Get ready the Outlaw 8.5-inch Racing Craziness Is Headed Your Way

The folks at Mickey Thompson Tires felt they had heard it all. The racer on the other end of their tech line was making a suggestion for an improved design on a tire that is not among their common fast doorslammer product line.

“We’ve had a request to beef up our 26 X 8.5 X 15,” said Ken Warner, Vice President/Sales - Marketing at Mickey Thompson Tires. “We have requests from some racers who really want us to raise the bar in this arena. They want us to make this a stiff wall tire.”

Yes, that’s right, Outlaw 8.5-inch tire racing is in the formative stages.

Get ready the Outlaw 8.5-inch Racing Craziness Is Headed Your Way

The folks at Mickey Thompson Tires felt they had heard it all. The racer on the other end of their tech line was making a suggestion for an improved design on a tire that is not among their common fast doorslammer product line.

“We’ve had a request to beef up our 26 X 8.5 X 15,” said Ken Warner, Vice President/Sales - Marketing at Mickey Thompson Tires. “We have requests from some racers who really want us to raise the bar in this arena. They want us to make this a stiff wall tire.”

Yes, that’s right, Outlaw 8.5-inch tire racing is in the formative stages.

“I’m hearing more and more about it,” Warner said. “It’s about as crazy as having a guy put as much horsepower in the car as a 10.5 W tire can take being the limiting factor,” said Warner. “It’s all crazy but plenty of exciting action from the grandstands. When you get the tire as the limiting factor, you are pushing the limits.”

Those limits, Warner said, are already being pushed by those running in the Outlaw 10.5-inch tire arena.

We’ve got a good tire but they are asking for something different. We need to find out whether this is serious so we begin development or say hey, throw a tube in it. - Mickey Thompson VP Ken Warner

“I think is another level of challenge,” Warner said. “This could be, depending on the rules, a lesser expensive version of 10.5 tire racing.”

The costs of 10.5 tire racing are well on their way to rivaling Pro Stock racing. That’s why many of the racers are studying a different avenue to race fast.

Mickey Thompson’s 8.5-inch tire comes only in a 26-inch diameter.

“They want it to be stiffer because they want to hammer it,” Warner said. “Essentially this is a bracket racing tire, a tire you can bolt on Mom’s station wagon.”

If you’re wondering the normal use for the 8.5-inch tire, how about a U/Stock Automatic or a car with an unmodified fenderwell like a Chevy II or Ford Falcon. Sources indicate these cars will most likely command 800 horsepower and 5-second runs in the eighth-mile.

Warner stands assured that he’s not just chasing shadows, but the level of demand will depend on how involved he gets.

“What kind of development, sanctioning body and specs – that’s what I need to get my arms around,” Warner said. “We’ve got a good tire but they are asking for something different. We need to find out whether this is serious so we begin development or say hey, throw a tube in it.”