FuelTech $30,000 Saturday at the JEGS Performance Summer Fling presented by Optima Batteries brought sunny, clear skies for the 431 entries on property at National Trail Raceway. The count was a record-high since the beginning of the Summer Fling in 2021.
The best door car and best dragster package of the weekend throughout eliminations from Thursday to third round Saturday met in a match race for a set of Brodix cylinder heads. Ben Haight qualified on the door car side with perfect package (off the bottom) while Johnny Ezell was the representative on the dragster side after being .002 total (.001 and dead-on 1). Ezell was .008 and took a thousandth at the finish line to be .011 above against the .016, dead-on four against Haight to pick up the brand new set of SR20 heads.
The quarterfinals included Jeremy York, Caraline McCarty, Preston Pennington in two entries, Todd Piper, Kyle Cultrera. Pennington let go perfect to the .001 of Piper, and Piper took three thousandths to breakout by seven thousandths, advancing Pennington who was only .003 under the dial. McCarty turned it four thousandths red and ran dead-on eight against the .024 package of York, allowing York to advance to the semifinals. In the last pair, Cultrera was .003 but gave it back two thousandths to Pennington, who still laid down .012 total.
Pennington’s .000 bulb earned him a bye in the semifinals in one of his entries, and in the second entry he faced York. He was .001 to York’s .014, but broke out three thousandths to the dead-on six of York meaning they would have to face off once more in the final round.
Both Pennington and York were in attendance at the Summer Fling to participate in the $100K All-Star Shootout, and their performances throughout the day proved it. In their final duel, York was .003 and put it dead-on five to be .008 total against the .011 and dead-on seven run of Pennington. The Fuel Tech $30,000 Saturday big check was York’s second Fling event win.
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. 
