Exclusive: Drivers Revealed For NHRA SpringNats No Prep Exhibition

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In a first-of-its-kind exhibition at an NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, the small-tire stars of Redemption No Prep promoter Shannon Morgan’s Texas-based series will star at the upcoming NHRA SpringNationals at the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

Eight of the top small-tire racers in the country, as selected by Morgan, will square off on Friday, April 21st during the opening two rounds of professional qualifying in a traditional no prep format with random chip-draw pairings prior to each round and no times displayed. While the track will be prepped, the exhibition is planned to follow the professional sessions, meaning the residual clutch dust on the surface is sure to add a little bit of dicey-ness to the racing.

Kenjo Kelly (left) and Ryan Hall. Photos courtesy Chris Graves/MaxCackle Photography

“Everything is going to be just like a no prep race, except for the obvious fact that the track will be prepped,” Morgan says. “It’s all the same drivers, same cars, same personalities that compete at Redemption.”

“The NHRA reached out to me about putting this on. It’s all going to run under the Redemption name — they asked ‘will Redemption come?’ ”

The list of competitors will include popular Street Outlaws star Chris “BoostedGT” Hamilton, Craig “No Leg Craig” Ofarrel, Chase “The Kid Chase” Kurszewki, Dui Buy in “White Rice”, “Roxie” Ryan Hall, Kyle Thompson, small-tire veteran Kenjo Kelly, and Cody Jones, with no prep heavy hitter Sergio “Flaco” Gonzalez on-hand serving as the alternate.

The eight racer will be vying for a $5,000, winner-take-all payday thank to the support of Laris Motorsports Insurance.

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“No Leg Craig’s” familiar Chevrolet S-10 pickup.

“One of the hardest things about this whole deal was that I could only pick eight cars, and there are 40-plus guys that deserve to be in that eight. It was such a hard thing for me to narrow it down to eight cars. I had a lot of racers hit me up about it, but I based my decision on numerous things — are they Redemption racers, do they represent us well, can they talk and meet with the fans. I didn’t want all Mustangs or all turbo cars, and I tried to choose cars that were sort of evenly-matched and could put on good side-by-side races. I wanted to show the diversity that we have as a group, so we’ve got S-10’s, Firebirds, old Camaro’s, and even a ricer,” she explains.

As part of the unique partnership that combines two vastly different but equally entertaining approaches to the sport of drag racing, the NHRA is offering a special $10-off code to spectators for the Friday qualifying show, by entering “REDEMPTION” when purchasing your tickets online.

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Chase “The Kid Chase” Kurszewki’s brand new Pontiac Firebird.

The eight competitors will be given a lone hit at the track for testing on Friday morning and will then contest their three rounds of eliminations amid the rounds of professional qualifying, culminating with a final round in primetime in front of the thousands of expected fans at the Houston-area strip. According to Morgan, the NHRA will be providing the no prep stars with a prime spot in the pit area near Nitro Alley, where the cars will remain on display through the remainder of the weekend.

Kyle Thompson (left) and Cody Jones. Photos courtesy Chris Graves/MaxCackle Photography

If all goes smoothly, the NHRA has expressed interest in having Morgan bring eight of her big tire superstars to the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas in mid-October, as well. “That will be awesome if we get to do that, because it falls two weeks before our year-end Redemption race at Ennis, so we could get in front of that crowd and get them to come back and see our cars.”

For Morgan, the Baytown event is an unparalleled opportunity to put not only her Redemption brand, but the genre of no prep racing as a whole in front of a mainstream drag racing audience that perhaps has yet to be exposed to it.

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Duy Bui in the “White Rice”, a turbocharged, 2JZ-powered Nissan.

“If this puts us in front of even 500 people that didn’t know about us that we can turn into fans, then this is a great thing. Even if they can’t come to a race this year because they spent all their money on the NHRA race, if they start following us and watching the live feeds and come to a race in the future, then it’s a win-win. It’s just a smokin’ opportunity for us.”

“Our guys aren’t the hush-hush corporate type of racers; they’re the meat and potatoes of racing. We don’t operate in the corporate world where the drivers have to watch what they say to each other — it makes drag racing exciting.”

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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