With the Discovery Channel's No Prep Kings ready to launch into their 6th season events, John Odom and the Odom Racing team return to attempt more history-making, record-breaking passes in the "World's Fastest GT-R”. As the reigning No Prep Kings (NPK) Rookie of the Year, Odom will take to the No Prep track amidst the rule changes, an all-new format, and teams that include a first-ever People’s Choice Captain.
Odom Racing’s own Crew Chief Jim Howe battled Lizzy Musi, Robin Roberts, Daddy Dave, Jerry Bird, Scott Taylor, Birdman, and Kayla Morton for the one open spot as the fan-nominated Captain. The People’s Choice Captain joins seven returning Team Captains.
- Ryan Martin
- Shawn Ellington
- Kye Kelley
- Disco Dean
- Justin Swanstrom
- Mike Murillo
- Boddie
For a twist on the 2023 season, each Captain will draft their own team of drivers at the first event and race through the season to the No Prep Kings championship.
As the dawn of season six filming neared, Odom spoke to TopSpeed about the outcome, and shake-ups of season five and his outlook on duplicating another baller season with Howe and Odom Racing’s screw-blown contenders.
New Raceway Records
“Jim and I finished really well last year,” he said. “We took those cars to the top. I missed the first race, started on the second one as a new driver (and finished 7th). Jim missed five races and ended up finishing 6th. In the end, we were making some really big strides on those cars and figured it out. We tested in Texas (in March) and did really well with the new setup and new rules. We feel like we’re major contenders for this year.”
To say Odom Racing “figured it out”, may be the understatement of the year. Their TX2K23 run at Houston Raceway put Odom Racing in the record books. “We made the first side-by-side pass in the fives and Jim did the fastest pass ever at TX2K,” said Odom. The official times on their five-second runs clocked Odom at 5.951 and Howe at 5.739.
Building 4,500 Horsepower
Odom’s 2020 50th Anniversary GT-R known as “The CEO” is powered by a 521 cubic-inch, screw-blown Hemi. It boasts north of 4,500 horsepower, delivering a top speed of 250-plus MPH. Touting “The Fastest GT-R in the World”, Odom set the quarter-mile record for a stock-bodied GT-R at the World Cup Finals this past November. His time slip reads 5.870 for the quarter at 232.63 MPH.
David Monday is credited with the car build and Howe Motorsports with the motor. The Fastest GT-R in the World title is argued by the GT-R purists. Odom disagrees. “My car is all-original body,” he explained. “We took a GT-R to David Monday Racing. He took it apart and put the body back on. The roof is real. The quarter panels are real. The glass on the side is real. The bumper is real. The lights are real. The brake lights are real. The door handles are real – it just depends on if you consider having the original motor in there or not.
“When we first started, no matter what we put online, tens of thousands of comments were how it wasn’t a GT-R. Then, somebody posted the world’s fastest GT-R talking about George Dodworth’s car and half the comments were… that’s not true John Odom has the fastest GT-R in the world. So, the climate is changing. But it depends on how you feel about what a GT-R is.
“George Dodworth has a pro mod car. It does have the original motor, but the tranny is different, and the rear-end is different. It is a two-wheel-drive, like mine. It depends on where you decide in your own heart, how much of a purist you are.”
Screw-Blowers Are The Future of Street Racers
As Odom put it, “The cat’s out of the bag – screw-blowers are the new way. We came in and showed ‘em what it’s about,” said Odom. “It makes more bottom end and more power early, and I think that you will definitely see a lot more people going that way.” Odom and Howe aren’t the only screw-blown fans. Kye Kelley will enter season six with a Noonan Screw-Blown Hemi.
Odom isn’t too concerned with Kelley’s swap from nitrous to screw-blower. “Kye is amazing, and he is amazing in his nitrous car; but if he’s coming out in his screw-blown car, I wonder how it will go,” said Odom. “We started at the beginning of the season, and it took us until the end of the season to get figured out. Yes, it is Kye Kelley, but I still think there will be a learning curve. I think it will take him a minute like it took us a minute to be running in the top.”
Gapplebees
With less than immediate concern for Kelley’s leap to screw-blown, we wondered which drivers Odom was thinking could potentially take him to Gapplebees. Understandably, Ryan Martin topped his list. “You can never count Ryan out,” stated Odom. “He’s the best at his craft. He’s proven time and time again that he is number one.” Odom dropped a few predictions, based on his thought that the new NPK rules definitely favored nitrous cars.
“Jerry Bird has built a true nitrous car and I think it’s at weight; so, I’m going to look for him to be in the top-five,” shared Odom. “If Lizzy Musi is back with Pat, I look for her to be in the top-five. If they can take some weight out of that car, Lizzy is an amazing driver, and that car could be fast.” With less weight, Jeff Lutz was on Odom's mind as well as a few other expected notables.
“Boddie Jr. has been pretty fast. He’s got a pro charger that he was getting figured out at the end of the year. Justin Swanstrom is fast - we know that. And Brandon James is a sleeper. I think he will do really well this year. He is a great driver.” A few others fell into Odom’s wait-and-see category.
“I heard Robin Roberts changed his program to pro charger,” Odom added. “And if so, I will go back to what I said about Kye Kelley (for the new year). I think when you are changing your program, it will take you a little longer to be in the top-10 – just because it takes time to figure it out. It happened to us, and I’ve seen it with other people.” He felt the same about Kayla Morton. “I think she was running the big pro charger – the 144 – and from what I understand, they’ve taken that away. So, I’m curious to see how she does.”
