Richard Rawlings, founder of the iconic Gas Monkey Garage and star of Fast 'N Loud, continues to captivate the world of motorsports with high-octane drama and cutting-edge car builds. One of his most intense and highly anticipated events came during the Mega Race, where Gas Monkey Garage took on the street racing titans of Street Outlaws. This head-to-head competition, featuring Rawlings and his expert team, represented a perfect blend of fierce rivalry, exceptional engineering, and raw speed.
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The Mega Race first aired as part of Discovery’s Motor Mega Week and featured Gas Monkey Garage going head-to-head against Justin “Big Chief” Shearer and his team from Street Outlaws. The challenge for Gas Monkey was enormous—building a race-ready Dodge Challenger from scratch in just a few weeks to take on Shearer's powerful Pontiac GTO. The vehicle that Gas Monkey created was nothing short of extraordinary. It featured a sleek, Challenger body mounted on a robust tube chassis, with a massive Brad Anderson Hemi engine under the hood, equipped with a supercharger. The raw power of this build was undeniable, making it one of the wildest machines ever to emerge from Gas Monkey’s Dallas, Texas headquarters.
Driving the Gas Monkey Dodge Challenger was NHRA Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin, who brought his professional drag racing experience to the competition. However, facing off against the Street Outlaws crew was no small feat. Shearer’s Pontiac GTO, powered by a twin-turbo 482-cubic-inch Pontiac engine, was assembled in record time and modeled after his legendary "Crow" LeMans. Both teams brought their A-game to California's Auto Club Dragway, setting the stage for one of the most thrilling races in Discovery Channel history.
Despite Gas Monkey's intense preparation and Laughlin’s expert driving, the first Mega Race did not go as planned for Rawlings and his crew. The Dodge Challenger, while impressively powerful and beautifully engineered, fell short against Shearer’s Pontiac, partly due to the relative inexperience of the team in the gritty world of street racing. The loss was hard-fought, but it underscored the challenges of taking on more seasoned street racers like Shearer, whose familiarity with track tricks and racing conditions proved to be an advantage.
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Not one to give up, Rawlings saw the defeat as a learning experience and returned for a second shot in Mega Race 2, this time facing Ryan Martin of the Street Outlaws. The race was another opportunity for Gas Monkey to prove their worth, and they made significant improvements to their Challenger. Rawlings admitted that the first race left a bitter taste, with the car being tucked away in frustration after the loss. However, for Mega Race 2, the team resurrected the machine, fixed the issues from the first race, and prepared to give Martin’s Fireball Camaro a run for its money.
What made the second round of the Mega Race particularly exciting was the contrast between the teams. While Ryan Martin and the Street Outlaws represented a finely tuned, well-oiled racing machine with years of experience, Gas Monkey Garage was still relatively new to this level of drag racing. Nonetheless, with Frankie Taylor tuning the Dodge Challenger, the Gas Monkey team managed to hold their own, demonstrating the sheer potential of their build. Rawlings was full of praise for his crew, stating that they had done an impressive job considering the short time they had to prepare.
Ultimately, while the outcome of the second race saw Gas Monkey fall short once again, the team’s performance solidified their place in the competitive drag racing scene. Rawlings and his crew demonstrated that they could compete with some of the best in the business, even with limited experience and a car that had seen only a handful of test runs.
In both Mega Race events, the stakes were sky-high, and the action was intense. Richard Rawlings’ involvement, alongside his Gas Monkey Garage crew, has only added to the excitement of modern drag racing. Whether it’s about redemption or rivalry, Rawlings has proven that Gas Monkey is more than just a custom shop—they are contenders in the world of high-stakes racing. For fans of Fast 'N Loud and Street Outlaws, these events have become iconic moments that highlight the passion, innovation, and competitiveness that define the automotive world today.
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