Ryan Martin Makes History With First-Ever True 10.5 Pass In The 3’s

Former Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings star Ryan Martin achieved what may be one of the last great doorslammer drag racing barriers on Wednesday, recording the first sub 4-second pass in history on a true 28×10.5-inch slick tire. Martin, driving his familiar red Chevrolet Camaro that powered him to so many major wins on the streets on the Discovery Channel and with the NPK circuit, sailed right past the benchmark, clocking a 3.949 at 198.73 MPH while testing at the Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.

True 10.5 racing took backseat to radial tire racing in the early to mid 2010’s with the rise of DuckX Productions events and an explosion of other radial-only contests, and all-out development efforts, and the latest and greatest machines being built likewise navigated away from slick tire racing.

True 10.5 racing only saw a resurgence in recent years in the fledgling small-tire no-prep drag racing scene. But with participation declining in some radial venues, no-prep racers looking to go class racing, and NPK’s run ending, some momentum has swung back in favor of the more forgiving 28- and 33-inch tall, 10.5-inch wide tires. Over the last couple of seasons, the mark to beat was ushered into the 4-teens and reportedly the 4.0s, receiving little fanfare as racers quietly pressed closer to the 3-second zone.

The largest true 10.5 race in perhaps a couple of decades was held at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton in December, turning out a large field of strong-running machines in a clocks-off format, including Martin, Larry Larson, Cole Pesz, Ryan Hendrickson, Memphis Raines, and others. Despite the presence of cars that had been 3.70s on big tires in the past, the event, reportedly, but unconfirmed to have, failed to produce a run under 4 seconds in competition.

Martin and esteemed tuner Jamie Miller ensured no one officially got to the mark before they did ahead of the upcoming U.S. Street Nationals, which will be a clocks-on affair, setting the screw-blown combination up this week to go after the mark. Now, Martin owns yet another piece of history no one can ever take away from him.