Moving into the third day of the RAD Torque Fall Fling presented by Optima Batteries raised the purses and the stakes. On Moser Engineering Thursday, $25,000 was laid down on the line for the 370 Flingers with their sights set on a Fall Fling big check.
Wednesday crowned Howard Westbury as the FST Carburetors $15,000 event winner in the “Kick Booty” Chevy II over Kris Whitfield, and Tuesday saw Northeasterners Tim Markoglu and Robert DiMino walk away with American and Race Tech dragster chassis in the 32-Car Dragster Shootout.
Low-80 degree temperatures and light breeze made for some tough competition throughout the day. By the time the ladder was set for round seven, each match-up consisted of a door car versus a dragster. Greg Hicks, Cameron Manuel, Gary Gross, Jason Lynch, Cody McDaniel, Tim Thomas, Jesse Edens, Matt Dadas, and Garrett Griffith remained.
Griffith used a .016 package to move past McDaniel while Gross was the lesser side of a double breakout against Lynch. Dadas held a .013 advantage off the line against Hicks for the win, and Manuel threw down a two-thousandths package on Edens. Thomas posted a .008 bulb on his bye run.
Two door cars and three dragsters returned for the quarterfinals. Griffith’s .024 better reaction allowed him to turn on the electricity against Thomas, moving his S-10 into the semifinals. Despite Gross running it down to be dead-on three, Dadas’s .001 bulb gave him a substantial advantage and the win. On his single Manuel showed out, turning it just one-thousandth red and running dead-on two.
In the semifinals, Griffith put together a .017 package against the .024 light of Manuel to meet Dadas in an all-door car final. On his solo shot, Dadas was .001 red and dead-on one.
In the final, two young guns matched up with Griffith in the S-10 he scored a 15K win in at the Summer Fling in Ohio just a month prior, and Dadas a runner-up at the 2019 Fall Fling 500K in Bristol. With a .007 advantage on the tree, Griffith pushed Dadas to break out four-thousandths for the Moser Engineering $25,000 win.
Friday brings our main event — the ATI Performance Products $100,000. The Fall Fling Reaction Time Challenge will precede the beginning of eliminations, with 25 randomly selected drivers staging up to hit the tree. Any driver with a double “O” reaction will receive $100 and for every perfect light there is a $1,000 reward. If a racer is perfect they can come back for another look at the tree, and if they post a .000 a second time they will be paid $10,000 on the spot.
At 9 a.m. Peter Biondo and the Fling Team will release some big news regarding 2022 Fling events. All of the action will be streamed live as it happens on MotorManiaTV.com free to the viewer thanks to JEGS Performance and Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels.
For more information, visit www.BracketRaces.com, the Spring Fling Bracket Races Facebook page, or text the word “BRISTOL” to (844) 832-9969 for race info and updates.
This story was originally published on September 30, 2021. 
