{"id":104779,"date":"2026-09-11T18:44:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/di-interview-scott-taylor-talks-nhra-u-s-nationals-win-dominant-2026-season-and-honoring-his-father\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T18:44:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:44:05","slug":"di-interview-scott-taylor-talks-nhra-u-s-nationals-win-dominant-2026-season-and-honoring-his-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/di-interview-scott-taylor-talks-nhra-u-s-nationals-win-dominant-2026-season-and-honoring-his-father\/","title":{"rendered":"DI Interview: Scott Taylor Talks NHRA U.S. Nationals Win, Dominant 2026 Season, and Honoring His Father"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing on the top end of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on a sunny Labor Day afternoon, Scott Taylor held up his second career Wally, fulfilling a lifelong dream \u2013 he was officially an NHRA U.S. Nationals champion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taylor ran a 3.703-second elapsed time at 205.47 mph in the final round of Right Trailers Outlaw Street presented by Quick Performance to defeat No. 1 qualifier Kyle Canion, who went -.016 red, giving away his own 3.705 at 204.08 mph. It was Taylor\u2019s second consecutive Outlaw Street event win and secured the season championship for him as well.<\/p>\n

His success is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention over the past year. Taylor debuted \u201cLil Goldie,\u201d the ProCharger-equipped \u201969 Camaro that is a tribute to his late father, in May of 2025 with an event win at Dragfest at Gulfport Dragway. He hasn\u2019t slowed down since, winning two out of three NHRA Outlaw Street events this season on big tires.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even more impressive is that Taylor routinely switches the car over to smaller 28\u00d710.5 slicks with equal success. So far in 2026, he is undefeated in the Outlaw Syndicate Small Tire Series, with five event wins and new track records for 28-inch slicks at three of the events.<\/p>\n

