NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Consistent reliability is what hometown racer “Flyin’ Ryan” Oehler is looking for this weekend as he chases a 75th anniversary diamond Wally at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak at Route 66 Raceway.

Oehler spent the offseason working around the clock with his dad, “Bad Brad,” in the engine room, and with partners like S&S and Mike Mullaney of Mullaney Cycle Works, he continued to develop the proof of performance he found last season. Then, when the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing season rolled around, it was time for the Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to put the research of nearly 200 engine dyno pulls and other shop developments to the track. And this time, Oehler was bringing along a teammate, Brayden Davis, who proved his riding talent in his rookie season.

“When we went testing in Gainesville, we ran some of the best numbers of our career,” Oehler said. “Then, when we raced at Gainesville, we kind of spoke a little too soon about this newfound reliability and found that we were still missing some of the pieces of the puzzle. We showed back up at Charlotte. We ran really fast. We were number one and two off the trailer, Brayden and me, and the reliability factor snuck back up onto us, and we hurt both of our engines in eliminations.”

With the back-to-back race schedule, Oehler had to pull out the backup engines for the revived NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park as the series moved on to Adel, Georgia.

“We ran strong. It just wasn't as strong as we had been running,” he shared. “The performance is just a little lacking. So we haven't gotten around to taking our B motors to A-plus motors. Especially with the schedule, with the back-to-back races and every other weekend, it's been a challenge.”

However, a bright spot for the Bloomington, Illinois resident has been adding Davis to the Flyin’ Ryan El Bandido/Burromax team.

“I'm 42 years old. He's half my age. He's 20 years old,” he said, chuckling. “So I'm able to mentor him, and start to try to pass the torch forward. More than likely, he’s probably a better rider just based on physics, his size, and he's young, so his reaction should all be there. It's challenging me and making me… I don't wanna get beat by someone with my own stuff. But it's also cool because we're able to look at what’s the most we can get out of these and we're giving them the best we've got.”

Though being a two-bike team is new to Oehler, who is now able to collect twice as much data from, he’s also received advice from Andrew Hines at Vance & Hines.

“Everyone's been there for good encouragement, good advice, but no one's turned any wrenches or done any machining for us other than ourselves,” Ohler explained. “Matt [Smith] has also become someone who’s shared some information, but it's normally specific things that are not performance-oriented. It's more like, hey, Ryan, I want you out here. Let me help you with this while you're blowing this up. Let me help you with that reliability factor. But the performances all come from in-house.”

Oehler and his team completed a full refresh of the Buells in time for his home race, where many of his friends, family, and partners, like Johnstone Supply, Martin One Source, and many others, will be joining him.

“We're really optimistic about this weekend here at our hometown track, and I think we're going to lay it down good,” he added. “We might see some handling issues because this is mainly a crosswind. You also have really good air, but comparable to the air that you had in South Georgia, as far as the numbers go. However, a green racetrack that hasn't had anybody go down it in a year. It's a mystery what you're really going to see, but if you can lace it and send it, it'll be fast.”