OUTLAW - Past, Present & Future
by George Klass of
Accufab Performance Parts and
Accessories
January 2001
Mustang drag racing as we know it, all started with the "Street
Outlaw" class, only we didn't realize it at the time. The early Mustang
racers (pioneers like Stormin Norman's black convertible) basically
hopped up their '87 Mustangs, added nitrous or a blower, drove to work
during the week and drag raced on the weekends. The present "Street
Outlaw" classes in FFW, NMRA, and WFC all evolved from those early
Mustangs. The 10.5" tire was the natural "Street Outlaw tire" since it
was the largest tire that would fit into the stock wheelwell.
All of the other Heads-Up Mustang classes that we are familiar with
are an off-shoot of the Street Outlaw class. Pro 5.0 became Street
Outlaw with big tires and no mufflers. Street Renegade became Street
Outlaw with restricted horsepower. In fact, Street Renegade came into
being because some Street Outlaw racers were concerned with the costs
and speeds associated with running in the Street Outlaw class. Street
Bandit started life as a Street Outlaw class with no power adders. The
family tree of Ford Mustang drag racing all have the Street Outlaw class
as their "father".
So, if the Street Outlaw class is really the backbone of Ford
heads-up racing, why is there so much controversy surrounding the class?
In a nutshell, the reason for all the controversy in Street Outlaw is
the word "progress".
Street Outlaw engines just a few years ago were making about 900
horsepower. Today, they are putting out double that, or at least they
have that potential. I think that if we had all known back then what we
know now, we would have put a halt to this "progress" on the dyno. There
would probably be restrictions in place to keep the horsepower from
going through the roof. Big superchargers, big turbos, intercoolers,
better cylinder heads, all have "progressed" into making much more power
than anyone could have predicted. Who knew?
By the time everyone realized the HP potential of the Street Outlaw
car, it was already too late. The engine restrictions similar to the
Street Renegade classes probably should have been instituted into the
Street Outlaw class, but by the time that Street Renegade was created
(1998), Street Outlaw was already out of control. In fact, take a look
at the "progress" in Street Renegade. This class was originally intended
as an "Outlaw Junior" class with primarily street/strip cars running in
the 11's. So where is Street Renegade now? Low 9's are common and
everyone expects some high 8's this year. Now I hear that there are
racers out there that want to create a "Renegade Junior" class because
they think that Street Renegade is out of control, which it probably is.
Outlaw - Past,
Present, and Future
by George Klass of Accufab Performance Parts and Accessories
January 2001
Mustang drag racing as we
know it, all started with the "Street Outlaw" class, only we didn't
realize it at the time. The early Mustang racers (pioneers like Stormin'
Norman's black convertible) basically hopped up their '87 Mustangs,
added nitrous or a blower, drove to work during the week and drag raced
on the weekends. The present "Street Outlaw" classes in FFW, NMRA, and
WFC all evolved from those early Mustangs. The 10.5" tire was the
natural "Street Outlaw tire" since it was the largest tire that would
fit into the stock wheelwell.
All of the other Heads-Up Mustang classes that we are familiar with are
an off-shoot of the Street Outlaw class. Pro 5.0 became Street Outlaw
with big tires and no mufflers. Street Renegade became Street Outlaw
with restricted horsepower. In fact, Street Renegade came into being
because some Street Outlaw racers were concerned with the costs and
speeds associated with running in the Street Outlaw class. Street Bandit
started life as a Street Outlaw class with no power adders. The family
tree of Ford Mustang drag racing all have the Street Outlaw class as
their "father".
So, if the Street Outlaw class is really the backbone of Ford heads-up
racing, why is there so much controversy surrounding the class? In a
nutshell, the reason for all the controversy in Street Outlaw is the
word "progress".
Street Outlaw engines just a few years ago were making about 900
horsepower. Today, they are putting out double that, or at least they
have that potential. I think that if we had all known back then what we
know now, we would have put a halt to this "progress" on the dyno. There
would probably be restrictions in place to keep the horsepower from
going through the roof. Big superchargers, big turbos, intercoolers,
better cylinder heads, all have "progressed" into making much more power
than anyone could have predicted. Who knew?
By the time everyone realized the HP potential of the Street Outlaw car,
it was already too late. The engine restrictions similar to the Street
Renegade classes probably should have been instituted into the Street
Outlaw class, but by the time that Street Renegade was created (1998),
Street Outlaw was already out of control. In fact, take a look at the
"progress" in Street Renegade. This class was originally intended as an
"Outlaw Junior" class with primarily street/strip cars running in the
11's. So where is Street Renegade now? Low 9's are common and everyone
expects some high 8's this year. Now I hear that there are racers out
there that want to create a "Renegade Junior" class because they think
that Street Renegade is out of control, which it probably is.
And there is no relief in site. I guess that you just can't inhibit
progress.
The problems with the Street Outlaw classes are only generally connected
to the vast progress in horsepower. The real problem is that the rules
for the Street Outlaw cars have not kept up with the engines. The
engines put out way too much horsepower for a 3200 lbs. Mustang running
on a 10.5" measured width, by 28" tire. These tires were never designed
for that kind of speed with that heavy a car.
Does this sound a little like the Firestone tire/Ford Explorer fiasco?
Fun Ford Weekend has tried to address the Street Outlaw situation by
lowering the weight (to 2800 lbs.) and increasing the tire footprint
with the larger "W" series tires. This was not done to create change for
changes sake, but rather to head off a potential safety problem
associated with the high speeds on small tires. The general FFW feeling
was that if it was too late to close down the horsepower loop holes in
Street Outlaw, the class rules needed to be amended to at least keep up
with the horsepower. "Change" is not usually a popular choice but it was
deemed to be necessary, in order to keep up with "progress".
As the 2001 drag race season begins to unfold, we already have several
Street Outlaw cars running in the high 7's, with more to follow. As more
and more Street Outlaw cars approach the mid 7's (under 7.50) a 25.1C
certified chassis will be required. Some Street Outlaw cars are already
going through this chassis up-grade, and it's not so easy. The 25.1C
chassis specifications were originally laid out around a 4-link, tube
frame car. Street Outlaw cars are mostly stock frame ladder bar cars. In
addition, 25.1C certified chassis cars typically have a non-OEM (custom)
floor pan. Street Outlaw cars are required to maintain a stock floor
pan. Street Outlaw rules as they presently exist, and 25.1C chassis
specs are not a good fit.
So, where's it going to end? I would not be surprised to see Street
Outlaw evolve into a 2800 lbs., 10.5"W, 4-link, true back-half class.
Kind of like where Pro 5.0 used to be prior to going to a full tube
chassis. In fact, maybe there are a few of the older Pro 5.0 cars out
there that could fit nicely into a "new" Street Outlaw class. A positive
byproduct of this type of car would be to have a Street Outlaw car
capable of being competitive in the several "10.5 OUTLAW" events that
don't just cater to the Mustang crowd. The new Pro 5.0 tube frame cars
would not be capable of meeting the rules for "10.5 OUTLAW" which
usually specify an OEM front end.
The purists that believe that all Mustang Street Outlaw cars need to
maintain a 10.5" measured tire will certainly complain. What else is
new? The fact that the Street Outlaw car has evolved from a 10 second
street/strip machine to an all-out 7 second race car doesn't seem to
phase some people. The "progress" problem just doesn't exist for these
guys.
The world is full of vocal people that scream "we have always done it
this way and therefore, we should always do it that way, no matter what
happens". After all, there are probably still some people out there
using DOS rather than Microsoft Windows, too.
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