OUTLAW 10.5 IS BACK
When Cecil County Dragway announced in late 2020 that Outlaw 10.5 would no longer be a part of its popular Strange Engineering Outlaw Street Car Shootout Series for the 2021 season , some onlookers declared the class dead . A lengthy feature titled “ The Rise and Fall of Outlaw 10.5 ” that appeared in Drag Illustrated in 2011 suggests that the class was merely on life support when it was cut from the Cecil County program after 22 years . But the PDRA ’ s Pro Street class is helping to put Outlaw 10.5-style racing back on the map .
PDRA introduced Pro Street as a new class on a limited three-race basis in 2020 after hosting the Outlaw 10.5 National Championship Series for the occasional points race or two for a few seasons . It was originally designed as a mashup of Limited Drag Radial , Outlaw 10.5 , and Pro 275 , with racers allowed to run 275 , 295 , or 315 drag radials or 33x10.5 slick tires . The rulebook has since been refined to only allow the slicks . Pro Street became a PDRA world championship class in 2021 while running six of the eight PDRA national events . This season , the class will run all eight events with continued support from Menscer Motorsports and Afco Racing .
When Tim Essick won his first of two consecutive Pro Street world championships in 2021 , 14 other drivers earned points in the class , with seven of those running more than one race and just two of those running all six events . The class had nearly doubled by 2023 , when 27 drivers earned points . Across seven races , an average of 13 drivers raced in the class , while a season high of 16 showed up for the penultimate race of the year at GALOT Motorsports Park .
The growth of PDRA Pro Street , as well as regional programs at tracks like Milan Dragway , have attracted new participants and brought past competitors back into action . Class stalwarts like Essick , Jerry Morgano , Ron Green , Nick Agostino , and Chris Cadotto remain competitive . Young guns like Ethan Steding , Joel Wensley Jr ., Scott Kincaid , Ty Kasper , and Nick Schroeder are proof that the class has a bright future .
While diehard race fans have long recognized
Outlaw 10.5 and its new Pro Street iteration as a thrilling , unpredictable class , a wider audience was exposed to the front-wheel-hanging , wallto-wall madness of the class earlier this year with the inaugural Pro 10.5 Challenge during the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod . Twenty-four invited drivers rolled into Bradenton Motorsports Park to compete for a record $ 25,000 winnertake-all payday . Young gun “ Quick ” Nick Schroeder defeated rookie Dan Norris in the big-money final round . Drivers like West Coast hitter Lance Knigge and Street Outlaws : No Prep Kings racer Kallee Mills raced with the front wheels in the air through the 660-foot finish line , leaving fans in the stands and watching online wanting more . A Facebook Reel of one of Knigge ’ s passes has 6.6 million views as of this writing .
“ The ‘ 10.5 ’ name has always been known for riding wheelies , smoking tires , pitching ‘ em sideways , spinning ‘ em around , banging ‘ em off the walls , and you can relate to the cars that are parked in your driveway ,” says Tom Kasper , a former driver who helped organize the Pro 10.5 Challenge and now serves as car owner for son Ty . “ That ’ s what people want . Some fans aren ’ t as tuned in to what ’ s a good E . T . or speed , so they like the wheelies and the excitement . That ’ s what 10.5 is all about .” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
PHOTOGRAPHS BY WAYNE STEWART , DARREL JACKSON JR .
Outlaw 10.5-style racing is seeing a resurgence thanks to the PDRA ’ s Pro Street program , as well as standalone events like the Pro 10.5 Challenge . Veterans like Ron Green ( pictured ) and young gun Scott Kincaid ( above ) compete in both .
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