After crowning Cooper Chun as the first winner of the weekend, the Million Dollar Drag Race geared back up to award its first $50,000 Summit Racing Equipment Winner. With 618 cars on Tuesday, another record was set at the Mickey Thompson Million Dollar Race. Following 680 entries on Wednesday in 2023, Folk Promotions wants to thank the racers for an incredible turnout, as 729 entries took to the track in round one.
In the fifth round, the last two bottom bulbers lined up to battle for the $1,000 No Box bonus. Justin Lourash left .002 too soon, handing the win to Brett Williamson. Williamson advanced to the main event, where competed for the $50,000 prize.
Quarter Finals
With six drivers left—Jeff Serra, Scott Carman, Preston Mitchell, Brian Whitworth, Spencer Massey, and Dana Boatright—Brian Whitworth and Preston Mitchell were up first. Whitworth was in the zone, as he let go .008 at the tree and took .002 at the stripe to run dead-on with a five, defeating Mitchell and advancing to the semi-finals. Spencer Massey and Dana Boatright lined up next for their shot at $50,000, and it was Massey, a familiar face in the big money bracket racing scene, who came out on top. Massey was .002 and ran two above to secure the win over Boatright, who was .019 and dead-on with a seven. Another familiar name had two entries, one in the door car class and one in the dragster class. After losing his dragster entry, he continued to dominate in the door car class. Jeff Serra secured the bye to the final with a .002 reaction time and sealed his spot by running dead-on with a 2. Leaving it to Massey and Whitworth to square up in the semis, with Massey having lane choice.
Semifinal
Massey experienced mechanical failure and coasted to a stop after turning it .003 red. Whitworth, with a .015 reaction time, shut it off and coasted into the final round. Serra took his bye run aiming for lane choice and he secured it as he was .002.
Final
After 1,600 laps, the Summit $50,000 final featured a showdown between two tough competitors: Brian Whitworth in the dragster and Jeff Serra in the door car. The track crew gave the thumbs up as both drivers delivered impressive burnouts before staging up for the $50,000 big check. Whitworth, a well-known promoter with Race TB Promotions who hosts his own events at World Wide Technology Raceway, had never reached the winner’s circle as a driver at WWTR. Whitworth lit up both bulbs first, and laid down 13 total as he was .007, and dead-on with a 6. Serra was .011 and one above the dial to be .008 behind at the stripe. During the winner’s circle interviews, Shawna was there to greet Brian, along with their son Brooks, who was definitely a bit tired after a 17-hour day, as they celebrated his win at 3 AM. Whitworth thanked his family and wife for their sacrifices, expressing how incredible it was to land in the winner’s circle on such a significant stage. When TJ Pruitt asked how it felt to be on this side of the stage, Whitworth shared how amazing it was to be the driver in the winner’s circle at the most prestigious bracket race, calling it a dream of his as he has been in many winner circles with his partner Tyler Bohannon on the promotion side at WWTR.
Our Thursday Summit Racing Equipment $100K event kicks off with a time trial for new entries only at 8:30 AM. Once the time run is complete, the first round of eliminations will start with no box, followed by door cars, and then dragsters. The run order will feature doubles first, followed by Red, White, and Blue.
Thanks to Autoland Outlets and Vintage Trailers Ltd., you won’t miss any of the action with the Motormaniatv live stream.
This story was originally published on September 12, 2024. 
