During the 30th annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway last month, Danny Lowry made a 4.36-second exhibition pass in his turbocharged Outlaw 10.5 Ford Mustang. It was no record setter, but as Johnny Fenn watched from the starting line, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by a sense of pride and accomplishment.

“It was the first time an Outlaw 10.5 car had ever performed at an NHRA national event and the crowd just loved it,” the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association (ORSCA) president recalled. “Six, eight years ago there’s no way that could have happened. Our cars, our drivers, just weren’t ready, but to see an ORSCA driver out there at an NHRA event, it was very satisfying.”

During the 30th annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway last month, Danny Lowry made a 4.36-second exhibition pass in his turbocharged Outlaw 10.5 Ford Mustang. It was no record setter, but as Johnny Fenn watched from the starting line, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by a sense of pride and accomplishment.

“It was the first time an Outlaw 10.5 car had ever performed at an NHRA national event and the crowd just loved it,” the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association (ORSCA) president recalled. “Six, eight years ago there’s no way that could have happened. Our cars, our drivers, just weren’t ready, but to see an ORSCA driver out there at an NHRA event, it was very satisfying.”

A new crowd will be on hand at the track about an hour’s drive north of downtown Atlanta June 11-13, where they’ll get to see hardcore ORSCA-style, heads-up racing as part of the inaugural event for the all-doorslammer NHRA Unleashed series. Later this year, NHRA Unleashed will visit NHRA-owned facilities at Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and Gainesville, Florida.

Fenn and ORSCA will be at them, too, coordinating the drag racing portion of events that also will include an autocross competition, car corral and swap meet, and custom car show. Additionally, there will be up to four TV crews filming shows for later broadcast, including one that features college teams building and racing cars against each other, a reality-show competition to answer the age-old question, Who Wants To Be a Race Car Driver?, as well as extensive NHRA Unleashed event coverage.

“What I understand from talking to the TV people, they’re more interested in what it takes to go drag racing than they are in the actual cars,” Fenn explained. “I mean, if you have the money anybody can buy a cool car, but it takes a lot more than that to race it. So I think the emphasis in this show will be more about a combination of everything, the drag racing experience from a racer’s point of view, from a fan’s point of view, and they’ll be covering the other sections of NHRA Unleashed at the same time.

“There’s also been some talk of following some of these guys even before they get to the track, showing them at home and at their race shops getting ready to race, kind of showing the human element of what it takes to get there, showing a side of drag racing that we haven’t really seen before on TV.”

In addition to Pro Modified, NHRA Unleashed will include four established ORSCA heads-up classes racing an eighth mile: Outlaw 10.5, Limited Street, EZ Street and Modified Street, along with 8.50, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0 and 13.0 quarter-mile index classes. Fenn says pre-registration has already filled the 10- through 12-second classes, but entries of up to 40 per class are still being accepted for all others.

“Realistically, the only one that I’m concerned about getting 40 entries for is Outlaw 10.5. I’m still optimistic, though, because we’re drawing cars for NHRA Unleashed not just locally, but we’ve got a car entered from Canada, two from New York, several entered from Florida, a couple entered from Texas, so it’s refreshing to know we’re going to see cars from all over,” he said.

Though Fenn can’t state with certainty, he expects all index classes will be qualifying for 32-car fields at Atlanta and though he realizes NHRA traditionally sets 16-car fields for its heads-up competitions, he’s hoping for more.

“I’m pushing for 32-car fields there, too,” he said. “I mean, if we have 40 entries I would like to see the 32 baddest cars on the grounds race each other, wouldn’t you?”

Regardless, Fenn is encouraged by the commitment he’s seen from NHRA brass.

“They’re pulling out all the stops on this one,” Fenn stated. “One of the things that made me feel that way is them reaching out for people that have the backgrounds and have proven they can do this type of show, instead of just saying, ‘We’re the NHRA and can do this better than anyone.’

“I give a lot of the credit for that to (Atlanta Dragway General Manager) Ray Wilkings and (Gainesville Raceway Executive General Manager) Don Robertson because they got the ball rolling to make this successful. Every time I’ve called either one of them, they’ve given me exactly what I’ve asked for to get the job done.”

Fenn also is thrilled to see the race teams he’s worked with for so many years finally getting a chance to perform with the NHRA on the biggest stage in drag racing today.

“NHRA Unleashed may end up getting the credit for bringing these guys to people’s attention - and they deserve it - but I think it took a lot of work and dedication to get us to this point,” he said. “As I tell everybody, now I will be able to sit on my front porch in a rocking chair with my grandchildren someday and say, ‘You see that? I helped make that happen,’ and nobody will ever be able to take that away.”