Five Takeaways from No Prep Kings at Firebird Raceway
The stars of No Prep Kings rolled into Firebird Raceway in Eagle, Idaho this past weekend with just three races remaining to clinch their spot in No Prep Elite, NPK’s four-race, 16-car playoff series. And with numerous top contenders bowing out early, the points implications were the highest we’ve seen all year.
Tricky track conditions were on full display throughout the weekend, most notably when drivers had to deal with a dust storm Friday afternoon prior to racing. But when the…ahem…dust settled on Saturday evening, the series crowned its first three-time winner of the season.
Here are my five key takeaways from No Prep Kings at Firebird Raceway.
Murder Nova Earns Third Win of 2024
Parity has been the name of the game this season, with no driver capturing more than two event wins all year. That all changed in Idaho, as Shawn Ellington wheeled his infamous Murder Nova to victory lane, earning a $30,000 payday and his third trophy of 2024.
As Ellington – who came into the event third in points – saw four of the top six drivers lose by the time first round was over on Saturday, he and his team knew they had a perfect opportunity to seize momentum for a championship run.
“We think that every weekend,” Ellington said, laughing. “We sit around and talk about it, and we say, ‘We need Giuseppe [Gentile] to draw Robin [Roberts].’ And it sucks, because I like all these guys, but I walked up to Giuseppe this weekend and said, ‘Hey, I love y’all, but I’m gonna need you guys to lose.’ Once we saw that those key guys went out – especially Robin – I knew we had to take advantage of it.”
The chip draw didn’t do Ellington any favors either, as he consistently got paired up with some of the quickest cars in NPK. A win against Jim Howe in Friday’s qualification round put Murder Nova in the winner’s bracket, where he faced Nate Sayler in round one. A win there put Ellington in a quarterfinal matchup against his good friend Jeff Lutz, where he once again advanced.
“Those are top five cars all day long,” Ellington said of his competitors. “It’s almost a joke now – Phantom (crew chief Daniel Parker) will say, ‘Okay, go draw the baddest dude up there,’ and that’s pretty much what we do. Everybody says there’s no ducks, but there’s definitely better draws than others. And Jim Howe’s not somebody that you want first round. He’s a killer off the trailer.”
In the semifinals, Ellington eliminated “Disco Dean” Karns, the only other driver in the top six in points remaining. With the points lead already in hand, Ellington defeated Clay Cole in the finals to take home the money and the trophy. All in all, it was nearly a perfect weekend for the longtime fan-favorite.
“Everything’s just coming together,” said Ellington. “I feel like we got a consistent car, a good car, and it works. Brandon Stroud is amazing at tuning. I’ve lost 40 lbs. this year, and it’s all about making the car go faster.
“We have a very tiny circle, and it’s made up basically of family,” Ellington continued. “The two guys that help Phantom out preparing the car, they’re family. One of them, Billy [Ellington], is my cousin; and Ben [Harris] is my wife’s cousin. I think the fact that we have all beat our heads against the wall for so long has made us really want this more than anything. We’re not done. The only thing we have in mind is that championship.”
Cole Pesz Nabs First NPK Win in Second-Chance Bracket
Megan Taylor photo
Cole Pesz has wasted little time making his presence known in No Prep Kings. In just his second NPK event, he took home the win in the second-chance bracket, earning $5,000 and some valuable points in his quest to sneak into the No Prep Elite field.
Pesz started off the weekend with the exact opposite of “beginner’s luck,” drawing three-time NPK champion Ryan Martin in Friday’s qualification round. Although Martin took the win in a side-by-side race, Pesz used the confidence in knowing he could run with the best NPK had to offer to mow through the second-chance bracket on Saturday.
“We were excited we drew Ryan,” Pesz said. “We’re not gonna shy away from a challenge. It doesn’t matter what their name is or who they are – when we go into the beams, there’s no intimidation. I feel like we dictated the race the way we wanted to – he’s just that fast.”
