Brainerd Motorsports Park earned first and third points in the Team Standings during the WDRA Summit Southern Bracket Finals presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance.
MONTGOMERY, AL: Eleven teams of racers gathered at Montgomery International Dragway over the weekend for the WDRA Summit Southern Bracket Finals presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance. Weather surrounding the event created a couple of schedule changes and the omission of one gamblers race, but eventually winners emerged in all classes during three separate races.
The Fuel Factory Race of Champions was contested on Friday where track operators and drivers could brag about which track champion was superior to the rest in their region. Brainerd Motorsports Park and Montgomery International Dragway each claimed two wins while Gulfport Dragway celebrated one winner. In the Junior Dragster final, both drivers were .028 on the tree, but CJ Handy ran dead on his 7.96 dial to get the win at his home track over Ryan Alexander from Atmore Dragstrip.
In the Box class, Rob Major from London Dragway had a .009 reaction time but breaks out by nine-thousandths while David Taylor (Montgomery) runs dead on his 4.56 dial in for the win. Brainerd’s Chad Brewer is .011 on the tree and runs two above his dial for the No Box win while leaving Chris Hester from I-22 Dragway mathematically ineligible.
Jerry Rogers is in full control at the starting line get the Sportsman victory for Gulfport over Paige Short Smith from London Dragway. Sonny Vick, representing Brainerd, has an .018 light and runs closer to his dial to earn the Motorcycle win over Robert Meeks from North Florida Motorplex.
Everyone’s focus for the weekend came down to the Main Event where qualified winners would earn a spot into the upcoming WDRA Summit World Championships. Drivers would also earn a point for their team with every win light throughout eliminations toward the Team Championship chase, except the racers who had to come back through the re-entry rounds. When all the tire smoke cleared, it was Brainerd Motorsports Park Team 1 cheering as the Champions with 47 points followed by Gulfport Dragway with 41 and Brainerd Team 2 with 35 points.
The remainder of the team standings were as follows: Holiday Raceway and North Florida Motorplex tied with 34 points, London with 33, Montgomery with 29, I-22 Motorsports Park with 19, Baileyton Dragstrip with 9, Immokalee Regional Raceway with 7, and Atmore Dragstrip with zero points.
The Box Main Event final came down to Thomas Wilson from Brainerd’s second team and Johnny Holley from Gulfport in the battle for $5,000. Holley is .009 on the tree but takes too much finish line to break out five thousandths while Wilson runs one above his 4.60 dial for the win.
Billy Parker from I-22 Motorsports Park had the starting line advantage with a .021 light but broke out beside Darryl Paul, who ran dead on his 6.31 dial to earn the No Box Champion title back-to-back with Gulfport Dragway.
In the Sportsman class, Jerry Rogers from Gulfport returned to the winner’s circle with a .027 margin of victory over Mike Dike Jr, who represented Brainerd’s second team.
Brainerd racer Briley Tipton’s win light illuminated in the Junior Dragster final round over Noah Jent from London, who fouled by one ten-thousandth of a second.
It was an all-Brainerd Motorcycle finale where Sonny Vick used a .010 reaction time to get another win within the weekend, this time over Brian Wilson.
The Gamblers Race that began on Friday was completed on Sunday due to intermittent rain delays. As an added bonus, each class winner earned a 2025 WDRA membership free of charge, thanks to sponsorship from various companies.
Thomas Holley was undoubtedly the man of the hour, securing wins in both the Outlaw Trailers Box Gamblers Race and the Technocraft Trailer Cabinets No Box class. David Taylor and Billy Parker each earned runner-up honors, respectively.
Cameron Rich from Immokalee earned the Funny Bone Embroidery & Screen Printing Junior Dragster Gamblers Race victory over Briley Tipton in her second final-round appearance of the event.
Both drivers represented Brainerd in the Spears Motorsports Sportsman final, where David Bigham took the nine-thousandths margin of victory over Mike Dike, Jr.
Numerous Special Awards were designated over the weekend, including Best Team Spirit for Brainerd Motorsports Park, the Best Appearing Team of London Dragway, and Holiday Raceway, which earned the Best Decorated Grandstands. Chris Stephenson laid down a .007 total package during first round of the Box Main Event to take home the Laris Motorsports Insurance Best Package award.
The Best Appearing Open-Bodied Car was determined to be Lee Mashburn from Brainerd, while KC Pesnell earned the Best Appearing Full-Bodied Car award with Holiday Raceway. North Florida’s Robert Meeks was awarded Best Appearing Motorcycle, and Noah Jent from London received the Best Appearing Junior Dragster honors.
The WDRA crew heads to the Southeast for the last WDRA Summit Bracket Finals of the season, which will take place October 3-6, 2024, at Union Dragway. Two weeks later, racers and staff will return to Montgomery International Dragway for the WDRA Summit World Championships presented by SunCoast Performance on October 24-26, 2024.
