NHRA Partners With Street Outlaws Stars For 2026 Exhibition Series

In a move that would have been improbable a decade ago, the NHRA on Saturday morning announced the launch of the Right Trailers Outlaw Street Exhibition Series presented by Xpel, a new exhibition program debuting in 2026 that brings several of drag racing’s most recognizable Street Outlaws figures onto NHRA national event stages.

Revealed at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show, the series will feature eight-car qualified fields running three rounds of qualifying before semifinals and finals on Sunday. The program is designed as an exhibition class but will run within the structure of NHRA national events, placing the cars and drivers directly in front of existing NHRA fans while also attracting a new audience.

Former Street Outlaws stars Ryan Martin, Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington, and Scott Taylor are confirmed to compete at every event in the inaugural season, with additional drivers to be announced. All three emphasized that the move to NHRA was driven by a desire to keep racing — and to give fans a place to see cars that have become familiar through more than a decade of television exposure.

“We really wanted to keep these cars that people have been watching, you know, every Monday night in front of their television, and just give them a place they can still come race,” Martin says. “We didn’t want to stop doing what we’re doing. We’re racers at heart.”

Ellington echoed that sentiment, noting the pause in Street Outlaws television production made the timing right to align with NHRA. “The Street Outlaws stuff got put on pause, and we’re not going to stop racing. We’re going to go somewhere,” he says. “We wanted to bring our fan base over to y’all’s fan base and just make it as big as we possibly can.”

The series will feature steel-roof-and-quarter-panel cars that Martin says makes the cars more relatable to fans. “If you pull up next to my car, the Fireball Camaro, at a stoplight with another 2010 Camaro, the dimensions are going to be the same,” Martin says. “It’s more of a relatable car than the Pro Mods or a funny car.”

Taylor said the format will deliver a different kind of spectacle within the NHRA environment. “It’s not the traditional show up at a national event and watch Top Fuel or Comp Eliminator. It’s going to be different. And that’s a good thing.”

Despite the exhibition label, the competitors made it clear the on-track intensity will be real. “We are the most competitive three people you will ever see,” Taylor shares. “When we go out there, we’re trying to cut each other’s head off and that’s what we’re going to show everybody is how fast the steel roof and quarter cars actually are.”

NHRA officials said the series will run throughout the event weekend, with fans able to see the cars race, pit among NHRA’s professional teams, and interact with drivers without needing special access. Schedules, additional drivers, and broadcast details are expected to be announced in the coming weeks as NHRA prepares for its 75th anniversary season in 2026.