Where is bracket racing headed now that we have had a $525,000 winner? Or did we?

The SFG Promotions event at Michigan is now “in the books” with $525,000 GURANTEED to win the event. Over 700 entries on the US 131 Motorsports Park property and over 500 in the $525K is what I heard. I was trying to find “results” somewhere and could only find bits and pieces. That is a shame -- the richest single event in drag racing history and I can’t find the results. Maybe it doesn’t matter to the average race fan but to bracket racers across the country I would bet they would be really interested to see the “Winning and Losing Packages” those last five or six rounds.

To those of you that read this column, like drag racing and have not really got out to the Big Money races much or ever: All the Big Money Race payouts get “SPLIT UP” among the racers still in competition and the actual splitting of the purse is done by the racers, not the event promoters. I have always found that very strange, even though I have been part of the payout splitting process. It ends up that trying to find out what the “actual split” was is like investigating Clinton, Obama or Trump; pretty much just a load of unsubstantiated rumors or announcements.

The reason behind the “Split” is simple. These races are determined not by who has the most expensive equipment or the nicest tow rig. It is determined by drivers who are winning by thousandths of a second and are now sitting in the staging lanes with four rounds to go and they look at the payout:

$525,000 to win - $25,000 Runner-up - $10,000 semi-finals - probably $4,000 in 8th rd loss - $3,000 7th rd loss. Now, you have to think about how your race day has been going. A 1/1000th of a second red light in the finals could cost you $500,000! WOW! So, you start thinking I need to split this up a bit.

No doubt you had some great runs and probably a “lucky round or two”. As you can see by the GUARANTEED PAYOUT (and I stress this, Kyle Riley has stood above all other race promoters and flat out GUARANTEED the $525,000 to win, nobody has done that before!) Now, back to the Payout and the thought process behind “The Split”.

You are sitting in Staging and there are, for example, 16 cars left, you know you have accomplished a lot and in the back of your mind you know you can win and lose by a 1/1000th of a second. If you end up losing this round you get $3,000 (entry fee was about $1500) and your opponents are thinking the same thing. Thus, the racers get together, add up what the 16 cars left will earn, in this case it would be about $610,000. (Note: I could not find out the exact number left for the final four rounds but this is just an example.)

Now it is “decision time” and “thinking time”. Bad math or indecision here could cost you $40,000 or maybe $100,000!

I have no proof of how the “Final Split” went but here is what I would have been trying to get done, if I was one of the bracket racers left in the final 16 cars.

7th rd losers: 8 racers get $10,000 ea for $80K in payout that round.

8th rd losers: 4 racers get $30,000 ea for $120K in payout that round.

9th rd losers: 2 racers get $60,000 ea for $120K in payout that round.

10th rd- Final Round: Runner-up $130,000

Event Winner would get $160,000!

Did the SPLIT go this way? I have no proof and maybe one of the racers left in with four rounds to go will see this editorial and let us know.

I am leaving tomorrow for a Big Money Race at Byron Dragway, the Firecracker Bracket Nationals. $100,000 guaranteed to win Saturday and $30,000 to win Friday and Sunday. It is easy to think about winning and a hell of a lot harder to actually get it done. My goal is to win, that is just the competitive mindset most bracket racers must have. That is why we do the prep work during the week, set the car up so it can go 10 uninterrupted rounds without needing service. The realistic side of that goal is “The weekend is a huge success if you can make it to the SPLIT!” That, my friends, is REALITY in bracket racing today.

One final note: The Kyle Riley led SFG Promotions has already scheduled a race at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, for July 4th weekend in 2020 Are you ready? GUARANTEED $1,000,000 to win!

That’s my take on the richest bracket race in history. Got an opinion one way or the other? Send us an email to editor@dragracingonline.com or go to our Facebook page- DragRacingOnline