Drag Illustrated Issue 129, January / February 2018 | Page 34

Dirt
New Year Brings Championship
Hopes to Ultra Street Racers
By Tyler Crossnoe
in 2018, but limited to a jet restric-
tion. With the limitations on power
adders, naturally aspirated cars can
still have a place to race and run up
front, as Alex Hays is the current Ul-
tra Street elapsed-time world record
holder with a 4.69 in his all-motor
Ford Mustang.
At the end of 2017, Sears and
the Ultra Street crew had all power
adder combinations withi n a half-
tenth of a second, creating some of
the best side-by-side racing in the
drag radial world. Moving into the
new year, plenty of the class’s biggest
and toughest competitors have their
sights set on the inaugural champi-
onship series and their first chance
at winning a title. There are nine
select events across the country that
have been highlighted to gain points
for the class, but each contestant can
only claim five events towards their
year-end total. Several racers are
not able to travel due to this being
a working man’s radial class, and
the decision was made to take the
top five events where more racers
will have a chance at year-end su-
premacy.
DI DI DI
2018 Ultra Street Shootout Series Season Schedule
US Street Nationals: Bradenton Motorsports Park, January 26-28
Lights Out 9: South Georgia Motorsports Park, February 15-18
Takedown: Darlington Dragway, March 8-10
Outlaw Street Car Reunion: Beech Bend Raceway Park, April 18-22
Prize Fight: Ohio Valley Dragway, June 14-16
YellowBullet Nationals: Cecil County Dragway, August 31-September 2
Shakedown at the Summit: Summit
Motorsports Park, September 14-16
No Mercy 9: South Georgia Motorsports Park, September 26-30
World Street Nationals: Orlando Speed
World Dragway: November 9-11
E
very racer has long-
time goals that revolve
around bringing home
a coveted championship
at the end of a hard-fought season.
In the past, many classes would not
have that opportunity due to not
being run in a formed series or orga-
nization. In 2017, John Sears opened
a new door in outlaw drag racing,
offering a championship series for
his X275 category, which spread like
wildfire over the entire class, even
in different parts of the country due
to event zoning. In 2018, Sears has
stretched his championship series
into his other creation, Ultra Street.
Ultra Street is another one of the
popular 275 drag radial categories,
but the class is limited to a step be-
low the world-renowned Pro 275
tire from Mickey Thompson Per-
formance. Most racers are running
the ET Street R tire from M/T or
the equivalent from Hoosier Rac-
ing Tires. The power adder combi-
nations are very limited with tur-
bocharger and supercharger sizes.
Nitrous oxide is limited on a small
block to one kit, while big blocks are
being added to the nitrous oxide fold
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
34 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 129