Mike Murillo understands he has a tough decision to make regarding his future. The 13-time champion in street legal style drag racing faces a choice of sticking to his newfound path in motorsports and walking away from a career in sanctioned drag racing. Or, walking away from one of the hottest trends appearing on television just to keep his NHRA driving credentials.

Regardless of which way he goes, he loses. These choices don't set well for a drag racer who built a reputation for winning.

Murillo was one of a handful of participants in the Discovery Channel's Street Outlaw reality series to receive a letter informing him participation in the show was against NHRA personal conduct rules. The letter penned by the NHRA's Josh Peterson also said future participation in the event could lead to suspension of their NHRA driving privileges at their sanctioned facilities.

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Mike Murillo understands he has a tough decision to make regarding his future. The 13-time champion in street legal style drag racing faces a choice of sticking to his newfound path in motorsports and walking away from a career in sanctioned drag racing. Or, walking away from one of the hottest trends appearing on television just to keep his NHRA driving credentials.

Regardless of which way he goes, he loses. These choices don't set well for a drag racer who built a reputation for winning.

Murillo was one of a handful of participants in the Discovery Channel's Street Outlaw reality series to receive a letter informing him participation in the show was against NHRA personal conduct rules. The letter penned by the NHRA's Josh Peterson also said future participation in the event could lead to suspension of their NHRA driving privileges at their sanctioned facilities.

"This is the epitome of a no-win situation," said Murillo. "This is clearly bullying from the NHRA. What they are doing here is uncalled for. It's not necessary. At the same time, I cannot take the chance of being banned by any tracks let alone, those sanctioned by the NHRA. They have put guys like me in a position where we have to choose."

A large part of Murillo's apprehension comes from his forthcoming participation in another reality series he says will be called House of Grudge. The show will bring the color and atmosphere of grudge racing to various tracks around the country, and some he said, are sanctioned by NHRA. HOUSE OF GRUDGE FACEBOOK PAGE

"What will this do for me, if I am banned from coming through the front door [of any track]? Murillo asked. "If I am banned, and then the track lets me in, they stand to lose too."

Murillo said his pathway to the Street Outlaws show largely was because the style of racing he participated in and had mastered was in serious decline. He decided after winning dual titles in NMCA and NMRA, he'd reached an extreme state of burnout.

"It was non-stop racing from 2007 to 2012," Murillo explained. "We raced 15 to 20 times a year, all over the country. All the while I was dragging my family with me. I also hurt my business because I was gone."

In 2013, Murillo decided he wanted to chart a new pathway in drag racing and landed a driving job behind the wheel of a Pro Modified  car on the now-defunct Xtreme Drag Racing League series.

"I was approached by Todd Moyer, who had a two-car Pro Modified team, and I didn't hesitate to take him up on the offer," Murillo said. "Who wouldn't? Who wouldn't take a job driving a car on someone else's dime? I jumped all over it."

Murillo only needed three races with the new team to realize the excitement level of the cars didn't jibe with the number of spectators there to watch them perform.

"We had the baddest dudes to drive these bad cars and yet there were only maybe 100 people in the stands," Murillo said. "What's wrong with this picture?"

The picture was painted clearer shortly for Murillo as he and Moyer went to Houston Raceway Park, a smaller venue in Houston, Texas known for its grudge and outlaw racing, for testing. They had hoped to get their test runs completed and leave before the evening's scheduled grudge racing clientele arrived.

"We didn't get out of the there in time," said Murillo.

And maybe it was fate.

"What really blew my mind, is in all of this, the clocks were turned off," Murillo recalled. "That just so went against what I was used to. Who goes and watches a drag race when you don't even know what they are running? Then there was the crowd. It opened my eyes."

Three weeks later the X-DRL folded.

Out of a ride, Murillo accepted a request from a group of lesser known racers to help them in their racing efforts in Oklahoma. Those racers were friends who comprised the Street Outlaws.

"Who would have known they would have a show with two-and-a-half million people watching?" Murillo asked.

The current situation is where Murillo faces his crossroads.

"The parallels between what grudge racers are doing and the Street Outlaws series, are very close to one another," Murillo said. "A lot of it has to do with drama, characters, action and the NHRA had better figure out what it is going to take to get these butts in the stands. I will tell you the Street Outlaws and Grudge Racing scene has it figured out."

Murillo couldn't say with certainty the issue could have been resolved if the letters didn't become public. He did say he's heard from sources, but couldn't verify, the NHRA did initially reach out to possibly rectify the situation but to no avail.

"Just my opinion, I think they [NHRA] got offended," Murillo said.

Murillo has said he's got too much at stake at this point to take a chance of losing his NHRA credentials, yet still came short of saying he's throwing in the towel.

"You know, I started out my career racing on the streets but now I cannot afford to throw away my livelihood for a cause that I don't know if it is worth it or not," Murillo said. "I wish I could be more defiant. But I cannot take the chance. It doesn't mean I agree. I have to look out for me, and my family."

He now focuses his attention on House of Grudge, in which filming begins next month.

"If one of the tracks is an NHRA one, and I go to my partner and tell him I cannot go into this track, how is that going to work out?" Murillo asked. "I'm not even a full-time member on the [Street Outlaws] show."

Murillo believes he has an obligation to stand up for his fellow Street Outlaws cast members, whether he participates or not in future episodes.

'I do have to stand up for my brothers, I love those guys," Murillo said. "I'm just in a bad situation."

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