Outlaw 10.5 racing continues to be one of the most popular forms of small-tire racing on the East Coast and the competition is as tough as ever. Michael Decker Jr., arguably one of the best to run in the class, has two Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 Series titles in his trophy case and multiple series records, as well. At the 2017 series finale, Decker was able to break his own elapsed time record behind the wheel of his slippery C7 Corvette with 3.951-second pass at the Cecil County Dragway, and he plans on trying to lower that number again soon.
The 2017 Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 Series was a hard-fought battle for Decker that he ultimately lost to Mo Hall, another Outlaw 10.5 superstar. Not winning the title for Decker was a disappointment, but seeing the scoreboard light up with a new record took some of the sting away.
“We’ve held the record for the last two years with a 3.958, and a 3.955 with the Camaro, but that’s pretty much on the edge of what that car can do,” Decker says.
The C7 is a Vanishing Point Race Cars-built machine like the Camaro but has many chassis updates to make the car more stable. Providing the grunt is a Brad Anderson Hemi that uses a C-rotor screw blower for boost and is backed by a Ty-Drive to change the gears as the Corvette rockets down the track. When all of these components are put together, the final product is a lethal small-tire machine capable of sub-four-second passes.
Getting the Corvette to work has been a challenge for Decker and his team, but now that they have the magic formula down they’re ready to push the car more.
“The Corvette just drives so much smoother than the Camaro during a pass. We’ve always had the power to set the record, it’s just been a matter of how much the chassis can take. A big turning point for us was working with Mark Menscer to get the car set up so it can take the power earlier in the run,” Decker explains.
The plan for the Decker Salvage team is to now prepare for the first Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 Series race held during the PDRA World Finals at the end of October. There, the team is going in with the mindset to win the race and even reset the record so they can go into the offseason on a high and kick off their 2018 championship campaign with a bang.
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