Tony Giardi, three-time OPS...
Tony Giardi, three-time OPS champ They came-like the mythical moonshine runners who spawned NASCAR back in the '40s-from the backroads of North Carolina. Originally bred for underground street racing, the slick-tired, nitrous-fueled monsters known as Outlaw Pro Street racers have spawned their own race series, and it's rapidly becoming the hottest in the two-wheeled drag racing world. When the seven-inch slicks hook up "just right," the Outlaw Pro Streeters blast down the quarter mile in the low-seven-second range at 190 mph. When they don't, they get all bent out of shape sideways or, more likely, launch straight up into a high-speed, 75-degree wheelstand. It's all action, all the time in Outlaw Pro Street racing, which makes it easy to account for the present popularity of the class. "This is the most exciting class in drag racing right now," says L&W Motorworks' Dan Wagner, the current go-to tuner for the top nitrous Outlaws. "It's ready to explode!" Sometimes, quite literally.
MiRock's Outlaw Pro Street is also a big hit with the riders. "I raced Pro Stock for three years back in the '90s, also bracket raced and ran Top Gas," says Florida's Tony Giardi, who holds a perfect record of three championships in three years of Outlaw racing. "But none of that compares to the speed and acceleration of today's Outlaw bikes."
Like all great racing classes, Outlaw Pro Street competition is subject to minimal rules and restrictions: The wheelbase must be 75 inches or less, the tire less than seven inches in width, the bike must use a factory frame (though it can be modified almost infinitely, including a rigid rear end), and that's about it. Otherwise, pretty much anything goes-except for turbochargers, which were controversially banned from the class at the end of the 2006 season (more on that in a minute).
Aim High Outlaw Pro Street...
Aim High
Outlaw Pro Street racer Scott Valetti takes flight The Outlaw Racing format took shape back in the mid-'90s, born out of the underground street/grudge racing scenes. "They were already running these types of bikes in '93 or '94," remembers Schnitz Racing's Dave Schnitz, a member of the committee that originally outlined the rules for MiRock's Outlaw Pro Street category. "The first time at Rockingham that we saw these 16-, 18- or even 20-inch-over swingarms, we were like, 'What's that?' Most of these guys wouldn't even stick around for Sunday's race program; they'd just race the grudge races on Saturday night and then leave town. So we decided to make it a class. We had a hard time getting them to do simple things like put brake rotors on the rear, because they didn't have any rear brakes."
The original Outlaw scene was dominated by riders like Rickey Gadson (riding for Bob Carpenter), Tommy Miceli on Joe Franco's bikes and present-day NHRA Pro Stock pilot Shawn Gann on his dad Blake's bikes. "There were a few more guys involved," Shawn Gann remembers, "but we were the only ones who were legit. That was a bad scene, man. It wasn't like it is now with a bunch of rules."
Glad I wore my protective...
Glad I wore my protective cup! Giddeeup! Jason Miller shows what happens when an Outlaw bike's seven-inch slick hooks up Indeed, the biggest drama in the Outlaw world nowadays regards the rule structure, and specifically the presence of turbo-powered bikes in the class. The MiRock racers have for the past two years been locked in the same "nitrous dinosaurs" vs. "mortgage-busting turbos" debate that we've seen played out recently in AMA/Prostar's Pro Street class and in car classes across the country. The argument reached fever pitch in late August when turbo Outlaw racer Rodney Williford ripped off a breathtaking 6.99-second pass at Rockingham, a result that had the majority of nitrous racers threatening to boycott events if the rules weren't changed to slow the turbos down. The MiRock rules committee responded by banning turbo bikes from competition in the Outlaw Pro Street class for the upcoming 2007 series.
The explosive power and unpredictability of the nitrous bikes is more in keeping with the spirit of the Outlaw class anyways. Throw too big a shot of nitrous at the motor on the starting line and an Outlaw bike-which stages on a two-step with the throttle pinned at redline-will aim itself skyward. Throw too much nitrous at it midtrack and the motor will saw itself in half. Go too light on the nitrous at any point and you lose the race. This challenge, achieving that delicate balance of going fast without going up in smoke, is exactly what makes the Outlaw Pro Street class so exhilarating and interesting to the riders, tuners and fans alike.
