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Five Takeaways from No Prep Kings in Las Vegas

With the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas in the background, the stars of No Prep Kings battled at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in search of their own personal jackpot.

Justin Swanstrom continued his incredible month, capturing nearly $300,000 in winnings and side bets in the past two weeks. Meanwhile, Nate Sayler and Jimmy Taylor slid into the top 16 with just one race to go before No Prep Elite, while one top contender was missing from the race altogether.

Let’s jump into my five takeaways from No Prep Kings in Las Vegas.  

Justin Swanstrom Continues Historic September  

Just one week removed from a monumental payday at Big Jake’s Southern No Time Nationals, Justin Swanstrom once again found himself in the winner’s circle, this time taking home $30,000 in the NPK Invitational. 

Swanstrom set social media on fire a week ago, when he and his team not only won the $100k 28/275 invitational shootout at Big Jake’s race, but also an additional $100k in a grudge race with retired NFL star Fletcher Cox’s nitrous-assisted Camaro driven by Jason Michalak. Despite the victories, Swanstrom received some criticism – unfair in my opinion – for hiring Travis Harvey to drive “Prenup,” his screw-blown-Lexus, instead of driving it himself. 

Swanstrom quickly quieted the haters in Las Vegas, however. Piloting his screw-blown ‘69 Camaro named “Bad Blood,” he took out a long list of top contenders en route to capturing the trophy and cash. He began the weekend by beating Jimmy Taylor Friday evening in the qualification round, then took out Jeff Lutz on Saturday in the first round of the winner’s bracket.

Swanstrom took his game to the next level after that, defeating the top two drivers in the points standings – Giuseppe Gentile (2) and Murder Nova (1) – in consecutive rounds to reach the finals. There he faced Kayla Morton, who had defeated Ryan Martin in the semifinals. Like she’d done all day, Morton got the advantage off the tree, but Swanstrom powered around her for the win.    

“We all work together hard,” Swanstrom said after the race. “We’ve been struggling a little bit the last couple races, but we were able to put something together. Getting past first round…the last couple events I haven’t been in the winner’s bracket. Being able to do that and take out some heavy hitters like Murder Nova, Kayla – she’s been really good on the tree – I was happy to get the win.”

With the victory, Swanstrom jumped back into the top five in points, sitting in the No. 4 spot. Based on their performance the past couple weeks, this team appears to be peaking at the right time, gaining momentum ahead of the upcoming No Prep Elite playoffs.   

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Nate Sayler Wins Second-Chance Bracket  

Nate Sayler hasn’t attended every NPK race this season, making a conscious decision to spend more time at home with his family. But he’s made his limited appearances count, and after defeating Cole Pesz in the finals of the second-chance bracket in Las Vegas, Sayler finds himself currently in the top 16 for No Prep Elite.

“This was just my fifth race,” said Sayler. “We decided for these last couple races we wanted to see what this Elite 16 looks like. Going into this weekend, we obviously didn’t want to win the loser’s bracket, but we knew if we won, we’d move up to 16th. With Jim Howe going out early, it put us 15th, so that was kind of a blessing for us. We ended up getting our 15 points and $5,000, so that was nice.” 

After falling in a close race to Giuseppe Gentile in Friday night’s qualification round, Sayler rolled through the second-chance field on Saturday. Wins over James “Doc” Love and Bobby Ducote earned him a bye run in the semifinals; from there, he got the win over Pesz in a very close final round. Now Sayler and his team head to Martin, Michigan – where he won last year – with a fast car and momentum on their side.

“We’re trying to get into this No Prep Elite, so we’re going to go to Michigan and see if we can’t climb up a little bit more and get us a better position so we can go for that $150,000.” 

Robin Roberts is Notably Absent

One driver that was missing in action in Las Vegas was Robin Roberts, who was second in points coming into the event. Unfortunately, some poor timing on the 2024 NPK schedule meant that Roberts wouldn’t even be in the country while the race occurred.  

“We will not be in Vegas!” Roberts posted on social media. “Early this year I had to choose dates for a family vacation. We are all (seven daughters and son-in-laws) off to Scotland. I predicted we would be up front in points if they happened to put a race on top of our chosen weekend, and here we are! No. 2 in points. We will miss you all! The schedule simply came too late to work around and we had to lock it in. God and family first…see you in Michigan.”

Despite not making the event, Roberts only fell one spot in the points, and is still in a great position heading into the final race before the No Prep Elite playoffs begin.  

Fans Denied a 405 Final Round

Chris Sears photos

Throughout the long history of Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings, the most popular stars have routinely been from Oklahoma City – better known as the 405, based on their area code. And it’s safe to say the two biggest names right now are three-time NPK points champion Ryan Martin and current points leader Shawn Ellington/Murder Nova.

All season long, I’ve seen countless comments from fans clamoring to see a final-round showdown between the two stars, but with the random chip draw format, it simply hasn’t happened. On Saturday evening, it appeared many fans might finally get their wish, as both Ellington and Martin reached the semifinals – and did not draw each other. Martin drew Kayla Morton, while Ellington was paired with Justin Swanstrom. 

Yet once again, it wasn’t in the cards in Las Vegas. Morton used a massive holeshot to take down Martin, while Ellington got close to the wall and had to lift in his matchup with Swanstrom. But with both drivers solidly locked into the top 16 for No Prep Elite, they still have five races to make it happen.     

No Prep Elite 

Some minor movement at the top of the standings and major shakeups near the bottom highlighted the penultimate event prior to NPK’s new four-race playoff series, No Prep Elite.

Shawn Ellington extended his points lead, as he now sits 37 points ahead of Giuseppe Gentile and 47 ahead of Robin Roberts. With his win in Las Vegas, Justin Swanstrom moved up two spots to fourth. Ryan Martin rounds out the top five.

With his win in the second-chance bracket, Nate Sayler vaulted up four positions to No. 15. Meanwhile, Jimmy Taylor slid up into the sixteenth and final spot with just one race remaining before the No Prep Elite field is set. Their inclusion knocked out both Jerry Bird and Jim Howe. But with spots 14-19 separated by a mere eight points, the final regular season race should see plenty of drama.   

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Next Up: No Prep Kings takes this week off before heading to U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan on September 27-28. It will be the final event before No Prep Elite begins.

This story was originally published on September 16, 2024. Drag Illustrated

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