #0: Jean Lindamood (Jennings), Walker Evans, Parnelli Jones I was present for the inaugural 1984 One Lap of America because I worked at Car and Driver back then and so did Brock Yates. He was the guy who came up with the clandestine, illegal, unsanctioned Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash from Connecticut to Redondo Beach, Calif. It ran five times in the 1970s, with Yates joining Dan Gurney in a Ferrari Daytona for the second run. They won, Gurney insisting that "at no time did we exceed 175 miles per hour." One Lap was born of Cannonball nostalgia (read: Brock was bored), and I was beyond game for it. After securing a van from Dodge and two giant decals for the van sides, along with $5,000 in sponsorship from local Detroit Stroh's Brewery, I coaxed my friend, nine-time Baja 1000 winner Walker Evans, into running One Lap by suggesting he didn't have a hair on his ass if he refused. Then I suggested that if he didn't get his best friend and longtime road trip buddy, Parnelli Jones, to go with us, I would actually have to drive the van, too.

Dodge reveals a few of the goodies in the Demon crate

One of the teaser trailers for the eagerly anticipated Dodge Challenger Demon featured a big crate full of goodies for the car. As with the car, though, Dodge was a bit coy about what was inside, simply saying there were 18 items, consisting of tools and parts. Now we know what tools the car gets, and they're some very nice Snap-On pieces. All of the tools and accessories are branded with the Demon logo. And the tools included should be perfect for easy tire changes at the track. Specifically, the tools include a hydraulic jack, cordless impact wrench with charger, torque wrench, and a tire pressure gauge. There's also a fender cover to protect the paint when working under the hood, and a nice carrying bag with the Demon emblem on the side. And, naturally, all of the tools are limited-edition units made specifically to accompany the Demon. If you want to do anything more involved than wheel swaps, you'll need to supply a few tools of your own. But this should be good for the weekend drag racer or autocross driver who wants to drive down to the course on street tires, then throw on the sticky rubber at the track. Also, as you may have noted, these tools only constitute six items in Dodge's count, leaving 12 others that must be car parts. We know that among the parts are some factory Demon wheels, and items that Dodge describes as "Direct Connection Performance Parts" and the "Demon Track Pack System." Details on these remain scarce, but they will probably be revealed closer to the car's debut date of April 11. Related Video: