The mindset for Britt Cummings and Gaylon Rolison hasn’t changed.
Even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the duo have pressed forward with planning of the Great American Guaranteed Million, which is still slated to take place Memorial Day Weekend in Memphis.
It will award the first guaranteed million-dollar payout to the winner – and Cummings has no plans to change that. The race remains on for Memorial Day Weekend and Cummings is moving full speed ahead.
“Everything is full go for the million,” said Cummings, who is confident the May 20-25 dates will still work. “People are going to be ready and excited to get back to racing. We’re just going to keep our heads down and keep planning, and keep trying to come up with new things to make this race even better.”
That continues to be Cummings’ sole focus, even as the pandemic has forced the postponement or outright cancellation of several drag racing events.
With his race still more than two months away, Cummings believes it will be far enough away to negate the event being disrupted.
It’s enough to have him fully locked in on the Great American Guaranteed Million as well. For Cummings, it goes back to the commitment he’s made to the bracket racing community of being the first race to guarantee $1 million to the winner.
“You always have your naysayers saying the race won’t happen. But when we announced this race last year, we told people we were having this race and the money was guaranteed whether there was one entry or 450 entries,” Cummings said. “We’ve not wavered from that one bit. With everything going on right now, people are going to be ready to race.”
Cummings is counting on that, while as he and Rolison continue to tweak and add to the Great American Guaranteed Million.
The only possible schedule conflict is the Factory Stock Showdown competition on Saturday if NHRA decides to make up one the two events it has already postponed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
But they have a backup plan and putting on a show – and a memorable one at that – remains the chief priority. Thus far, Cummings and Rolison seem well on their way to achieving that.
They currently have 404 entries for the race over Memorial Day Weekend in Memphis, which leaves 46 spots remaining. Cummings predicts those will be gone shortly, meaning the only thing left to do is prepare for a memorable weekend.
“We’re totally confident that this race will have 450 entries,” Cummings said. “But at the end of the day, if we have 404 entries, we’re totally fine with that. We know it is going to be a great weekend.”
The Great American Guaranteed Million starts with testing on Tuesday, includes a trio of $40,000-to-win races during the course of the week, and then, of course, the main event, which will start on Friday, May 22 and conclude the next day.
This story was originally published on March 25, 2020. 
