TLDR: Street Outlaws premiered on Discovery Channel in 2013 following illegal street racers in Oklahoma City and has since become a multi-series franchise.
Justin Shearer (Big Chief) and Shawn Ellington (Murder Nova) built the show together as co-owners of Midwest Street Cars and have completely severed ties by 2026, with Ellington founding a new racing league that excludes Shearer.
The story of what happened between them is here.
Doc stepped back due to health concerns. Ryan Fellows died during filming in 2022. Lizzy Musi died of Stage 4 breast cancer in June 2024.
Doughboy left the Memphis spin-off to prioritize his children. Kamikaze crashed the Elco and is rebuilding from scratch.
Justin Shearer and Shawn Ellington co-owned a shop, raced together for a decade, and built a television franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the strength of their friendship. In early 2026, Ellington and Ryan Martin launched the Outlaw Syndicate, a new racing league. Shearer was not invited.
That is where Street Outlaws stands in 2026. The brotherhood that created the show became the first thing the show consumed.
Big Chief Sold His Pro Mod Car and Went Back to Street Racing Roots
Justin Shearer was born in Kentucky and moved to Oklahoma City at age 12, where he spent his teenage years watching the older generation race on Route 66.
By the time Street Outlaws premiered in 2013, he was the gatekeeper of the List and the show’s philosophical center, the man who defined what street racing was and was not supposed to be.
His 1972 Pontiac LeMans, known as the Crow, became one of the most recognized cars in automotive reality television. After a near-fatal crash against the Detroit crew destroyed the original, he built the CrowMod, a Pro Mod-style chassis that represented exactly the kind of professionalization he had spent years resisting.
By 2025-2026 he had sold the CrowMod to a Texas team.
His current focus is a twin-turbocharged Pontiac-powered build that prioritizes street characteristics over track performance.
His marriage to Alicia Shearer ended, and his relationship with professional racer Jackie Braasch became a focal point of fan attention. In 2026 he remains outside the Outlaw Syndicate and the NHRA partnership that now defines the franchise, racing independently and maintaining a position that professional track racing is not what the show was built on. The full story of the Chief and Shawn fallout is here.
Shawn Ellington Founded a New Racing League Without His Former Partner
Shawn Ellington was born in California in 1977 and raised in Sayre, Oklahoma, where his father Richard ran an auto body shop. He moved to Oklahoma City in 2005 and built the Murder Nova, a 1969 Chevy Nova, into a global brand.
He and Shearer co-owned Midwest Street Cars for years, splitting when Ellington moved his tuning operation to his own shop in Season 6.
The professional distance became a philosophical chasm. Ellington embraced the No Prep Kings circuit and the NHRA partnership.
Shearer publicly criticized track racers for pretending to be street. By 2026 Ellington is the CEO of 187 Customs LLC, has debuted a new Pro Mod Camaro for professional competition, and co-founded the Outlaw Syndicate Small Tire Series with Ryan Martin and Carson Baker, featuring $20,000 payouts on prepped tracks. Shearer is not part of it. As of 2026 there is no evidence of reconciliation.
Doc Stepped Back Due to Health and Cost Concerns
Robert “Doc” Hartman drove the Street Beast, a 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo, and served as the primary rival to the show’s big-tire contingent through its middle seasons. His heavy-steel approach to racing worked well before the Pro Mod era arrived.
As the cost of competitive builds climbed toward half a million dollars, Hartman found it increasingly difficult to remain relevant without massive reinvestment.
His departure from the primary Discovery cast was gradual rather than sudden. By 2025 he had largely withdrawn, dealing with both the financial reality of the modern racing landscape and personal health concerns that he has kept private.
In 2026 his status is focused on recovery and local non-televised events. His era on the show represented the last period when a heavy street car built without professional sponsorship could compete at the top of the List.
