NMRA Outlaw 10.5 is brutally fast and cutthroat-competitive. Nobody knows that better than Mike Murillo, who’s built a Texas-sized legend around his Mustang racing exploits. Add another page to that book for this year’s Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, where Murillo qualified number one with a 6.797 at 215.96 MPH, won his own class in NMRA competition, then went on to victory in the Race for the Ring on Sunday.
Anybody who’s ever raced at Route 66 in July can tell you that going from the heat and humidity of the Midwest day into the still air of the evening is a tuning nightmare, but SCT-sponsored Murillo and his crew clearly had the right tools for the job, running consistently quick throughout the weekend.
Murillo ran the table in NMRA competition on Sunday, ending up in the Outlaw 10.5 final against the always-tough Conrad Scarry. While Murillo clicked off another clockwork pass with a 6.849 at 213, Scarry drifted out of the groove and had to settle for runner-up status.
The NMRA win sent Murillo up against his NMCA rival, Pro Street winner Joe Dunne. Dunne would be playing catchup in the handicapped-start Race for the Ring, and while Murillo was once again on pace with a 6.888 at 217, Dunne made a move 300 feet out and couldn’t catch up by the stripe, running 6.419.
So how do you follow up a weekend like that? How about going back-to-back with another win at the next race, the Second Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA All Star Nationals at zMAX Dragway? Once again Murillo took the pole position in the snakebit qualifying field – a 7.227 at a paltry 164.23 was good enough for number one. On Sunday, Murillo took down Dwayne James in the final round – despite a shaky launch, Murillo’s 6.983 was more than enough to reign in James’ 7.324 and give Murillo another trophy to take home to San Antonio.
Congrats to Murillo and company on two solid weekends of racing, and capturing that prestigious Super Bowl V title.