Bigger is Not Always Better.
Why 10.5" tire racing is taking tracks by storm!
Story and photos by David Anderson

Remember the early days of drag racing? We’ve all seen the videos of home-built Top Fuel dragsters and altereds with skinny little slicks on them smoking the tires all the way down the track.

Move to 1992 and the introduction of the Hot Rod/NMCA World’s Fastest Street Car Shootout in Memphis Tennessee. The idea was simple; provide a legal venue for racers from around the country to see who truly had the fastest street legal car.

In 1993, a place was made for the "little guy" to race when the National Muscle Car Association added 10.5" tire cars to the mix. While the big-tire Pro Street cars were still the featured attraction, 36 Super Street cars showed up in Memphis to see who could do the job on small tires. At the time, the top performers were in the mid 9-second zone.

The following year was an evolutionary one for the Super Street crowd. The 8-second barrier was broken in 1994 by Landon Jordan, who had a well-financed operation behind him. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Todd Moyer from Texas brought out the exact opposite - a low-buck, home-built car that was described by another racer as "not fit to park in a redneck’s front yard" and it also ran in the 8- second zone. The fans went nuts and 10.5" tire racing was officially a hit!

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Rules were adapted to allow different combinations in an attempt to keep the playing field level. When Chuck Samuel broke into the 7-second zone, his EFI set-up was outlawed. As the combinations got more exotic, the efforts to maintain parity went up exponentially. Ask Mike Baker of IHRA or any of the promoters of "Street Car" series how much effort goes into creating a set of rules that gives any one of multiple combinations a fair shot to win on race day. Not a job to be envied!

Drag race fans want to see BIG numbers on the scoreboards. Sure, great side by side racing is awesome in its own right, but fans would go equally crazy if John Force ran a single pass in qualifying and went 4.40-seconds at over 350 mph with his hair on fire. Tire manufacturer Mickey Thompson didn’t disappoint as they started development of the 10.5" tire, releasing larger circumference tires with the "W" designation. The "W" tire, slightly wider then the non-W version, helped speed the evolution of the class as elapsed times dropped and mile-per-hour went up. By 1999, Mickey Thompson had released their largest 10.5" tire - a 33-inch tall piece with the "W" badge as well, and it’s the current choice of virtually every 10.5" Outlaw racer today.

The real appeal is that as the big tire "street cars" evolved into more of a full-out race car wearing street car apparel as a disguise, the small tire classes remained closer to their street car roots by maintaining much more of a factory appearance.

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Some promoters in the southeastern United States caught on to the success of the little tire cars from the big Memphis races and decided to start holding "Outlaw 10.5" races at their tracks, most of which were of the eighth-mile persuasion. Spreading like wildfire, the crowds got larger and so did the purses. Suddenly these cars of little notoriety were becoming the headline act in a concert of speed, and they were racing for purses larger then many of their Pro Modified brethren.

There used to be big tire classes running at most of these tracks, but promoters quickly moved to switch them to the 10.5" tires. It paid off as fences were lined, pits were full and snack bars were cleaned out as fans crammed in to watch these wild and almost unlimited machines rip down the 1/8^th mile on 10.5" tires.

Johnny Fenn, a one-time spectator at these races took on the job of trying to promote a few events in 2003. Although successful, the racers lacked standards and rules were inconsistent from one venue to the next. Fenn took the bull by the horns and in 2004 formed the ORSCA (Outlaw Racing Street Car Association). He then worked with track owners to standardize the format and rules and most of all put together a championship points program that would culminate with the crowning of a points champion at the end of the season.

Even the famed "Texas King of the Hill" racers and promoters caught on. In 2003 they had big tire and little tire classes, but decided to change to all 10.5" racing to be more in line with ORSCA for 2004. It seems the change worked as the number of competitors at their events has gone up and the spectator count has as well.

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So where did all this success and the boom of 10.5" racing come from? From a fan’s perspective, it’s all about watching cars with insane amounts of horsepower try to get it on the ground on sometimes less then ideal racing surfaces. It really makes for a lot of suspense, because no one knows who is going to get to the stripe first.

It’s also about keeping the cars street appearing, something that’s not always easy to do. In fact, it looks as if the ORSCA’s Outlaw 10.5 class is headed in the direction of other pro classes in organized "street legal" racing, where the cars are looking more like race cars. This has become necessary due to the natural evolution of the sport and necessary due to increased speeds and the resulting safety requirements. ORSCA is working to keep the original concept alive, however, by running a class Limited street. The rules are similar to Outlaw 10.5 but cars can’t run wheelie bars and don’t use a "W" tire designation.

Perhaps the biggest factor can be found in this simple math formula:

10.5" tires + unlimited engine combinations + 1/8^th mile racing = level playing field.

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Don’t believe it? Look at the results in Orlando, Florida from this year’s World Street Nationals, which was run on a quarter-mile track. It shouldn’t be surprising that it was won by a turbo car. Why? To the 1/8^th mile, it’s much more of a matter of finesse - whoever can apply the power the best will usually get to the finish line first. From the 1/8^th mile on, the turbos seem to have an advantage and will really stretch their legs. Need more proof? There was .02-second between the quickest nitrous run (4.56) and the top turbo car (4.54) to the 1/8^th mile. It appears the 10.5 tire is the great equalizer in this equation.

Stick with the above formula and you’ll see why this style of racing has a bright future. Memphis, Tennessee was once the "Mecca" for street car racers. With all the changes over the years in sanctioning bodies, that type of racing has lost some of its luster. That is, until Carl Weisinger and Orlando Speed World Dragway took over. Today the annual World Street Nationals has become "the big one" for the street legal racers.

Not to be outdone, it appears the Outlaw 10.5 racers have found their own home, namely George Howard’s Huntsville Dragway, which has had absolutely HUGE success in 2003 and 2004. Each year over 60 Outlaw 10.5 cars came and attempted to qualify for the big show. This year, a second chance race was added for the bottom 32 qualifiers and that turned out to be just as successful. Well over 400 cars and 10,000 fans showed up in total for the event that consisted of five ORSCA heads-up classes (6.0, 7.0, EZ Street, Limited Street and Outlaw 10.5) and the additional bonus of two Pro Modified classes (Outlaw and Automatics). Cars came from every corner of the country and as far away as Alaska.