Kenjo Kelly wins the first ever No Prep exhibition during the NHRA Spring Nationals

Long time heads up racer within the Mustang community and owner of Kenjo's Barbecue took home the win yesterday at Royal Purple Raceway. This was the first ever no prep exhibition at an NHRA National Event! Kenjo made it through the field of eight to take home the trophy and the cash. 

Most in the Mustang community, such as myself, know Kenjo from the days of NMRA and heads up Mustang racing. Not long ago Kenjo made the switch over to the no prep world. We caught up with Kenjo on Thursday to talk about it. He stated that he loves to race, and racing for big purses is a huge draw for no prep racers. There aren't heads up series where you can win the type of money that you can in no prep, it's really that simple.

Kenjo is still running the tried and true 28x10.5 tire like the old Super Street Outlaw combo used to require. As far as tuning the car and getting into too many details, Kenjo is always tight lipped. It's all about power control. Just like any other class, control where and when on the power and you'll go A to B. That's exactly what he did yesterday in go through the pairings.

After the race Kenjo stated that he actually had to do some welding on the headers that were leaking, along with reinstalling a starter bolt that had backed out. Things like that could have easily ended Kenjo's day early. Always the professional though, with more than 20 years at the wheel, he knew how to take care of the issue and how to win.

At the end of the day, Kenjo can walk away with some cash, a first ever acrylic trophy, and the pride in knowing that he is the first ever champion of this event. There will never be another first ever, and he is the first ever. Congrats to Kenjo, his wife (who pays the bills as he says), his family, and his crew in making the win happen. And congrats, along with a huge thanks to the Queen of No Prep, Shannon Morgan for even making this all happen. The haters will hate, but the fact is that she and her group of outlaws make it fun and entertaining. For those that have forgotten...that's what drag racing is actually about.