Dave Norris' biggest wheelstand was probably 80 degrees above horizontal, at Rockingham. "Go down, motherf**ker, go down!" Norris remembers shouting as he looked skyward. When the front wheel did finally fall back to Earth, it took a big bounce that caused Norris to crack the throttle wide open and send the bike skyward yet again! This is the reason that nearly every Outlaw racer packs extra front rims in the trailer.
"About two years ago in Maryland, I had a big wheelie that scared me to death," remembers top Outlaw rider Angie McBride. "It was near vertical. At that time I dumped the throttle immediately, but since then I've learned to just get out of the nitrous and let it come down on its own." Like most every Outlaw bike, the nitrous oxide system on McBride's machine is engaged via a microswitch mounted to the throttle assembly-if the throttle isn't on at least 75 percent, the nitrous isn't spraying. Hers also uses a progressive nitrous controller that increases the amount of nitrous that is sprayed as the revs build, to lessen the likelihood of a violent "hit" that would break the rear tire loose or launch the bike into a wheelie. "My nitrous comes in really soon, .8 or .9 seconds into the run," McBride says. "It progresses from probably 20 percent to 50 percent to the full shot at full throttle. It's at 100 percent probably about 2.5 or 3 seconds into the run."
MiRock's Outlaw Pro Street series has thrived for the past three years, and the series managers-and many of the racers and tuners too-hope that the recent move to ban turbos will help the class continue to grow and stay vital. "I can build a top-level nitrous bike turnkey for $30,000," says Wagner, who tunes five nitrous Outlaw bikes including Giardi's championship winner. "A turbo bike with similar performance is gonna set you back at least $45,000. And for what?"
As much as they want the class to remain accessible and competitive, organizers are sensitive too about maintaining the "anything goes" spirit the class was founded on. "Any kind of heads-up racing is about technology," says Phil Davis, a current member of the MiRock rules committee. "You cannot keep running the same equipment you ran 10 years ago and expect to stay in front. The nitrous guys in all of motorcycle drag racing, including Pro Mod, are stuck running the same numbers they ran 10 years ago because they're running the same equipment they ran 10 years ago. Until they are ready to try some new stuff, they'll continue to be passed by the turbos who are taking advantage of the latest in technology and the latest in electronics."
That's not to say that there aren't Outlaw guys out there sampling the latest go-fast technology. As Brandon Farlow experiments with different exhaust combinations on his supercharged Outlaw Pro Street bike, he takes baby steps toward competitiveness. At Maryland, four separate, Top Fuel-style exhaust pipes sprouted from the side of his 73-inch Hayabusa. "The blower's too big to fit a traditional sidewinder pipe," says Farlow, who gets help from John Clark and fellow racer Jeff Nordeen. Racing a supercharged bike is largely an unknown in the motorcycle drag racing world. "I wouldn't say it's making more boost than a turbo," Farlow says, "but a different kind of boost than the turbo guys. We're controlling it with an AMS1000 like the turbocharged guys use, and I don't think anybody's ever done that before. We have to run a whole new map, and it's a little more temperamental than it is with the turbos." Now that turbos are out of the picture, will superchargers be the next overdog, or will the nitrous guys (and girls) finally step into the 21st century with their equipment and step it up?
The last thing anybody wants to do is ruin a good thing, and Outlaw is a great thing. "People are really crazy about these Outlaw bikes running these numbers with no wheelie bars," says Wagner. "The number of views and hits for anything to do with Outlaws on Web site forums are off the charts."
Robert Hunnicutt | 
Dave Norris | 
Kenny Cornell |
"I love racing Outlaw," says McBride. "I love the adrenaline rush of the nitrous bike. I would love for Outlaw to blow up big, especially being the only female who races the class. If you brought the media and TV into it, it would be the best thing ever." If the class can keep the rules on lock to keep from tearing itself apart like a nitrous bike that misses a shift, McBride just might get her wish.