The first of three $30,000 big checks was on the line on ATI Performance Products Friday at the JEGS Performance Summer Fling presented by Optima Batteries at National Trail Raceway. 407 entries took their shot at securing a main event payday.
Early afternoon showers pushed on-track action into the early Saturday morning with the cooperation of the racers and the intent to maintain momentum and finish the event. The last nine cars remaining included Brian Self, Eric Sandlin, Donny Burleson, Garrett Griffith, Larry Houck II, Steve Law, Jack Ligget, Mike Barber, and Jeremy York.
In the quarterfinals Sandlin had a .015 advantage on the tree and put it dead-on four over Law, while Burleson ran it down to run his dial with a four to knock out Houck. Griffith made a full pass on the bye with a .005 redlight and ran four-thousandths under.
Both Sandlin and Griffith ran one above in the semifinals but it was the .016 advantage off the starting line that illuminated the winlight for Sandlin. In his solo trip down the track, Burleson was .005 and ran his 4.46 dial with a six.
In the all-Texan final, the ‘85 S-10 of Sandlin laid down .005 total against the ‘22 Ultra Tech dragster of Burleson who made a decent run himself with an .016, dead-on five lap. This would make for Sandlin’s first-ever Fling event win for $30,000 on ATI Friday.
FuelTech $30,000 Saturday will begin with New Entry Time Runs followed by eliminations starting with K&N Pro 48 where the bottom-bulb bonus will be $2,000.
Everything will be streamed live as it happens on the MotorManiaTV YouTube channel free to the viewer courtesy of Strange Engineering with new exclusive content produced by the Fling Team.
For more information, visit www.BracketRaces.com, the Spring Fling Bracket Races Facebook page, or text the word “Columbus” to 41372 for race updates.
This story was originally published on September 11, 2023. 
