Bracket Breakdown Apr 7, 2026

Spring Fling MILLION recap and Winternationals

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

58:50

Concept

time slips

A “time slip” is the paper the track gives you after your run. It shows how fast you went and how long it took, so you can compare your results.

Concept

Spring Fling Million

The “Spring Fling Million” is the name of the racing event they’re talking about. They’re comparing this year’s experience to past years and discussing what was different.

Concept

diesel prices

They’re saying expensive diesel fuel probably kept some people from traveling to the event. If it costs more to tow and drive, fewer teams may show up.

Concept

heavy hitters

“Heavy hitters” are the racers everyone expects to do well. The host is basically asking whether the usual top guys will win again or if new drivers will surprise people.

Term

dragster

A dragster is a race car built specifically for drag racing. It’s made to go as fast as possible in a straight line for a short race.

Concept

juniors (junior drag racing)

“Juniors” means younger drivers competing in drag racing. The idea is that they learn the skills early, so they’re more prepared when they move up.

Term

breakout

In bracket racing, you pick a target time (a dial-in). If you run quicker than your target, you’ve “broken out,” and that often costs you the race.

Concept

bracket racing

Bracket racing is a drag race where you’re not only trying to be fast—you’re trying to match your own target time. The person who gets closest without running too fast usually wins.

Car

The Dacia Duster is a small SUV, meaning it’s taller than a regular car and usually has more room. It’s designed to be a budget-friendly way to drive something that can handle everyday roads and rougher surfaces. It might be mentioned because it’s easy to spot and common in certain areas.

Term

wheelies

A wheelie is when the car’s front wheels come up off the ground. It usually means the car is accelerating so hard that the tires and suspension can’t keep everything planted.

Concept

flyovers

A flyover is when planes fly over the event for show. It can make the broadcast sound different, but it also looks and feels really cool on TV or livestream.

Concept

in-house streaming

In-house streaming means the event is running its own livestream instead of relying entirely on an outside company. It often leads to a more consistent broadcast style because the team knows the event.

Concept

burnout

A burnout is when the driver spins the tires in place for a moment. It can help the tires work better for the next run, and it’s also a dramatic moment that cameras love to capture.

Concept

live camera on the starting line

This is a camera that stays focused on the start area while the race is happening. It helps you see what’s going on with the cars right before they launch, including small details you might miss otherwise.

Term

fuel pump

The fuel pump’s job is to send gas from the tank to the engine. If it fails, the engine may not get enough fuel, and the car can run poorly or even cause dangerous problems.

Term

converter issues

A torque converter is part of an automatic-style drivetrain that helps the car launch. If it’s not working right, the car may not accelerate the way it should off the line.

Term

seat time

“Seat time” is the practice time behind the wheel needed to learn a car’s behavior and refine reaction and driving technique. In drag racing, more seat time often translates to better consistency between rounds and quicker adaptation when switching cars.

Concept

hoisting the big check

“Hoisting the big check” is slang for winning the event’s top prize. In bracket racing recaps, it highlights the ultimate goal after many rounds of eliminations.

Term

door car

A “door car” is a drag racing car that looks more like a normal car body, with doors. The way it drives and hooks up can be different from a dragster.

Term

champagne bath

A champagne bath is when the winner pours or sprays champagne as a celebration. It’s a common “you won!” tradition at races.

Term

red light

A red light means the driver started at the wrong time. In drag racing, that usually means they lose even if they go fast.

Concept

finals

The finals are the last races of the event, where the best cars compete for the win. Making it there usually means you’ve been performing well all day.

Term

two ten thousands away

That phrase means the winner and loser were separated by an extremely tiny amount of time. In drag racing, even a blink-fast difference can decide who wins.

Concept

runner-up

“Runner-up” means the competitor who finishes second in the event’s final round. In drag racing, being runner-up at a major money race is a strong indicator of consistent performance and tuning, even if it doesn’t end in the top prize.

Concept

chop top

A “chop top” means the roof has been cut down to make the vehicle look lower and more aggressive. It’s a common hot-rod customization.

Concept

logos pivot and spin

They’re describing a moving detail: the logos actually rotate when the hood opens. It’s a custom feature meant to impress people at shows.

Part

tonneau cover

A tonneau cover is the cover over the truck bed. Here, it’s been designed to work together with the tailgate so the rear lifts as one piece.

Concept

MVP of the week

They’re picking an “MVP of the week,” kind of like a player-of-the-week award. It’s based on who performed the best during the races, not just who won once.

Company

In-N-Out

They’re referencing In-N-Out as a recognizable place at the event. It’s basically telling you where to find the booth/promo.

Term

animal style

“Animal style” is a particular way In-N-Out prepares a burger. In this segment, it’s being used as the prize for a competition.

Company

Steve Riggan

Steve Riggan is mentioned as one of the top announcers. The speaker really likes his work and is excited to see him involved again.

Concept

entries sold out first day

That means the race filled up super fast—people signed up immediately. When that happens, it often means more racers are interested and the event can be more competitive.

LIVE

But not like when I'm just

For

You've got to spend it with loved ones and hopefully the Easter Bunny dropped by your house

Yes, sir Easter Bunny stopped by here for sure

And I was laughing a bunch yesterday because there's like a stone cold meme going around

Where stone cold like kicks through this stone wall

And it was like this is what Jesus was like on the third day and like I saw the meme like 200 times yesterday

They probably never got one either

Yeah

Yeah, it was good for us. We had a little you know just traditional, you know dinner like spring Thanksgiving in the spring, you know

Heated up the house with the oven and made some

Tasty steaks might we kind of do steaks instead of like hams or turkeys. So

We did some my oldest daughter and I cooked up some filet mignon, you know

Yeah, some some Easter filets

So that was good. Had a big egg hunt. I must have for didn't get I must have lost the invite in the mail

Or yeah, I missed that text miss that text buddy

But it was good

And man the weather like beautiful weather yesterday. It's it's like 80 today here. It's fantastic

It's been a it's been really nice down here

I've been wearing short sleeves and in shorts first thing in the morning

Suns out guns out for sure you should see my white calves though. It's so bad

So I've been with some getting some shorts on cuz my legs. It's not cool

Gotta work on that. Oh, buddy. Yeah, they need some help. I need some help

Who was that checking in who we got checking in got wall walker out here

What up west side?

