After racers patiently waited 2 ½ 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.   

 

 

WEDNESDAY'S 50K RACE TO RESULE ON THURSDAY IN BRISTOL

Day two at the RAD Torque Systems Fall Fling 500K presented by OPTIMA Batteries would see the start of eliminations for Advanced Product Design $50,000 Wednesday on the mountain at Bristol Dragway. Despite the best efforts of the track crew to provide a safe racing surface, intermittent showers disrupted racing activity. 

“We have almost 400 racers on the grounds that traveled from all parts of the country to get here. We have the track for all week (and Sunday if needed),” said promoter Peter Biondo. “The Bristol staff, our staff, and myself are one-hundred percent committed to make it happen for our racers, and I am confident we will. When the heavy rain comes through, we ask for your patience to hang in there with us. We will add in some fun stuff if we get long hours of down time.”

In the evening, several practice tree races and poker games were contested in a tower suite for all on property. In race one, Randy Biddle Jr. was off the bottom bulb to defeat Andy Morris, while race two saw Vicky Johnson knock out Mike Miller. In the third race, Emily Biondo used two perfect lights during eliminations and ultimately took the final round win over Vance Houston.

The Fling Team and Bristol Dragway will evaluate the weather Thursday morning to determine the schedule for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

 

 

TUESDAY - TUCKER KANSELAAR WINS $50K DURING FIRST DAY OF FALL FLING

The fog hung low between the mountains on Tuesday morning of the RAD Torque Systems Fall Fling presented by OPTIMA Batteries at Bristol Dragway, but with a little bit of sunlight cars hit the track for their first passes of the week.

Rob’s Automotive, Collision, and Towing presented the test and tune and 32-Car $50,000 Shootout. The format guaranteed a door car versus dragster final with 16 door cars on one side of the ladder and 16 dragsters on the other. 

After the second round Scott Sanders, Vinny DiMino, Tim Markoglu, and Tucker Kanselaar remained on the dragster side and Pete D’Agnolo, Nick Folk, Chad Duke, and Kevin Crawford were the last door cars standing. Sanders bowed out with a redlight against DiMino, while Kanselaar took .002 against Markoglu to advance. Summer Fling Shootout Winner Duke broke out by four-thousandths for the loss against D’Agnolo, while Folk turned it .003 red to the .007 of Crawford.

The semifinals saw Pete D’Agnolo advance past Crawford by way of Crawford’s .004 redlight to be the door car representative in the shootout final. On the other side of the ladder, Kanselaar put together a .009 package, taking .014 over DiMino for the win.

The ‘79 Malibu of D’Agnolo faced off with the Folk dragster of Kanselaar, where Kanselaar backed up his double “0” and dead-on run in the semifinals with a .008 and dead-on five lap getting to the stripe first by .005 to earn the Rob’s Automotive 32-Car Shootout big check.

After the test and tune, we had a time run session for tomorrow's Advanced Product Design 50K. New arrivals will receive a time run Wednesday morning prior to eliminations. The Fall Fling $10,000 Points Championship presented by Fuel Factory will also fire up on Wednesday where the highest earner will win a $5000 bonus, big check, and custom-wrapped Impact helmet. Drivers who place second through fifth will receive $2000, $1500, $1000, and $500 respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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