Bracket Races
Jeremy York Secures FuelTech $30,000 Saturday at the Summer Fling
Hebron, OH — 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.
Eric Sandlin Crowned ATI Performance Products $30,000 Friday Champion at the Summer Fling
Hebron, OH — The first of three $30,000 big checks was on the line on ATI Performance Products Friday at the JEGS Performance Summer 
Fling presented by Optima Batteries at National Trail Raceway. 407 entries took their shot at securing a main event payday.
Early afternoon showers pushed on-track action into the early Saturday morning with the cooperation of the racers and the intent to maintain momentum and finish the event. The last nine cars remaining included Brian Self, Eric Sandlin, Donny Burleson, Garrett Griffith, Larry Houck II, Steve Law, Jack Ligget, Mike Barber, and Jeremy York.
In the quarterfinals Sandlin had a .015 advantage on the tree and put it dead-on four over Law, while Burleson ran it down to run his dial with a four to knock out Houck. Griffith made a full pass on the bye with a .005 redlight and ran four-thousandths under.
Gage Burch Dominates Advanced Product Design $15,000 Thursday at the Summer Fling
Hebron, OH — Day two of the JEGS Performance Summer Fling presented by Optima Batteries at National Trail Raceway saw 328 racers 
stage up for the first round of Advanced Product Design $15,000 Wednesday.
Every racer on property had the opportunity for a time shot in the morning to get dialed in for the rest of the week. Eliminations moved smoothly throughout the day, and as the track lights switched on, the field grew smaller. The final nine included Gage Burch in two entries, Ben Haight, Jon Siegel, Camron Kardules, Makenna Brown, Jeremy York, Will Holloman, and Joe Barush.
In the quarterfinals, Burch and York were identical on the tree but Burch put it dead-on one to put one of his entries in the semifinals. Siegel had a .010 advantage on the line and ran dead-on with a nine to knock out Holloman, after which Burch took a hit at the tree on the bye for his second entry to be .001.
Scotty Richardson Wins $100,000 All-Star Shootout at the Summer Fling
Hebron, OH – With 48 of the country’s best drivers on property, an exciting day was in store at the JEGS Performance Summer Fling 
presented by Optima Batteries at National Trail Raceway. The $100,000 All-Star Shootout presented by Fuel Factory was nearly a year in the making, and the time had finally arrived.
The Fling Team nominated 12 racers while another set of 12 racers was decided by public poll. Once the 24 drivers were set, each nominated a teammate of the opposite vehicle type to create a field of 24 door cars and 24 dragsters.
The All-Stars qualified during the second time run based on reaction time, and the top 12 in door cars and top 12 in dragsters participated in a callout streamed live. Some racers were headhunting, while most claimed they would rather avoid racing any of the drivers.
After third round Mark Kidd, Scotty Richardson, Larry Piper, Scott Taylor, Gage Burch, and Kevin Pollard remained on the door car side while Johnny Ezell, Nick Folk, Tommy Cable, Ray Miller III, Donovan Williams, and Cory Gulitti were the last of the dragsters.
2023 JEGS Performance Summer Fling Presented by Optima Batteries Pre-Race
Hebron, OH – The second half of the Fling Race Series tour begins this week at the JEGS Performance Summer Fling presented by Optima 
Batteries at National Trail Raceway. The event could prove to be the largest Summer Fling yet with the inclusion of the highly-anticipated $100K Fling All-Star Shootout presented by Fuel Factory.
The Fling Team is bringing three $30K races for $690 with $200 round money Friday through Sunday, over $55,000 in racer appreciation giveaways, and a free Laris Motorsports Insurance steak dinner with live music Friday night. The full ‘Fling Experience’ will be delivered with a fun, family atmosphere at a professionally-run race.
“After listening to feedback after this event last year, we decided to lower the weekend entry fees and format the main event days to take place Friday through Sunday,” said promoter Peter Biondo. “We hope to make it easier for racers who can’t take off from work and can’t get here until the weekend.”
Tommy Plott Captures Silver State/Wiseco Performance $100,000 at the Spring Fling
Benson, NC — The last day at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park saw the 
continuation of the Silver State/Wiseco $100,000 event.
The five drivers on the ladder included Robert Holton, Tommy Plott, Cory Gulitti, Donovan Williams, and Stace Shrawder. Holton turned it just two thousandths red to Plott, while Gulitti and Williams were separated by one thousandth on the tree. Gulitti crossed the stripe first by .006 to break out by one thousandth while Williams put it dead-on four. Shrawder had the bye.
