LETTER from the EDITOR

Wes Buck Chief Executive Officer / Founder & Editorial Director 660.988.2313 wes @ dragillustrated . com

Mike Carpenter Chief Operating Officer / Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike @ dragillustrated . com

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Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief 440.986.1480 nate @ dragillustrated . com

We ’ re not saying that Ryan Martin is inherently better than Steve Torrence , Greg Anderson , Todd Tutterow , Matt Smith , or any one of a number of high-level racers who had a big year in 2021 . Those guys are all incredible racers in their own right . That ’ s why they were nominated for this award along with Martin .

But when you take a good , hard , unbiased look at what ’ s going on in the Street Outlaws : No Prep Kings world , you can ’ t help but be impressed with what they ’ re doing . Tens of thousands of fans pile into racetracks around the country to see these guys and girls race , helping said tracks make up for losses sustained while hosting other nationallevel events . Millions more tune in to watch the action when it airs on Discovery months after the dust has settled . Many of these viewers were previously unaware or uninterested in drag racing before they stumbled upon it while flipping through the channels .

The competition level has shot through the roof , as the original street racers that made Street Outlaws popular in the first place have leveled up their hot rods and their equipment . Gone are the days of rolling up with a fast street car on an open trailer . We ’ re talking purpose-built race cars with Pro Mod-level engines riding in 53-foot lift-gate semi trailers . This is the big leagues , and some of the biggest names from drag racing ’ s other segments are all trying to get in .

And after the last two seasons – the pre-pandemic 2019 season and the nearly-nonstop 2021 season – Ryan Martin has come out on top as the ultimate king of No Prep Kings .

Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief

I ’ ll be honest and admit that I didn ’ t know that much about Ryan , his team , or the No Prep Kings world in general before getting to work on this issue . I kept up with it from a distance , but I haven ’ t really watched the show or taken much time to get to know the characters involved .

In talking with Martin , I realized that his story is far more relatable than I or most of you reading this probably thought . Here ’ s a guy who goes racing with his best friends and his family . Literally , his team is made up of his crew chief and longtime friend , Javier Canales , his best friend , Michael Beene , and Ryan ’ s wife , Cherish , and their little boy , Dax .

Sure , they get some help from others along the way , but the core group traveling together to all 15 races is just those five people . Ryan drives the rig himself . He definitely gets some help from talented tuners like Steve Petty – and gives them credit – but he largely handles the tuneup himself and works with Javier to make sure the cars are race-ready .

I know this is simplifying things a little , but that sounds like a whole lot of racers I know . Weekend warriors , bracket racers , and drivers that fill up the country ’ s dragstrips can relate to Martin . He ’ s just doing things on a high level and there are TV cameras following him around .

He ’ s embraced his roles as a star of the show and an ambassador for the sport and his supporters . He jumps at the chance to take a photo and put a smile on a young fan ’ s face . He ’ s as competitive as they get , yet he knows there ’ s more to this game than turning on win lights and beating the person in the other lane .

These are all a few of the reasons why we believe Ryan Martin is the Racer of the Year . He ’ s not only good at drag racing , he ’ s also good for drag racing . DI

Feel free to email me at nate @ dragillustrated . com and follow me at facebook . com / nitronate1320 and nitronate1320 on Instagram and Twitter .

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10 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 174