Street Outlaws No Prep Kings rookie Nate Sayler earned his second career invitational win — the second in the last three races, in fact — in a rain-postponed final round at the U.S. 131 Motorsports Park on Sunday afternoon. Sayler defeated the season’s top-performing driver, Kye Kelley in the finale. For Sayler, it was his third final round of the season (and second of the weekend), while Kelley has won three times in four final round appearances.

Photos by Richard Rowe

While Sayler trails in the Great 8 standings — which will determine the season’s individual champion — by a wide 30-point margin, he has scored an equal number of points in the invitationals as Kelley, leading all other drivers.

Cold, rainy weather wreaked havoc on the weekend, postponing Friday’s Great 8 to Saturday, and the ultimate conclusion of the invitational to Sunday.

Nate Sayler defeated “Disco Dean” Karns to open the main event, then took down Chris Rankin and  Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington in the second round and the quarterfinals, respectively. In the semifinals, Sayler got the jump at the green and drove away rom Rich Bruder, hanging a car length on the supercharged Dodge Stratus.

Kelley, meanwhile, ousted teammate Lizzy Musi in round one, Jimmy Taylor in the second round, and Giuseppe Gentile in the quarters. Kelley drew season-long foe Damon Merchant in the semifinals, and got out to an early lead that he was able to hold onto by the slimmest of margins in an incredible drag race, to make it into yet another final round.

With the $40,000 prize on the line, Sayler and Kelley got away nearly identically, but Kelley’s Buick Regal drifted out of the groove toward the wall near mid-track — a move Sayler’s machine also made, albeit later in the run — allowing the ProCharger-boosted Nova to eek out the victory.

Kayla Morton, a contender week in and week out with the series, ended a winless drought dating back to the season opener in Ohio on Friday, scoring a Great 8 victory over Sayler. To get there, Morton defeated Merchant and Ellington, while Sayler had to get through David Gates and Lizzy Musi. It was Kayla’s second Great 8 final of the season.

In an ironic twist, Jay Boddie traded away his top drivers prior to the weekend’s festivities, sending Merchant to Kelley’s group for Chris Rankin and cash, and Sayler to Martin’s squad for the season’s top draft choice, Jerry Bird, and some dough. The two drivers entered the event the second and third highest-scoring drivers all season, and had Boddie’s camp sitting fifth in the team points largely on their backs.

After the Martin race, Kelley’s group leads the points with 1,150, 100 ahead of Dave Comstock’s team (1,050), Martin’s squad (1,040), and Ellington’s team (930).

The series will now head to Rockingham, North Carolina, and to Steele, Alabama over the next two weeks, where both the Great 8 and invitational will feature a point-and-a-half format. The season finale in Dallas, Texas will then shift to double points, setting up a dramatic run to the finish for both the individual and team championships. Mathematically, the number of points still on the line keeps nine drivers and all eight teams alive for the championships with three races remaining.