ROCKINGHAM — Scott Taylor soared to a sunset win over Clay Cole on Saturday as “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings” invaded Rockingham Dragway.
Taylor was presented the trophy at the start line by Chris “BoostedGT” Hamilton, who called the races during the second round of the No Prep Elite championship series.
“We’re super stoked to win the finals here,” Taylor said after posing for photos and signing autographs from a few of the several thousand fans who came out to the show — wearing a Kye Kelley shirt.
“The track was a little tricky,” Taylor said about the relatively new surface at the Rock. “It’s stickier than what we’re normally used to … a lot of drivers (were) able to change over their cars real quick and adapt to the situation. Some cars went really fast here this weekend.
Taylor has been drag racing for 25 years and has been with No Prep Kings since the beginning.
“We were here a couple of years ago and we lost by a few inches then,” Taylor said about the 2022 race at Rockingham. “We knew we wanted to come back and show out.”
And that’s what he did with his 4,000-horsepower 2021 Chevrolet Camaro.
“It’s tough,” Taylor said when asked if he thought he’d pull out a win. “It’s 16 of the baddest cars on the planet.”
During the final showdown, Cole veered left out of the right lane into the centerline just before the left lane board flashed a “W” for Taylor.
“We were side by side from when we let go of the button,” Taylor said about the pass against Cole. “I was looking at blue the whole trip. It was THE drag race of the day and I feel like it deserved to be the finals.
“He did a great job driving and I have never worried about Clay Cole driving that race car, he’s one heck of a driver,” Taylor said.
Like many other drivers at the track this weekend, Taylor’s car featured a sticker honoring the late Lizzy Musi, a fellow Street Outlaws star who passed away in late June at the age of 33 from breast cancer.
“She was definitely a big part of Team NOLA, so it was a huge loss for our team and family,” Taylor said about Musi, whose father Pat Musi was on site for the racing.
Between races, BoostedGT passed the time interacting with the crowd — including one fan, referred to as “Ms. Modelo,” who drank two shots of rum from a shoe and two beers from a boot.
Murder Nova (Shawn Ellington) was in the lead after the first event in the championship series at Tulsa Raceway Park in Oklahoma, the previous week. However, he fell to Nate Sayler in the first round.
Drivers were paired off for their passes after drawing numbers from a bucket.
The first round also saw Taylor best Kelley, Cole over Chris Rankin, Disco Dean over Kayla Morton, Jim Howe over Guiseppe Gentile, Paige Coughlin over Justin Swanstrom, Ryan Martin over Bobby Ducote, and Robin Roberts over Jeff Lutz.
In the second round, it was Cole taking out Martin, Taylor getting the win over Howe, Roberts besting Sayler and Disco Dean winning against Couhglin.
Cole was able to outrun Dean in the semifinals to face Taylor, who knocked out Roberts.
Although he placed second at the Rock, Cole is now the points leader, as the crew now heads to Alabama International Raceway for the third round, then to Texas Motorplex for the season finale.
This coming weekend, Rockingham Dragway hosts the NHRA Southeast Division 2 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and National Open, followed by the 33rd annual Jim McLure All Harley World Finals Oct. 25-27.
Visit the Dragway’s website and social media accounts for other events on the schedule for this year.
See more photos from the Street Outlaws event on the RO’s Facebook page. Additional local photos from Terry Clark, Robbie Singelary and Sam Cook can be seen at visitrichmondcounty.com.
