As the heavily anticipated seventh running of the Street Car Super Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway kicked off on Thursday, much of focus of the drag racing community was directed toward the pursuit of the five-second zone by  a 10.5W-clad racer, of which a select few racers had expressed their intent to tackle. At last year’s SCSN, NHRA Pro Modified regular Brad Personett shocked the world with a stunning 6.08 at 250.37 MPH on 10.5W’s, and the proximity of that pass to the five’s prompted the folks at Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels to post a $1,500 bonus award at this year’s installment to the first driver to make the run using M/T 10.5W tires.

Both Brad Brand and New York’s David Hance, hot off a recent 5.79 in testing, were considered the favorites, but it was Brand that set the pace early with a killer 6.02. That elapsed, while not a sub-six, made for a new 10.5W world record, nonetheless. Saturday, the veteran Brand came oh-so-close with a 6.001, but during Sunday’s opening round of Pro Street action, Brand got the job done with an unreal 5.970 at 242.02 MPH to defeat Scott Blake. In doing so, ‘Bad Brad’ collected the $1,500 bonus from Mickey Thompson, along with a hefty sum of cash bonuses from sponsors like Precision Turbo, totaling $7,800. Just a round later, Brand met up with eventual winner Jose Gonzalez and uncorked an even quicker 5.942 that matched Gonzalez’s elapsed time, but fell by way of a slower reaction time.

In other Mickey Thompson related news, M/T-backed fan favorite racer Bill Glidden and wife Shannon made the trek out to Las Vegas with their ADRL Extreme 10.5 machine and began the weekend in Pro Street and concluded it in Outlaw 10.5 – and in the winners circle. After struggling to get his combination where it needed to be to be competitive in Pro Street, Glidden switched classes on Saturday morning and promptly went to the head of the class with a 6.54 and then meticulously worked his way through eliminations to meet NMCA and NMRA champ Mike Murillo in the money round. There, however, Murillo encountered troubles and was unable to make the call, allowing Glidden to coast down the race track and collect the money and hardware.

For more information on Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels and the champion racers who utilize their products, log on to www.mickeythompsontires.com.