After racers patiently waited two and a half days for the weather to pass, the long-awaited 15th Anniversary $500,000 main event finally arrived. The single-entry format would be the great equalizer between the 419 individual racers from all across the country for the richest-paying Fling event of the year.
The 20 drivers at the split included David Olinger, Steve Helton, Brian Martel, Ken Sweo, Billy Leber, Seth Street, Jared Pennington, James W. Holmes, Michael Carpenter, Jack Ostrowski, Jackson Worters, Hunter Patton, Cory Gulitti, Paul Mosley, Cameron Manuel, Tonya Pruett, Lester Adkins, Brandon Lane, Corey Manuel, and Jake Clayton.
At round seven Carpenter used a substantial starting line advantage to move past Olinger, while Pennington wheeled ‘Big Red’ to round eight over Leber after letting go .019 ahead at the hit. Ostrowski and Mosley were separated by just .003 on the tree with Mosley getting to the finish line first by .005 to break out by one-thousandth while Ostrowski put it dead-on his 4.52 dial with a seven. Clayton had .010 in his pocket off the starting line and ran .011 over for the win against Pruett. 2019 500K winner Patton was .006 to the .013 of Lane but broke out by four-thousands to end his chances of a repeat. Martel was red and dead-on eight in his bye run.
Door cars and dragsters combined on the ladder in the quarterfinals with Ostrowski and Martel being the first to stage up. Separated by three-thousandths on the tree, Ostrowski ran dead-on one to knock out the ‘67 Camaro of Martel. Lane fouled out by only .001 to end his evening against Clayton who ran it down to be dead-on five. Carpenter and Pennington were .001 apart at the tree with Carpenter getting there first by .002 to run dead-on one for the win against the dead-on four of Pennington to advance.
In the semifinals, Clayton and Carpenter were .004 apart at the hit with Clayton taking .006 to be dead-on two to earn a spot in the final. Ostrowski coasted on his solo trip down the track.
The stage was set for the climatic $500,000 final round with Clayton in the Ron Lane owned long car and Ostrowski in the Race Tech of Tim Markoglu after engine failure in his own car earlier in the week forced him to get in the seat of a ride he had never driven prior to the weekend. Both drivers staged up for the biggest purse of their lives. Ostrowski drove the round near perfection being .007 on the tree and taking .003 at the stripe to secure the Moser $500,000 Saturday victory, rocketing him to the #1 spot in the Fuel Factory $10,000 Points Chase which will be decided during Sunday’s JEGS/ATI 100k.
For more information, visit www.BracketRaces.com, the Spring Fling Bracket Races Facebook page, watch @RaceTheFlings on YouTube, or text the word 500K to (347) 974-7007 for race updates.
This story was originally published on September 30, 2024. 