Pesz began the day by knocking off a pair of 405-veterans in James “Doc” Love and Chuck Seitsinger. He then drew the bye in the semifinals, advancing him to the final round where he would face Justin Swanstrom. While both drivers had to pedal, Swanstrom drifted towards the wall and was forced to lift. Pesz, meanwhile, corrected his ’67 Mustang (owned by Cody Sanders) and took home the win. And while Pesz was excited about the victory, he made it clear his team has bigger plans in mind.
“I’m not here to show that we belong anymore,” said Pesz. “I think we’ve already proven that. We got the second-chance win, and that’s fine, we’re happy with it. But that’s not our goal – our goal is to take two or three [event wins] in a row and really come at it hard the back half of this season. I don’t see why this thing can’t have a fairy tale ending.”
Upsets Abound in Idaho
Megan Taylor photo
Whether it was a challenging track surface, the high level of competition, or a mixture of both, upsets were the order of the day in Idaho. Four of the top six cars in points heading into the event lost in either the qualification round, or in the first round of the winner’s bracket.
The chaos started on Friday night, when Jimmy Taylor – currently out of the top 16 – beat points leader Robin Roberts. Paige Coughlin then defeated Justin Swanstrom – a minor upset as both drivers are in the top 10, but Swanstrom has an event win this season and a better year overall.
Clay Cole turned the top 10 upside down all by himself, taking out 8th place Scott Taylor Friday night, then outrunning Giuseppe Gentile – who was in second place – in the first round of the winner’s bracket.
Finally, we saw a heavyweight matchup in the first round between Kye Kelley and Ryan Martin, with Kelley picking up the win. While at first glance this may not seem like a huge upset – they are the two winningest drivers in NPK history – according to “Stat Guy” Chris LeCloux, Martin was an astonishing 22-4 against Kelley in head-to-head matchups coming into the event. From that perspective, this might’ve been the biggest upset of all.
Changes Pay Dividends for Chris Rankin
Amie Rankin photo
During NPK’s summer break, Chris Rankin made the difficult decision to switch both his car and combination, dropping his one-of-a-kind, twin-turbo Chrysler Conquest in favor of a ProLine Hemi-powered Camaro with a ProCharger on board.
The transition paid off almost immediately. In just his second event with the car – and only seven total passes – Rankin made it to the semifinals in Idaho, his best finish of the season.
The weekend didn’t start off the way he’d hoped, as he fell to Nate Sayler in Friday night’s qualification round. However, after drawing one of three lucky chips to get back into the winner’s bracket, Rankin quickly made it known that he’s a contender, knocking out Kayla Morton and Kye Kelley before a semifinal-round loss to Clay Cole.
With his impressive performance, Rankin catapulted himself into the current No Prep Elite field, moving up five spots from 20th to 15th in points.
“We definitely set out to win this puppy out here in Idaho,” Rankin said. “We had a race car; we had a damn hot rod. I gotta do a little more work on my program. We’ll get there. We had a great time and learned a tremendous amount.”
No Prep Elite
For the second week in a row, we have a new points leader – Shawn Ellington. With many of the other top contenders falling early in eliminations, Ellington took advantage, taking the number one spot with 242 points. Robin Roberts, who led the points coming into Idaho, suffered a qualification-round loss and fell to second place with 225 points.
“Disco Dean” Karns continued his steady climb towards the top, leapfrogging Ryan Martin for the fourth spot. Meanwhile, Clay Cole jumped into the top 10 with his runner-up finish. He currently sits eighth with 130 points.
The aforementioned Chris Rankin jumped into the No Prep Elite field, moving up five spots into 15th; his inclusion bumps out James “Birdman” Finney, who sits just two points out of the field. In fact, just eight points separate spots 14-20, so fans can expect a lot of fluctuating over the next two races.
Next Up: No Prep Kings is off for two weeks before heading to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 13-14.
This story was originally published on August 27, 2024.
The post Five Takeaways from No Prep Kings at Firebird Raceway first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
