The U.S. Street Nationals always bring out some of the baddest racers and machines in the game, and this year was no exception. Two familiar faces in the Street Outlaws world—Robin Roberts and Larry Larson—rolled into the event with some serious firepower under the hood, both sporting the new Hearts centrifugal supercharger. With the product still in development and testing, all eyes were on these two to see how it would stack up against the tried-and-true ProCharger setups.
Photo by Robin Roberts Racing
Breaking Down the Performance
Robin Roberts was behind the wheel of a brand-new ride, meaning he still had plenty of data to gather and adjustments to make. Despite that, he managed to rip off an impressive 3.69 at 202 MPH in his third qualifying pass. The air conditions were solid, with a density altitude of -88 feet and temperatures around 59 degrees—prime racing conditions.
On the other side, Larry Larson was running his No Prep Kings (NPK) car, which, interestingly, can get down to the minimum Pro Mod weight for events like these. His best pass came in at 3.70 at 196 MPH, with a stout 0.941 to the 60-foot mark. He did manage to clock 200 MPH in a prior qualifier, though, showing the potential of the setup.
Photo by Robin Roberts Racing
The MPH Question
While the ETs were solid, one key area of concern was mile-per-hour. Typically, MPH is a good indicator of horsepower, and both Roberts and Larson were a few ticks behind comparable ProCharger-powered cars. Roberts, with a Pro Mod, topped out at 202 MPH, while similar setups with ProChargers were running in the 207-209 MPH range. Larson was also slightly behind, but his earlier 200 MPH run shows that the combination has potential.
This raises a few questions. Is the Hearts charger making as much power as a ProCharger? Or is there still more testing and refinement needed before it can match or exceed its competition? Given that ProCharger has been perfecting centrifugal superchargers for decades, it's not surprising that a newcomer like Hearts is still fine-tuning their design.
Photo by Larson Race Cars
What’s Next?
The big question now is whether Roberts and Larson will stick with the Hearts charger moving forward. With the World Series of Pro Mod right around the corner, will they continue testing, or will they revert to ProCharger setups for now? And even bigger—will we see the Hearts supercharger make an appearance in NPK this season?
One thing’s for sure: the development of this new supercharger is something to watch. Hearts is already a powerhouse in the turbo world, and if they can dial in their centrifugal unit to match the competition, it could shake things up in a big way. The fact that Roberts was already running 3.60s with a brand-new combo is impressive, but the real test will be how much more power they can squeeze out of it in the coming months.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one. Stay tuned to StreetOutlawsTalks.com for all the latest updates on this evolving story and everything else happening in the world of Street Outlaws!
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