DONOVAN WILL WILLIAMS CLINCHES LAST 50K AT SPRING FLING SATURDAY

Wiseco Performance Products $50,000 Saturday at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports would be the last opportunity to park in the winner’s circle for the week and wrap up the first half of the Fling Race Series season with 544 entries staging up for the first round.

The six quarterfinalists remaining included Mike Rogers, Josh Luedke, Matt Weston, Samantha Pollard, Rob Moser, and Donovan Williams. Rogers turned it red to the .012 bulb of Williams, while Moser was .006 for the starting line advantage but broke out by eight thousandths to Luedke. In the last pair, Pollard was ahead by .015 at the hit with a .003 and took .011 to move past Weston.

Luedke and Williams were .006 a pair and Williams killed what he needed to run dead-on the dial with a four while Luedke ran .022 over. On the single, Pollard was .016 in her round nose S-10.

Williams was .011 with a big time advantage on the starting line and ran .011 over the dial against Pollard for the Wiseco Performance Products $50,000 Saturday win. Williams had two prior runner-up finishes, most recently at the same event last year for $100K. He also qualified on the dragster side of the Brodix Best Package Runoff Friday evening.

Next up on the Fling Race Series Tour is the gate entry only JEGS Performance Summer Fling presented by Optima Batteries that will take place at Bristol Dragway, TN the week of Labor Day from September 3-7 featuring Triple $50K purses. Following just two weeks later will be the 15th Anniversary RAD Torque Systems Fall Fling $500K presented by Optima Batteries capped at 425 single entries to race for half of a million dollars at Bristol Dragway once again from September 24-28. Pre-entries will open May 15th at noon EST.

 

 

 

FRIDAY -  JEFF TAYLOR, ERIC AMAN WIN $50K RACES AT SPRING FLING FRIDAY

Another historic showing of 547 entries rolled through eliminations on Friday at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park. The schedule for the day would be stacked with the completion of the late rounds of Thursday’s JEGS 50K, running the Silverstate $50K from start to finish, and the 1-run Brodix Shootout.

The morning began with six drivers in the quarterfinals including Howie Adams, Kevin Brannon, Jeff Taylor in two entries, Jeff Serra, and Austin Thompson. Thompson turned it two thousandths red to the .007 of Taylor in his first entry, while Brannon had the starting line advantage by .010 but broke it out against Adams. Serra was .003 ahead at the hit against Taylor in his second entry, but Taylor advanced by way of Serra’s one thousandth breakout.

The semifinal ladder worked in Taylor’s favor as he earned the bye to the final in his first entry. On the other side of the ladder Adams fouled out by four thousandths of a second to the .010 bulb of Taylor, which cemented him in the Fling record books as the second racer to ever carry two entries to a Fling main event final round for the JEGS $50,000 purse.

Nick Horne took home the SR20 cylinder heads in the BRODIX Best Package Runoff against Donovan Williams. Horne and Williams were separated by just .005 in the shootout, and Williams broke out four thousandths to bow out against Horne's '03 S-10. 

The Silverstate 50K Friday quarterfinals included Dink Holmes, Eric Aman, Brian Thompson, Scott Sanders, Cory Gulitti, and Paul Riddle. Aman had the starting line advantage to advance past Holmes, while Sanders was .016 total to eliminate Thompson. Riddle turned it red to Gulitti, who would be the last dragster remaining.

At three cars, Sanders used a .017 advantage on the tree to earn a place in the final round over Gulitti while Aman drove it all out to be ten thousandths above in his by run. In the all-door car final, Aman let go .009 for the win against the redlight of Sanders to keep the Silverstate $50,000 Friday purse local with his 2000 Cavalier.

 

 

 

THURSDAY - FINAL ROUNDS OF THURSDAY'S $50K SPRING FLING RACE TO BE COMPLETED ON FRIDAY 

JEGS $50,000 Thursday at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park boasted the highest entry count seen in eight years of Fling events at the facility after 500 staged up for the first round.

The combination of new arrivals, 500 entries, and buyback round extended the program late into the evening. The decision was made to conclude for the night at the round of eight cars. The ladder is as follows: Howie Adams versus Kevin Brannon, Austin Thompson and Jeff Taylor in his first entry, and Jeff Serra versus Jeff Taylor in his second entry.

New Entry Time Runs will fire up at 8:15 a.m. before the continuation of the JEGS $50K with Silverstate $50,000 Friday eliminations to follow. The Laris Motorsports Insurance Racer Appreciation Party will kick off trackside at 7 p.m. with a free dinner, live music, and prizes for racers and their families.

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY - DUSTIN SMILEY RACES TO $15,000 WEDNESDAY WIN IN GALOT’S SPRING FLING

 

Advanced Product Design $15,000 Wednesday at the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park saw 428 entries make the call for the first round, a record-high for a $15K GALOT Fling Warm-Up race. The morning fired off with a time run session for all on property before rolling into eliminations.

The eight-car ladder was made up of half door cars and half dragsters including Thomas Davis, Cam Whisnant, James Norrod, Jon Corbin, Jeff Taylor, Donny Burleson, Russ Adams, and Dustin Smiley. Burleson let go .000 and ran .019 above for the win over Norrod, while Adams had the lesser of the two redlights against Whisnant to move on. Smiley was .006 and took .005 to knock out Davis, while Corbin put his ‘68 Firebird dead-on zero to eliminate Taylor.

The semifinals would guarantee a door car versus dragster final as two door cars and two dragsters came head to head with each other. Separated by just six-thousandths on the tree, Adams crossed the stripe by .001 to break out two thousandths while Burleson put it dead-on five to compete in his third career Fling final round. Smiley laid down .007 total in his full body Grand Prix to earn himself a spot alongside Burleson.

The Advanced Product Design $15,000 Wednesday win fell in Smiley’s favor by way of TruStart after he was just one-thousandth early to the .003 redlight of Burleson to grab his first ever Fling big check, running it all out to be dead-on seven and secure the second door car win of the week.

 

 

 

TUESDAY - JEFF VERDI CAPTURES RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS $20K SHOOTOUT WIN

 

The Fling Race Series 2024 Tour arrived at GALOT Motorsports Park for the Strange Engineering Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries for some east coast action. With great racing weather predicted, coupled with one of the best track surfaces in the country would make for some tight racing.

Rob’s Automotive, Collision, and Towing Tuesday saw 175 racers dialing in their cars during the test and tune session in conjunction with eliminations of the RAD Torque Systems Shootout where 32 drivers would battle it out for a $20,000 big check.

Eight shootout drivers remained at the quarterfinals including Vinny DiMino, Alexis Thompson, Arnold Smith, Connor Caulder, Jeff Verdi, Scott Sanders, Chad Duke, and Donovan Williams. Verdi had the reaction time advantage and took .003 over Sanders, while Caulder put together .024 total getting there by just .001 to move past Smith. DiMino was .009 against the redlight of Thompson, and in the last pair Williams was .008 and dead-on two taking .0008 against Duke.

In the semifinals, Verdi was .010 total getting to the stripe by .007 to advance past the .006 and .011 over of Williams to guarantee a door car versus dragster final round with his GTO. DiMino was .013 taking .013 to knock Caulder out of competition.

Both Verdi and DiMino were no strangers to a Fling final round and both long overdue for a trip to the Fling winner’s circle. Verdi had the advantage at the hit with an .013 and ran it down to be dead-on nine for the final round hole shot win over the dead-on two of DiMino. Verdi’s RAD Torque Systems $20,000 Shootout victory was his second Fling win since being crowned the 2016 Spring Fling Million Champion.