Farmtruck and AZN Came Back With AWD Jeep Cherokees
Sean “Farmtruck” Whitley and Jeff “AZN” Bonnett built their reputation on a deceptively fast C10 pickup that lured better-funded racers into underestimating them. As the show moved toward Pro Mod budgets that their model could not match, they stepped back intentionally.
In the 2025-2026 season they returned with a pair of AWD Jeep Cherokees, named Penny and Shermie, powered by supercharged MMX engines.
Their base of operations, the FNA Firehouse in Oklahoma City, continues to function as a fan hub and a demonstration that a sustainable racing operation does not require half a million dollars.
Jackie Braasch Works Behind the Scenes at Midwest Street Cars
Jackie Braasch started racing Junior Dragsters at age eight in Illinois and competed in full-sized dragsters by 17. Her racing background predates her relationship with Shearer and is independent of it.
She remains a member of Car Chix, an organization promoting women in motorsports, with consistent top-12 finishes in bracket series competition.
In 2025-2026 she works primarily as a tuner and technical consultant for Shearer’s Midwest Street Cars operation rather than as a primary driver.
Kamikaze Lost Everything in a Crash and Is Rebuilding
Chris “Kamikaze” Day took over the Elco, a 1980 Chevy El Camino, after the death of its original driver Tyler “Flip” Priddy in 2013, spending his life savings building it into a twin-turbocharged street car as a tribute to his friend.
In a 2024 crash aired in late 2024, he lost control of the Elco during a race and destroyed it. Standing in the wreckage he described the car as everything he had in his whole life.
In 2025-2026 he auctioned the front wheel and brakes from the crash site for over $10,000 to fund a new chassis and is in the process of a community-supported rebuild on a new small-tire platform. His status is that of a comeback driver who has not yet made the comeback.
Doughboy Left the Memphis Show to Be With His Kids
Josh “Doughboy” Day was JJ Da Boss’s son and a central figure in the Memphis spin-off, the young protege of the family operation. His departure around 2021-2022 was never formally explained by Discovery or the Day family.
Sources in the racing community suggest the toll of high-speed racing and a desire to prioritize his young children drove the decision. In 2026 he remains off screen and his father continues to lead the Memphis crew without him.
The People Who Died
Tyler “Flip” Priddy, the original driver of the Elco and a founding member of the 405 brotherhood, died in 2013 in circumstances unrelated to racing. His car became the Kamikaze legacy.
Ryan Fellows died on August 7, 2022, during actual filming of a race in Las Vegas while driving a Nissan 240z. His death during production was the primary driver for Discovery and production company Pilgrim Media to accelerate the transition away from illegal street filming toward sanctioned track events.
The illegal street era of the main franchise effectively ended with his death.
Lizzy Musi, one of the most popular stars of the No Prep Kings circuit and daughter of legendary engine builder Pat Musi, died in June 2024 from Stage 4 breast cancer. Her death left a significant void in the 2025 season and the broader NPK community.
Chris “Kentucky” Ellis, a beloved mechanic for the 405 crew, died in September 2020 from natural causes. The show marked his passing with a tribute episode. The full list of Street Outlaws cast members who have died is covered here.
Where the Show Stands in 2026
The Street Outlaws franchise in 2026 operates across three distinct formats. No Prep Kings airs on Discovery on Monday nights with a fan-nominated team captain format.
The Outlaw Syndicate runs independently under Ellington and Martin with $20,000 payouts on prepped tracks.
The NHRA Outlaw Street Series puts franchise stars on professional NHRA tracks during national events in front of paying grandstands.
The streets of Oklahoma City where the show began are not part of any of these formats. Ryan Fellows dying on camera in 2022 ended the illegal street filming era. The NHRA partnership formalized what had been coming for years.
The show that started on Route 66 now airs on Monday nights with corporate sponsorships and qualified fields and Sunday finals.
Justin Shearer watches from outside the league his former best friend built. The streets are empty.
The brotherhood is on a prepped track somewhere, racing for money under the lights.
