Ten races into his sophomore season with the Street Outlaws No Prep Kings, and his first as part of the invitational driver lineup, Montana native Nate Sayler scored his first career victory Saturday evening at the Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio.

Photo by Richard Rowe

Sayler, who first joined the series’ Future Street Outlaws program with his Larry Jeffers Race Cars-built Chevrolet Nova last summer before getting the call up to the main event this season, defeated a surging Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington in the final round.

Sayler drew early season contender Scott Taylor in round one, He then defeated an always-tough John Odom and his Nissan GT-R in the second round. Odom made a drag race out of it, trailing the sleek Nova of Sayler across the stripe by little more than a car length. His quarterfinal matchup was a pivotal one, as he drew one of the favorites in Kayla Morton and her “Hot Mess Express” Ford Mustang. After nearly identical jumps at the green, Morton got crossed up early and swapped lanes, as Sayler’s Lee White-tuned, Pro Line-powered, ProCharger-boosted machine sailed off into the semifinal-round.

Sayler drew a resurgent Jeff Lutz in the semifinals, and again simply powered away with a straight and clean run, as Lutz and his twin-turbo Pontiac GTO drifted out by the guardrail, forcing him to lift.

Ellington, meanwhile, took care of fellow 405 native Joe “Dominator” Woods, Ohio’s own Tony McKinney and Paige Coughlin, in rounds two and three, respectively, and Kallee Mills in the semifinals, setting up the winner-take-all finale. The matchup that was guaranteed to deliver a first-time invitational winner regardless of who turned on the lamp.

For Ellington, it was his second final round in as many nights, and his third in the last four in the series, after struggling through the early part of the season. After securing the first Great 8 victory of his career last weekend in Las Vegas, Ellington backed it up with a second victory in the Friday night program at Dragway 42. For the second Great 8 in a row, he powered his familiar Chevrolet Nova past runaway favorite Kye Kelley in the opening round, then Robin Roberts in the semifinals, and Lizzy Musi in the finale.

Photo by Richard Rowe

In his bid to run the table on the weekend, however, Ellington simply didn’t have enough race car for Sayler, but made a drag race worth the price of admission out of it, the two locked together less than half a car length apart as they crossed the stripe at over 200 mph.

“We did it! I have to thank my incredible team because without them putting in the work none of this would be possible. We all did our jobs today and came out on top!” said Nate Sayler following his first win, a victory he confidently told DRAGZINE a season ago would come.

Sayler had appeared in one other final round, at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky early this summer, in a matchup he dropped to another of the 405’s own, “Daddy Dave” Comstock. Sayler ran his overall invitational record to 20-9 on the season, tying him for third with Lizzy Musi for most points accumulated. Sayler is likewise in a three-way tie for sixth in the Great 8 standings, with Musi and Damon Merchant. Despite two early exits in a row for Kelley after his sweep of the Denver race, he remains the leader by a country mile in the Great 8 standings.

Where it matters most, Sayler gave his Jay Boddie-led team, and Ellington his own squad, a boost in the team points, putting them within striking distance of Comstock’s team for second-place. The Boddie camp has more final round appearances (five) than any team other than Kelley’s, and is tied for second in event wins (two).

>> SEE SAYLER’S NOVA CLOSE-UP IN THIS DRAGZINE EXCLUSIVE FEATURE

The No Prep Kings series will continue next weekend at Reading, Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway, with subsequent stops at Martin, Michigan, Benson, North Carolina, Steele, Alabama, and Ennis, Texas to close out the campaign.