This week would appear to have marked the end of an era in small-tire drag racing, as the NMRA (and presumably the NMCA) have announced changes in the race distance for the popular Street Outlaw category, moving from the full quarter-mile to an eighth-mile contest in an effort to draw in additional competitors from the 275 radial tire ranks.

The 275 drag radial market, and particularly those cars that fall into the X275 eliminator, make up one of, if not the single largest collection of cars in the country, and ProMedia officials hope this historic step will provide a shot in the arm to the class.

“This has been a big decision for our staff as the identity of NMRA has always been branded as a quarter-mile sanctioning body,” said Rollie Miller, Event Division director. He continued, “The market has changed dramatically and our motivation to redefine our quickest 275 radial class was to attract more racers who aren’t setup for the quarter-mile. We want our Street Outlaw racers to line-up against whatever the 275 radial market has to offer and duke it out. Our racers are top caliber racing teams and by adjusting the distance, we want to put them up against everyone else.”

Street Outlaw, as many know, was born of the NMRA’s Super Street Outlaw category, which at one time was among the hottest things going in drag racing, with full fields and cars coming out of the woodwork to compete. The class was been quarter-mile from day one, and that carried over in 2013 when it transitioned to Street Outlaw — despite such widespread interest in eighth-mile 275 racing at the time.

An official announcement hasn’t been made yet in regards to the NMCA side, but we can presume that with the classes operating as twins, the series will also transition to the shorter distance. Such a move wouldn’t be the NMCA’s first move to eighth-mile racing in order to entice the nations’ top racers.

“Last year we added the Mickey Thompson Radial Wars and that is an eighth-mile eliminator, showing that we aren’t afraid to do what it takes to adapt to the changing market,” said Miller.

As pointed out in the press release, Street Outlaw is not a direct crossover to X275, as larger blowers (4.399-inch) and turbos (94mm) are permitted in Street Outlaw. However, those with smaller power adders do earn weight breaks to make them competitive, and that fact should be attractive to potential new racers. With the combinations as they are, Street Outlaw should be a class consistently in the 4.40s and 4.50s, with some of the more standout runs dipping into the 4.30s.

The (unofficial) record books will show that Phil Hines closed out the quarter-mile era in NMRA Street Outlaw with the best run of 6.80-seconds, while Eric Gustafson did the deed on the NMCA side with his 6.82 mere days before the reveal of the mid-season rules adjustments.