Shortly after his monumental U.S. Nationals victory, Taylor sat down with\u00a0Drag Illustrated<\/em>\u00a0to discuss living out a dream season, the debut season of Right Trailers Outlaw Street, carrying on his father\u2019s legacy, and why his car works so well no matter how he has it set up.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Scott Taylor proudly holds his U.S. Nationals Wally \u2013 photo courtesy of Scott Taylor Motorsports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the win is still fresh in your mind, has it really sunk in yet that you\u2019re a U.S. Nationals champion?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Man, it\u2019s insane. I\u2019m sitting here at my desk with two Wally\u2019s on my desk with me as I\u2019m working. It definitely is still a high; it\u2019s a rush for sure. It doesn\u2019t feel real that these two Wally\u2019s are in my possession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been racing for a long time. Looking back five years, 10 years, or even further \u2013 is this something you ever would have imagined?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Honestly, it\u2019s a dream come true. It\u2019s stuff I\u2019ve thought about my whole life, you know, from the first time I seen a drag car until now. All I do is eat, breathe, and sleep drag racing. It\u2019s a miracle that I didn\u2019t think was totally possible, yet I\u2019ve worked towards this direction my whole life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking at the big picture, what\u2019s been the overall experience with the Outlaw Street series since you, Shawn Ellington, and Ryan Martin made the announcement at PRI last winter?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It took a lot of work on the backside of this thing. And I\u2019ll tell you, NHRA has come through and really been nice to deal with. They have welcomed us with open arms, and the fans have\u2026just the atmosphere, especially at the U.S. Nationals. It was an experience of a lifetime \u2013 win, lose, or draw. Just rolling into that burnout box at the U.S. Nationals is a feeling that I\u2019ve never experienced before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Taylor picked up his first career Wally at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals earlier this year \u2013 Mellie Snedeker photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Talk a little bit about the competition. The series is set at just 10 cars for this year, and fans are clamoring for more, but it appears every driver involved has really stepped up their game from the days of No Prep Kings.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, nine out of the 10 cars that we have involved could win at any moment. The 10th car is one I\u2019m working on right now in the shop. I\u2019m trying to make the 10th car more competitive. We brought it out that first week in Brainerd, Minnesota, and even though we got zero testing, I still wasn\u2019t happy with the performance. So I\u2019m working on it to make it competitive, but really 10 out of 10 cars could win the event on any given day. That\u2019s what\u2019s so incredible. The competition is unreal between all these teams. Chris Rankin has taken the MH5 and done some special things with it. He is very impressive. His whole team has impressed me. Clay Cole, Kyle Canion, obviously unbelievable. I picked Kyle to be this year\u2019s champion from the very first race. When he told me what he went in testing before we ran the first race, I said there\u2019s a car that we\u2019re going to have trouble with, and he has been exactly that. He has been a threat all season and has been No. 1 qualifier several times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from NHRA Outlaw Street, you\u2019ve also been running \u2018Lil Goldie\u2019 on 28\u00d710.5 small tires in the Outlaw Syndicate Small Tire series and are undefeated this season. What\u2019s been your experience with the new series Ryan and Shawn started?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an incredible thing to go that many rounds without getting beat, whether it\u2019s a parts failure, getting outrun, or spinning the tire. On a 28-inch tire, it\u2019s anybody\u2019s game. On any given day, a different driver can win on 28\u2019s. That\u2019s what makes it so interesting. It\u2019s unpredictable. We secured the points championship at the last race as well. But their series has been amazing. The people we\u2019ve met along the way, the racetracks, the track records\u2026and being undefeated doesn\u2019t hurt either.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But again, going that many rounds without losing is just pure luck. I don\u2019t care how good you are. And that showed even this weekend at the U.S. Nationals. I had two rounds in qualifying that I didn\u2019t make the trip. I didn\u2019t even get the stage lights on. Those (mistakes) came at the right time. I mean, a parachute fitting and a line lock. That\u2019s two things we don\u2019t service on my race car. We service every moving part it has, but those two things don\u2019t move. Even if we would have looked directly at those two things, we would have never seen the problem. They both sort of broke internally. But that\u2019s the kind of luck it takes to have a season like we\u2019ve had.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have been extremely blessed. The good Lord has been looking over us. I had a pretty rough year the year before losing my brother, and obviously my parents are always on my mind. We built this as a tribute car to my dad. Every pass I make is an emotional roller coaster, win or lose. I just feel like my whole family is in there riding with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Taylor has been dominant on 28\u00d710.5 inch tires as well, going undefeated so far in 2026 in the Outlaw Syndicate Small Tire Series \u2013 Mellie Snedeker photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You mentioned building this car as a tribute to your father. The car will obviously always have special meaning for you, but to have this much of success with it, how much more does that mean on a personal level?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s insane. This would be the toughest car that I\u2019ve ever had to get rid of if I ever decide to sell it. It\u2019s a part of my life now. I\u2019ve already had people trying to buy the car and I told them I would help them build another one just like it, but at the moment, this car is not for sale. Not saying never, but I would have to have another one sitting there just like it, and move the tribute and the name right over to another car before I did it. I\u2019m a real sentimental person, and I\u2019m sort of superstitious as well, and this car, with all the meanings and memories\u2026it\u2019s at home. It\u2019s part of the family now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that you run Lil Goldie on both big and small tires. We\u2019ve seen others do it as well, but not with such success. What makes this particular car run so flawlessly, no matter how you have it set up?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of the cars we\u2019ve had\u2026we\u2019ve had three cars built in my whole life, and the first car didn\u2019t necessarily get built the way I wanted it. The second car got built pretty much 90% how I wanted it, and that\u2019s the one Chris Rankin has and the car works really well. This car, Bad Habitz Fabrication left no stone unturned. They set me in the car and they put the steering wheel where I wanted it, the brake pedals where I wanted it, the parachute handle where I wanted it, the 4-link where I wanted it. Throughout the whole car, he didn\u2019t skip anything. He did it just how we wanted it and made sure it was how we wanted it before he finished welding it. He was very thorough. Bad Habitz Fabrication, in my personal opinion, is the best chassis builder in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Taylor is a fan-favorite in the pits at every race he attends \u2013 Tom Macht photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve got one more NHRA Outlaw Street race this year and a couple more Outlaw Syndicate events, but after that, what does the future look like for Scott Taylor Motorsports?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest thing on my agenda right now is growing NHRA Outlaw Street. That\u2019s what\u2019s on my radar. I think we found a home of the NHRA, and I\u2019m looking forward to putting in work all winter long and getting as many people involved in this series as NHRA will let us have. That\u2019s what I\u2019ll be putting work into. As far as racing, obviously we\u2019re gonna do our best to go to the World Series of Pro Mod. That\u2019s another race, sort of like the U.S. Nationals, where you just get a different feel when you stage. The World Series of Pro Mod is our goal to try to go and perform on that stage as well as we have been all year long. That\u2019s our goal. We want to run up front in everything we do, and we\u2019re going to put in the work until we can get up front.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, is there anyone involved with your program that you\u2019d like to thank?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First and foremost, I want to thank God for the opportunities and people he has put in my life. I also want to thank my wife, Heather; my crew; and everyone that has supported us along the way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A big shout-out goes to the following companies for making this series possible: Quick Performance, Right Trailers, Isky Racing Cams, ProCharger, ProLine, Mark Micke at M&M Transmissions, MTX Audio, and SP Tools. I also want to thank the NHRA for believing in us enough to give us a shot on the big stage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rick Belden photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

This story was originally published on September 11, 2026. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post DI Interview: Scott Taylor Talks NHRA U.S. Nationals Win, Dominant 2026 Season, and Honoring His Father<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standing on the top end of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on a sunny Labor Day afternoon, Scott Taylor held up his second career Wally, fulfilling a lifelong dream \u2013 he was officially an NHRA U.S. Nationals champion.\u00a0 Taylor ran a 3.703-second elapsed time at 205.47 mph in the final round of Right Trailers Outlaw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}