Pre-race entries for the Guaranteed Million Bracket Race start at 6 p.m. CT on Friday.
Based on what he’s heard, Britt Cummings believes the 450 available spots won’t last the night.
Race promoters Cummings and Gaylon Rolison have been blown away with the response leading into the race, which will pay a guaranteed $1 million to the winner and takes place May 20-25, 2020 at Memphis International Raceway.
Anticipation has reached such a fever pitch that Cummings thinks it may not even take an hour for the field to reach capacity.
“I started hearing about a week ago that people are scared to death they’re not going to get in,” Cummings said. “We’ve heard all 450 entries might be gone in 10 minutes, but we’ll see.
“We’ve done everything we can do. If it does sell out, there will definitely be a sense of accomplishment. Plus it will allow us to concentrate on planning everything else going on the track that weekend.”
Entry registration begins at 6 p.m. CT at www.greatamericanbracketraces.com. Racers can sign up there, and have two payment options for the $3,000 entry fee with a $700 fee for re-entry.
The race will also include a trio of $40,000-to-win races on Thursday, Sunday and Monday, with parking starting on Tuesday, May 19. Testing kicks off the event the following day, with a shootout race taking place on Wednesday and the first of the Triple 40s taking place on Thursday.
Additionally, all pre-entered racers will be entered to win a race-ready $20,000 SDPC Raceshop Engine, which will be given out by Cummings and Rolison at the race.
It’s the first time the promoters have done a pre-race entry for their Great American Bracket Races, but the situation certainly appeared to warrant it.
Cummings initially expected slots might fill over the course of a month or two, but the fact that they likely won’t last the weekend has him excited and grateful.
“All the hard work is going to come to light (Friday) evening,” Cummings said. “All these guys are excited to race for a million dollars, but the biggest part is having the trust of the racers to want to come to our race. That’s a major sense of accomplishment for us. The racers know up front what they’re getting from us. It’s that total transparency, trust and doing what we say we’re going to do on the flyer.”
With that in mind, the payout money is already there regardless of how many drivers sign up. It backs up Cummings’ emphasis of a guaranteed $1 million to the winner – the first ever drag race to do so – and keeps the focus on building the biggest show possible.
If the race oversells for whatever reason, they will take 100 percent of the entry money over 450 entries and put back into all four races in some fashion.
He’s also ready for the rash of expected entries. Cummings and Rolison, and their team, have tested a number of different scenarios for the past month on the website and they feel comfortable it will be a relatively smooth process starting at 6 p.m. CT on Friday.
“Everyone is on standby and we’re all ready. We feel pretty confident it will be fine,” Cummings said.
