The Street Outlaws show is about the fastest street racers cars in America. If by street car they mean you only need a license plate, well then this guy barely made it.
PRI 2016 Street Outlaws Edition: Part 1 – The Nitrous and Supercharged!
Before we begin, I’d like to just get something out. My goal is not to turn this into a “why street racing is bad or good” type of read. I’m simply covering some cars from the Discovery Channel-broadcasted show, Street Outlaws, because I’ve enjoyed watching the series.
The NHRA, whom I respect, has reportedly announced that if any of its professionally licensed drivers participate in the show, those participants' licenses could be revoked per the rules already stated in the NHRA rulebook. It was clear that the NHRA, which promotes racing in safe venues only, wanted to distance itself as much as possible from the show. In fact, they didn’t even like the fact that a few NHRA decals on some cars were visible because that also was a trademark violation.
I can understand the NHRA’s standpoint, but I’m just enjoying the Street Outlaws show for what it is-entertainment. That said, it should be noted that we at MotoIQ do not condone illegal street racing! Okay, moving on.
At my first PRI show in 2014, I inadvertently came across the “Farmtruck” in the Nitrous Express booth. At first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. Was this a joke? I mean look at that thing. And then, I looked under the hood (“whaaat?”). This sucker had a mean looking big-block V8 with what appeared to be gobs of nitrous.
I snapped a couple of shots but had no information on the truck when I got home to write my PRI piece. Just days later, while writing up the article, I came across a commercial for the show, Street Outlaws. “Hey, isn’t that the truck I just saw,” I thought to myself. It was, and I decided to catch an episode to get more information on it for the article. Before I knew it, I was hooked, and I ended up watching one to two episodes a night until I had the last few years covered. Today, I still enjoy watching the show on Monday nights.
To be honest, having previously heard about the show, I'd originally never bothered watching it because I thought it was a show about a bunch of muscle cars racing at the drag strip, kind of like the show, “Pinks“. While I liked Pinks at first, I had later gotten tired of it. However, Street Outlaws was different. It was about a group Oklahoma City guys who not only challenged each other for the top spot of their “Top 10” list, but also the rest of the nation through a variety of call outs- whether by phone or social media. It was different and- to me at least- it got really interesting.
I had no idea how crazy these cars are. We’re talking 2000-3000 horsepower drag cars that would give Pro Mods a run for their money. They rip down a street surface (preferably cement) for a one-eighth mile, instead of a full quarter, to keep things a little more civil. Granted, I think we all know these street races are staged in their location (sometimes you can spot emergency vehicles blocking the road ahead), but these are real streets that normal people drive every day. Whether these Street Outlaws cars are considered real “street cars” simply because they race on a street surface is up for debate, since they’re fully tubbed and running big slicks. Shoot, some are even actual Pro Mods! Whatever the case, these cars are very impressive, and worth showing you.
I happened to catch several of these Street Outlaws cars at PRI this year, and have dedicated a couple of articles to them. Enjoy!
This is the “Elco”, which is obviously short for the El Camino, and it's driven by Chris “Kamikaze” Day.
The Elco was originally known as “the Slut” because it was built using a bunch of spare or discarded parts from local buddies of the Elco’s original driver, Tyler “Flip” Priddy. Unfortunately, Mr. Priddy suffered an untimely death, and the car was passed on to Kamikaze.
While the Elco was cleaned up nicely for PRI, we can definitely see it wasn’t destined to be a showcar. While plenty of “small tire” cars have made the OKC Top 10 list, today it seems you're pretty much not going to get on the list if you’re not running a “big” tire, which is greater than 29.5 inches. Several of the Oklahoma “small tire” cars have recently converted to big tire, and the Elco is no exception.