Doin’ No Prep Work
Odom admits that he has worked on some driver issues and has spent some time on the box and other tools to combat red lighting. Overcoming racing challenges is not foreign to Odom, but not everyone remembers the struggles from his start. “What people miss is season four when I took my quarter-mile prep GT-R through half the season and got my teeth kicked in, in every single race," he stated, “I earned my stripes.”
Season Five changed things for Odom. “Last year, I got in the car for the first time in April. I was able to be a rookie, to start, to drive the way I did – to be competitive. A lot of that shows, but the car builder, tuner, and motor builder – they made me shine. I had some driver issues to work through; but to finish seventh, I worked really hard on fixing them and moved on.
“The fame is humbling,” he said. “To get off an airplane and have people ask you for an autograph or see your merch show up is very humbling. I went into Vegas and on the side of the resort wall was Odom Racing. It was a very unique feeling and everyone handles it differently. I am a fairly emotional person and so that was probably the 15th time I cried. But we are doing this as a business as far as money, and we’re trying to build something epic on the financial side.”
“I watch people’s videos and posts and hear my name come out of their mouth as one of the top-five for the new season and that’s a pretty big deal for me. To be in mouths of fans in the first year is pretty epic. There has been a lot of No Prep Kings drivers that have been on that show for a lot of years and never made it to the top-10, so to do what I did, I am very proud of my team and very proud of the people around me. I look forward to getting better this year.”
When asked if Odom’s goal was fame or fortune, it appeared to be a little of both.
Who Says There’s No Crying in Street Racing
Followers of the Street Outlaws franchises are no strangers to the excitement or the emotion and as we all see, drivers don’t always leave their feelings on the asphalt. Trash talk, team beefs, and track tears only add to the competition’s excitement. With that being said, No Prep Kings fans know Odom can be an emo kind of guy and will remember a tear or two on his cheek when he beat Kye Kelley last year, but none shed in the win against Ryan Martin. We asked why was that.
“Ryan Martin is one of the greatest – is the greatest, but Jeff Lutz, and Kye Kelley – I used to watch them on TV with my son,” Odom explained. “We’d go get Buffalo Wild Wings and come home on Monday nights and watch them. So just to be in the same room and be racing them is epic. Then, when I beat Kye Kelley, it was like HOLY CRAP! It was really my first big win, and it was emotional.
“Racing is time away from your family, it’s a lot of money and people just see all this race car stuff; but you have a lot of emotion in it and it just kind of overwhelmed me. I cried when I beat Jeff Lutz too. Now, when I win my first my invitational – whoever it’s against – I think it will be pretty emotional because I am an emotional person.”
Another stand-out moment for Odom was a loss to Ryan Martin at Bowling Green. “I lost in the finals, but it was only my 4th race and I made it to the finals. Ryan said to me ‘they don’t know what they got with you, they got something coming, and we got to be careful.’ For Ryan Martin to say that to me on my 4th race. It was epic.”
So as Ryan Martin advised – as fans, we don’t know what we got in season six with Odom Racing and the Fastest GT-R in the World, but we got something coming, and it is set up to be one helluva ride. I, for one, will be watching. Fans can follow the action track by track, raceway by raceway as the 2023 events will launch with a summer schedule opener in June. Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings tickets are available for each location.
2023 Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings Schedule
- National Trail Raceway, Hebron, Ohio
- Virginia Motorsports Park, Virginia
- Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd Minnesota
- Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, Kentucky
- New England Dragway, Epping New Hampshire
- Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Firebird Raceway, Eagle, Idaho
- Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado
- Dragway 42, West Salem, Ohio
- Maple Grove Raceway, Mohnton, Pennsylvania
- US 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, MI
- Galot Motorsports Park, Benson, North Carolina
- Alabama International Dragway, Steele, Alabama
- Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
FAQ
Q: Will there be a new 2023 season of Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings?
The 6th season of Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings will start filming in June 2023
Q: What is he Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings schedule in 2023?
The Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings events are scheduled to start in June 2023 and appear in the following venues:
- National Trail Raceway, Hebron, Ohio
- Virginia Motorsports Park, Virginia
- Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd Minnesota
- Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, Kentucky
- New England Dragway, Epping New Hampshire
- Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Firebird Raceway, Eagle, Idaho
- Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado
- Dragway 42, West Salem, Ohio
- Maple Grove Raceway, Mohnton, Pennsylvania
- US 131 Motorsports Park, Martin, MI
- Galot Motorsports Park, Benson, North Carolina
- Alabama International Dragway, Steele, Alabama
- Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
Q: Who was the 2022 Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings Rookie of the Year?
John Odom of Odom Racing known for his Fastest GT-R in the World was the 2022 Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings Rookie of the Year.
Q: How fast is John Odom's Fastest GT-R in the World?
John Odom’s 2020 50th Anniversary GT-R known as “The CEO” is powered by a 521 cubic-inch screw-blown Hemi. It boasts north of 4,500 horsepower, delivering a top speed of 250-plus MPH. Odom set the quarter-mile record for a stock-bodied GT-R at the World Cup Finals. His time slip reads 5.870 for the quarter at 232.63 MPH.