In the semifinals, Shrawder had a .007 advantage off the line against Plott but broke out .009 for the loss. Williams was .013 on the solo shot, earning lane choice in the final against Plott.
Plott won the MVP award at the first Spring Fling GALOT in 2017. After three runner-up finishes at the GALOT Flings since then, Plott finally secured a win in the $100,000 event. It was his second Fling event win following a $40K win at Bristol in 2013. He was .001 to Williams’ .014, taking .015 at the stripe.
Makenna Brown Wins RAD Torque Systems $20,000 32-Car Shootout at the Spring Fling
Benson, NC — Day four of the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park saw rain until 
the late morning, but that didn’t stop the track crew from working tirelessly on the racing surface to have cars ready to fire up at 1 p.m.
The Fling Team made the decision to combine both the Silver State $50,000 race and the Wiseco Performance Products $50,000 race into one $100,000 event that would begin Friday and be completed Saturday. With 383 entries staging up for the first round, the objective was to finish the buyback round and run the RAD Torque Systems $20,000 32-Car Shootout.
In the late afternoon, Blane Parrish and Will Holloman matched up in the Brodix Best Package Runoff. Parrish qualified with a .002 package on the door car side with his 1993 Mustang and Holloman on the dragster side with a .003 package. Parrish was .012 and .019 over the dial for the win against Holloman and walked away with the SR20 cylinder heads.
After the completion of the buyback round of the $100,000 event and the Brodix Runoff, 32 drivers went head-to-head in the RAD $20,000 Shootout. The eight drivers in the ladder round included Makenna Brown, Connor Caulder, Kevin Brannon, Troy Williams Jr., Ken Batchelor, Will Holloman, John Brown, and Jeff Verdi.
Matt Costabile Captures $50,000 and Will Holloman Wins $15,000 at the Spring Fling
Benson, NC — Thursday saw the completion of two races at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT 
Motorsports Park. Thursday was scheduled to begin with the continuation of JEGS $50,000 Wednesday, though the weather had other plans.
At 3:45 p.m. the track crew was able to dry and prep the surface for a full slate of racing. With the racers’ patience and cooperation, rounds moved quickly until 6 remained in the $50,000 event including Corey Manuel, Timothy Thomas, Nick Womack, Eric Thomas, Tanner Miller, and Matt Costabile.
Eric Thomas had a .004 advantage on the tree and turned on the winlight after the seven thousandths breakout of Womack, while Timothy Thomas laid down .008 total on Miller to advance. The winning packages became even tighter the following pair where Costabile put together .005 total against the .008 package of Manuel.
JEGS $50,000 Wednesday Eliminations to Continue Thursday at the Spring Fling
Benson, NC — The second day of the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park saw 380 
entries stage up for the first round of JEGS Performance $50,000 Wednesday.
In the afternoon during the second round, a weather system came in that is expected to persist into the evening. The Fling Team paused for an hour in hopes that the weather would improve, but made the decision to postpone eliminations until Thursday morning.
The tentative schedule is to continue the second round of the JEGS $50,000 event at 8:15 a.m. Thursday morning and run the race to completion. Afterwards, the fourth round of APD $15,000 Tuesday eliminations will resume and that race will run to completion as well. The RAD Torque Systems $20,000 32-Car Shootout will run in the afternoon after both races until the winner is crowned.
Friday will see the first round of the Silverstate $50,000 event weather permitting, and the Wiseco Performance Products $50,000 race will run on Saturday. If Friday rains out, the two remaining $50,000 races will be combined into a $100,000-to-win event on Saturday.
Advanced Product Design $15,000 Race to Continue on Wednesday at the Spring Fling
Benson, NC — The Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park fired to life on Rob’s 
Automotive Tuesday for the Advanced Product Design $15,000-to-win Warm-Up race. 327 entries were given the opportunity to dial their cars in with a time run session in the morning.
Sunny weather and warm temperatures earlier in the day were clouded by intermittent sprinkles throughout the late afternoon into the evening, delaying on-track action. After more precipitation before the conclusion of the fourth round, the track crew attempted to dry the racing surface to finish the final pairs.
In the interest of starting tomorrow morning fresh with the first round of the JEGS Performance $50,000 event, the Fling Team made the decision to postpone eliminations of the $15,000 race until later in the day on Wednesday.
