STATE OF DRAG
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having a good time is one of the biggest draws
for me about the whole series. Because that part
of it you just don’t see much in the drag racing
world any more.
Critics have said that no-prep was simply a
fad – that it was dangerous and would flame
out. Yet for years its popularity has continued
to skyrocket, bringing in huge crowds. How
has it maintained its momentum?
RM: I think what the TV show has brought to
the table – the popularity, building characters, big
prize packages – contributes to the fact of it con-
tinuing to grow. Back in the day, when this first
started, I probably said, “Hey, this seems like it’s
dangerous.” But now you’ve got crazy tech-nology,
with power management, sticky tires, different
things that you can do. So now it’s be-coming to
where we can get all the power we need, and it’s
just getting the power to the ground.
LL: It’s interesting, because NHRA shunned
it at first, and now they’re trying to embrace it.
Some of the people with the show feel like the
NHRA wants to ride their coattails – which I’m
sure they do, because they’ve seen what a huge hit
it’s been. But at the end of the day, we make big
power, and so do the Pro Mod guys. If you looked
at the No Prep Kings guys vs. the NHRA Pro Mod
guys, I’ll bet they crash as many or more than we
do. Good example is Topeka – what’d they crash,
four Pro Mods in the first round?
JF: You have to have your favorites. People
being able to relate to us racers is crucial for the
sport. As long as we maintain that, as long as
someone can pick their favorite – the ones you
love to love, and the ones you love to hate – that’s
what will keep no-prep strong.
JH: Everything in life has to evolve. If not, it
becomes stagnant and dies. People often say, “Re-
member how it used to be?” Sometimes things
just need to come full circle. No Prep Kings has
brought the early days of drag racing back again.
MM: I feel like no-prep is kind of like the stock
market – it’s kind of going up and down, but it’s
also having a steady growth that’s worth talking
about. With that being said, [the television pro-
ducers] pay attention to all of that. So all of those
racers that have talked shit about No Prep Kings,
and have talked shit about Street Outlaws, and
now all of a sudden they’re trying to get a piece
of the pie, there’s one of your reasons why you’re
not seeing ‘em. I’m telling you right now, those
guys pay attention to everything.
A lot of drivers on the show started out street
racing long before the no-prep craze. What
and a real race fan, and not saying that it’s bad,
but obviously the TV fans only know what they
see on TV. There’s so many guys now that are
racing in No Prep Kings, you can pick two or
three people that you wanna ride with, and have
a good time with it.
JAMES FINNEY: I think the difference between
no-prep racing and most other types of sanc-tioned
racing is we are not bound by anything. We don’t
have sponsors that are worried about the way we
act. NHRA has a conduct code. With what we do,
it’s more real. We can be our-selves.
JIM HUGHES: No Prep Kings has brought
the driver’s personality back into the mix, and
fans can relate to the cars because of the rule
set being used.
RYAN MARTIN: I think it helps draw a crowd
from every part of the racing industry. You’ve got
everybody in the country that’s done any type of
racing. What’s cool about it is you’ve got your
no-prep fans that are going to come and watch,
then you’ve got your Radial vs. the World fans
that maybe have their select drivers, so they’re
going to follow over.
LARRY LARSON: It reminds me of the old
‘80s Funny Car match race days. To see the pro-
moters making money, the racetracks making
money, the racers making money, and the fans
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 147