Drag Illustrated Issue 150, November 2019 | Page 26

Dirt The aforementioned pass during eliminations was filmed (and went viral) during a KOTS event at Morocco, which clearly shows a car encroach- ing the centerline after a wild, eighth-mile wheel- ie, only to have the gutsy driver gather the car up, get back in his own lane and actually pass his opponent to trip the win light, which stood as the official outcome. “I encourage people to drive, but discourage them from being morons,” Eckhardt says. This style of racing has evolved from the earli- est days of flashlight starts to manual tree starts, but it’s gotten to the point that the serious racers who flock to these events aren’t terribly concerned with the hustle anymore, they merely want a good race. “Instant green has been popular for a long time, but the real fast guys really just prefer a conventional .400 Pro tree,” Eckhardt says. This environment has captured the interest and passion of racers like Mike Murillo, who earned 14 championships within the ranks of organized racing before being enticed by the high-energy antics of the no-prep world. “I actually grew up on no-prep, I just didn’t know it at the time!” laughs Murillo, who honed his skills on some small and sketchy tracks while growing up in Texas. Murillo made the trip to Wisconsin to com- pete in the most recent running of the Anarchy- branded race, held September 14. “An interesting cast of characters is what makes the world go around, and no-prep has capitalized on the heroes and villains within their arena,” observes Murillo. The event attracted well-known names within the no-prep community such as Jim Strang and Joey Rabiloa, better known as Boost 12, who’s won events all across the country. Ryan Hen- derson and Tony V were also in attendance. “We had some heavy hitters here this weekend,” says Eckhardt, as he listed no fewer than nine states that were represented at Great Lakes. Amazingly, all 14 classes within Anarchy were engineered by Eckhardt to be run from start to finish in an approximately 9-hour window on a single Saturday. It helps that Eckhardt has loads of experience in running major events as a staging lane coordinator, sending upwards of 300 cars through the lanes by himself. “A lot of people thought running 14 classes was insane and didn’t mind telling me as much,” he says, “but I like showing them that they’re wrong!” He designed Anarchy No Prep to circulate a constant flow of cars, so continu- ous, in fact, Eckhardt has actually fielded letters from fans complain- ing that they have no time to visit the restroom! Eckhardt also arranged the se- ries to be an even split between quarter-mile and eighth-mile competition, with seven classes for each application. All classes are heads-up and no time, with the lone exception of the brand-new ladies’ class, which is a collaboration with Car Chix founder Jeanette DesJardins. “This new ladies’ class is a bracket class, but we call it a ‘blind bracket’ because the dial-in isn’t displayed on the boards,” says Eckhardt. If there’s one noticeable difference between Anarchy and the KOTS backdrop that proceeded it, the former had a much grittier edge in the way things were done. “It was good, but for me I think the time had passed,” Eckhardt says. “I’m sure the fact that I’m older and have three kids is a factor. The idea now is to make it more family friendly. That’s what I believe it needs to keep it going...people need to know they can bring their kids out here.” Eckhardt has complete control of the organi- zation and is the established general within the Anarchy army, but he’s quick to dish praise on his team, which starts with Nick Frank. “Nick has been an understudy of mine for years,” says Eckhardt, who also gets assistance from Mark “Outplayn” Neely, James Dodaro, Luke Eckhardt and Mike Sarauer. Eckhardt is intent on keeping Anarchy No Prep true to its roots of low entry and big payouts, and for the fans of this genre, he’s steadfast on TM selling them an experience he believes will be unlike any other. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI NEW from the World Leader in Thermal Protection DI DI DI TM TM •DURABLE •SERVICEABLE •EXPANDABLE PO Box 96 Greenwich, OH 44837 [phone] [email protected] www.ThermoTec.com 26 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com MODULAR COOLERS The ONLY completely modular cooling system on the market for any vehicle fluid TM Expand the cooling capacity of intercoolers, oil cooling systems, transmission, power steering, or fuel. We are the INNOVATORS not the imitators Issue 150 ANARCHY NO PREP