This weekend saw dramatic racing at the 2nd Annual Outlaw Armageddon No Prep Invitational at Thunder Valley Raceway Park just south of Oklahoma City. This event turned heads in a big way last summer, setting the bar for the world's largest no prep event in history this year. Over 200 cars were on the property this year ready to battle for huge payouts and bragging rights including $30,000 to win big tire and $20,000 to win small tire with a total payout of over $80,000 in cash!

This is a true no prep affair with absolutely zero traction compound applied to the racing surface. All developed rubber on the strip had been scraped off prior to the start of the race, and cars were only allowed to do burnouts using their preferred mixture of "pimp juice" which is typically a blend of traction compound and alcohol. This mixture is used to achieve tire spin on the beginning of burnout while applying the traction compound to the starting line during the burnout process. Cars were staged by the official starter, who lined them up to a painted mark on the track surface. Then, a flashlight sends the cars off the line. Video replay was used in close calls both on the starting line and finish line, to assure the correct winners were chosen.

Names like Shawn Ellington in "Murder Nova", "Daddy Dave" Comstock, Kye Kelley, Chuck Seitsinger, Jeff Lutz, Larry Larson and "Birdman" James Finney were automatically in the 32 car shootout on Saturday by invitation, but a healthy field of Big Tire entries were in action Friday night trying to "race their way in" to the Saturday feature in a Friday night all run eliminator. "Boosted GT" Chris Hamilton, John Andrade Sr., "Kamikazi Chris" Day and many more make up the headliners in the small tire contingent consisting of over 50 entries from across the country.

Racing got started on Friday with True Street racers returning from their mandatory 35 mile cruise, then heading to the lanes for the first round pairings. True Street rounds dwindled down to the final pair, Stefan Slisz and Blake Hughes, but rain postponed all remaining racing to Saturday.

Slisz and Hughes squared off under cloudy skies and cool temperatures early Saturday afternoon in a splendid True Street final. Both cars were off the line clean but began spinning the tires near half-track. Slisz had the best handle on the track and powered his way to the $5,000 pay day taking home yet another big money no prep win to add to his impressive totals this year already.

Big Tire "race your way in" drivers put on a thrilling set of rounds Friday night before rain ended the action in the semi-finals with three drivers remaining, including Gaylen Smith's screw blown "Texas Bounty Hunter" Pro Mod, Butch Demoss' "Texas Twister" blown Pro Mod from Oklahoma, and Brent Austin's wicked 1969 Camaro from Virginia. Austin took out Demoss in the first pair down the track on Saturday to move to the final round against Smith. Smith benefitted from the bye run in the odd numbered ladder to breeze into the final.

The winner here not only scored a spot in the feature 32-car Invitational field, but also padded their pocket with $10,000 in cash! At the hit of the flashlight the cars were off the line together and Smith took a slight lead, winning by a slim, half-a-car margin earning his way into the Invitational, and collecting the $10K in the process.

In Outlaw Street, Casey Rance and his turbo LSX-powered 240SX, met Steve Sicking's "Blue Nightmare" blown 1926 Ford coupe in the final round. Rance took the launch, and never looked back, taking Outlaw Street honors by several car lengths, and collecting the $5,000 purse.

In Small Tire, it came down to Joey Rabiola, in the "Boost12" Ford Mustang from Chicago, and Sergio "Flaco" Gonzales in his Chevy S-10 from Pasadena, Texas. At the hit, Gonzales spun. A strong mid-track charge got him close, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Mustang at the stripe, and the margin of victory was just a few feet. The Small Tire crown went to Chicago as Rabiola tallied another impressive no prep victory to his resume.

There were many upsets in opening round of the 32-car Invitational field. Shawn Ellington's "Murder Nova", John Andrade's "The Cutty", Jerry Johnston's "Sinister Split Bumper" and Joe "Dominator" Woods all suffered first round losses. Favorites including Kye Kelley's "Shocker", Mike Murillo's "Lafawnda", David Jones "Bad Bird", Ryan Taggart's "Swamp Thing", Brent Austin's "Megalodon", Jermaine "Boddie" and Korey Peters' "Hellanor" all also bowed out in the opening round. "Daddy Dave" Comstock, James "Birdman" Finney, James "Doc" Love, Larry Larsen, James Goad's "Reaper SS" and Chuck Peters "55" among others all met their demise in the second and quarterfinal rounds.

Heading into the semi-finals, three of the four cars remaining were "race your way in" entries that had wiped out the Invitational field. Mike Henson's Oklahoma based turbocharged 2002 Corvette, Plan B, paired up with Gaylen Smith's screw-blown "Texas Bounty Hunter" Pro Mod. In a close one, Smith's 1957 Chevy took the win by a car and a half to secure his spot in the final round. The second semi-final pair saw Steve Wiley facing off against Jerry Bird's nitrous assisted Ford Probe. Bird had not only raced his way in Friday night, but took out an impressive stack of Invitational racers on his way to the semis. Wiley, who had also raced his way in on Friday night, was the hands down favorite based on horsepower alone and took the win by several car lengths ending a solid run for Jerry Bird.

A pair of Texas-based, screw-blown Outlaw Pro Mods were set for the finale of the Big Tire Invitational, which certainly wasn't what the local Street Outlaws fans predicted earlier in the day. At the flashlight, Wiley had a small starting line advantage that he extended to take the win by a car-and-a-half.

Wiley's team had put ten hard laps on the car in just over 24 hours and those rounds weren't easy as the crew had thrashed to replace a piston, sleeve, and a cylinder head between round two and three on Saturday in less than an 45 minutes. Wiley headed back home to Burleson, Texas $30,000 richer as their hard word had paid off well.

"It's really cool to win at an event as huge as Armageddon and it certainly wasn't easy. There's a full field of really quick cars and great drivers here so for us to take the win tonight really feels good. A lot of people think this is easy, but without a great crew like mine, it just doesn't happen. I can't thank my team enough. I also need to give special thanks to my sponsors Pusher Racing, Jimmy Prescher Roofing, Clark Brothers Paint and Body, Brandt Electrical, Freight Central Logistics and Snow Man Mechanical," said Wiley.

Almost immediately, smack talk erupted between racers and fans alike about whether Pro Mods should be permitted to compete in events like this, a firestorm Wiley himself helped kick start after his $50,000 win in March at San Antonio. Arguments from one side insist the Pro Mod style cars should not be allowed to compete against the more traditional street style backhalf cars, while the other side favors a true outlaw-style approach of run-what-you-brung.

When asked his opinion, Wiley said, "I think it's mostly the guys who don't have racecars and have never raced in their life that complain the most. The drivers and teams competing here are all good hard working folks, and we had to beat stiff competition and multiple other Pro Mod style cars here today to earn the win. The real sportsmen here don't have a problem with who they have to race because to be the best, you have to beat the best, and that's the attitude I like to bring to race day. There may be promoters who will start limiting the blowers or adding weight, but we will do whatever we are asked to do and be ready for the next one."

The debate over Pro Mods in no prep and small tire racing is will only get louder before it's ultimately resolved. There's no doubt that Pro Mods certainly dominated Outlaw Armageddon 2016, however. Congratulations to all the winners and a big thumbs up to the promoters and staff at Thunder Valley Raceway Park on a successful weekend.