NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The Right Trailers Outlaw Street group isn’t coming in quietly for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Even though the class is set for an exhibition, these no-prep racers aren’t necessarily treating it like one. They know exactly what this moment means with a new stage and a new audience.

This class didn’t come together overnight. Scott Taylor, who pilots a Chevy Camaro he calls “Goldie,” was one of the main players who helped pull this class together with Right Trailer’s owner, Michael Scott.

“About two years ago, I came to this race track with Michael Scott, and we were standing there watching the Top Fuel cars go down, and I was very excited, and I said, you know, I'd like to come out here and race with you guys,” Taylor said. “Michael and I talked about it for probably six months, and then we got with [the NHRA], and then a year and a half later, we're sitting here about to go down the track in front of 1000s of people. It's super exciting for us. I'm just glad it came together, and we couldn't have done it without Right Trailers.”

The Outlaw Street class will feature an eight-car qualified field, with three rounds of qualifying leading into semifinals and finals on Sunday. This set of drivers is slated to run at different times throughout the weekend and on a prepped surface - something that some argue would be new to these racers.

“Oddly enough, a lot of our race tracks that we would go to while they were not prepped, they would come around, and they would be really good,” Ryan Martin said. “Some little secret stuff we would do, we would go to a local race track, and we would go rent it to be ready for one of our NPK events. We’d spray the track down, and we would make it like you’d get 35 big-tire cars that would’ve made a lap down that track. That’s what simulates the same thing for us. I think you're going to find that we're going to adapt to this pretty easily.”

“No matter what, drag racing is about power management - it doesn’t matter if you're on the street,” explained Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington, “it doesn't matter if you're on the track, radial, big tire, or small tire. Power management is your friend, and most of us got pretty good at power management going down those streets.”

Even though many of the class entrants, which include Taylor, Ellington, Ryan Martin, Chevy “Helluva Chevy” Reeves, Carson Baker, Clay Cole, Chris Rankon, and Kyle Canion, grew up racing on the street, one racer in particular comes from a royal racing lineage: Paige Coughlin.

Coughlin, who got married in the off-season, got her start bracket racing at zMax Dragway.

“I grew up at these events, divisionals and national events,” Coughlin stated. “NHRA has been my home. But as I got older, when I was racing here, I lost first round, and I was devastated, because it was just not a good run. I was like, dad, I'm willing to look into door cars.”

This weekend, a diverse group of fans, some street outlaw enthusiasts and others traditional “nitro” fans, are expected to gather at the dragstrip in the “Queen City.” Hopefully, regardless of the type of drag racing fan in the stands, everyone will enjoy the debut of the outlaw street class.

“We want to bring something that's a totally different energy for the fans,” Coughlin said. “Growing up around the NHRA, I've learned what those fans love to see when they come to these events: the pros, the sportsmen, the different sights, and the things they can enjoy, and I hope we can bring just a little bit more, something extra, something spicy, something fun, little bit more attitude, maybe just put a little fun twist on it.”

For a group that’s raced from coast to coast, down under in Australia, won large sums of money, and all types of awards, there’s one thing that they all have in common: they want to add to their trophy case, a Wally.

“The Wally is the biggest thing in drag racing. I don't care what organization you're from - everybody knows what a Wally is,” Ellington said. “I've never competed for a Wally. This is my first time, and to get the diamond Wally, that's just the icing on top.”

“The Wally is the stamp of drag racing,” Martin added.

“Who doesn’t want a Wally?” Coughlin asked rhetorically. ”I will just say that I feel like I've stared at Wallys my entire life, and they're all over the walls, all over every inch of our homes, but none of them have my name on it. I am determined to win one so I can add my one to the massive collection. None of them are a diamond one yet so I could be the first one.”