John Sears has been a proponent of small tire racing for years, while previously based in South Florida and calling Immokalee Regional Raceway his home track. The origins of the X275 class reside in the now struggling Real Street class Sears and others started in Florida. What began as a limited tire alternative to the local Stock Suspension/Drag Radial classes quickly outpaced the ET’s envisioned and dipped into the 5.30’s at the first event. Over time, rule changes had some racers frustrated that their hard work was being punished with added weight and nitrous jet limitations. After John made the move out of state, he sought to bring an updated version to his area with a more relaxed and inclusive rules package – the X275 was born.
With the recent announcement the 2010 Snowbird Outlaw Nationals will include the 2010 version of X275 interest is running high in Florida and up and down the East coast with New England Dragway, Piedmont Dragway and Rockingham Dragway singing on for next year with Atco still pending. Bradenton Motorsports Park is set to feature the class at the 2011 US Street Nationals and their October Outlaw race as well and the SHRA’s (Southern Hot Rod Association) still to be determined schedule at PBIR ( Palm Beach International Raceway) and IRR. The 2011 rules for Sunshine Dragstrip in St Pete are still to be determined and this weekend is the last Heads Up Madness race of the year under the current Real Street rules.
On a personal level I am supportive of the change and am looking forward to more cars and interest in 275 racing here in Florida. I talked with several racers at Sunshine’s Wednesday night test session about this and there are several cars in the works and one very nice Trans Am made his track debut with an F1C Procharged LSX engine under the hood. One thing for sure is that the X275 rules allow for a variety of engine combinations and power adders to be competitive which only adds further interest for fans and racers alike.