Walt's our our

mid country

Specialists midwest, baby

You know midwest

Yeah

Yeah, there he goes that Larry bird looking mother

He that's Henry's fault too man, he did it he flipped that switch

You know Larry flipped the switch and then just rained them from downtown

Pretty impressive performance that I know we'll get into. Oh, yeah, and John Victor

He laid down a pretty nasty lap

I think he was trips and take 110th hour or something like that. It was nasty or seven

So he'll correct me, but it was it was a ridiculous lap

always good to see Victor down at the Vegas no matter what race it is, but uh

Nasty time slips coming out of that joint this weekend

Well, uh, should we get into the the meat and potatoes of this deal and

Let's bring on the voice one of the voices of the spring fling million. Mr. Ronnie court. How are you doing tonight dog?

What's going on guys? How are you?

We're doing pretty good

We only let you have one day off of this deal and

Hopefully your voice will hold up for for one more hour. Yeah

It's been a it's been a marathon between doing Tucson and Vegas and obviously they're they're week-long events, but man, you know

When you when you do something that you love and and the racing is that good and you get to work with some great voices

It's easy. It's easy. Oh

Yeah

Go ahead. I just saw Pete Lance here's checking in from

From soon to be

wet

the wetter nationals

Down there, so we'll we'll see I'm pulling for you Pete

Ronnie is that is that your first time ever at the spring fling million?

I used your first time on the mic, but have you been to that event before? Yes. Yeah

I I was on the mic two years ago for it. Okay, I raced it a couple years

And so I've I've been I've been blessed to be able to to be down in Vegas a couple times for that event

See that I don't know all my court racing history. So I needed that

You know, I heard a little bit of chatter online, you know million day was 320

I got to looking back. I was like, oh, I wonder where that stacks and you know when when Luke wanted just a couple years ago

Million day only had like 290 mm entry

So certainly smaller than last year, which was a milestone year for the 10th annual

I don't know that that's a fair comparison, but what did it feel like, you know for someone who's been to

Some a couple of those events both in the pits and in the tower

Did it feel feel like a fling? Was it was it a noticeable difference or how was the energy this weekend?

It was great felt like a fling

You know, obviously you had some new things added this year as well to the the second shot shootout

Which was super cool kind of do that things 10 years too late. We've been should have been doing that the whole

But you know what the beauty is is that you got a partner on board who wanted to do it and

Mentley did a great job with that and the the fling was was

Honestly, we were kind of pulling straws, right?

How many people do you think and and look there's there's no doubt diesel prices probably affected some travelers, but

For overall for the event. It was great to see a lot of the East Coast

Representation and you know when the east coasters come man, the the top the talent goes up

Notches the the the amount of tight racing that you have the the track

Thankfully, the weather was was pretty darn good for a majority of the weekend

You know the Vegas breeze was there, but you know overall it was it was a great time. It was a really great time

Yeah, you guys started out a little windy kind of like carried that Tucson wind straight to Vegas, but

You know got things going and you mentioned the East Coast

you know actually last couple years you look back at the wind sheets West Coast has been showing out at the fling and

This was a year the East really I think took that thing back and you know, especially after Tucson

Which they did great out there right minus the minus the East versus West race

You know showed up and showed out I think the way we expected but really dominant

You know kind of some of those guys you would normally expect

You know the Williams the Williams boys you got Matt dad is in the mix

Maybe maybe Brethren was one that wasn't on my bingo card

Not that he's not a capable racer, but not you know wasn't on my bingo card

but they yeah, they just really came in and wrecked shop and

Course T-Bo get in the big boy one of the one of the one of the

Discussions I think

Prior to the fling was you know

Are you gonna see a lot of the the heavy hitters dominate or you're gonna see some of these new names come up and and I always

Led to think more towards those heavy hitters really dominating this fling because of the fact that you're not gonna have these

Significant masses of people gas prices affecting things

And so you had a little bit more of a condensed field and you you listed the names, right?

Gary Donovan picking up 30 K's datas bohanan

You know and and even some of you know, you saw West Coast dominant performance in pro and Andy Schmall

And so some of those and they they really came out and flexed the muscles. Yeah, my boy Schmall was nasty

Man man. He was nasty. I

Don't think that that that this weekend limits Andy Schmall. He's nasty all the time

One of the things that I mean I sent this to Troy yesterday because I was pretty fired up, but I

Think that the people who claim East Coast racers are better than West Coast racers

There's obviously more density of talent in the East Coast and there is the West

But I think my biggest beef is they keep saying we're the dominant coast, right?

Well, guess what the same five people that won this weekend still wreck house on the East Coast every weekend, too

So I think those boys deserve credit, but I don't think the entire East Coast deserves credit. Sorry

I don't deserve credit for Sean Schafer's

win, but

Team West Coast so

I'll try to you know, the the East Coast West Coast discussion. I

I've had enough of it

It's over the last two weeks. I will say this

You know, I appreciate the East Coasters coming out to the West Coast

and I really hope that the West Coasters can all kind of get together at some point and

Travel to the East Coast as well, too

so, you know, it's great to see racing alive and well and

You saw great performances out of the heavy hitters and you know, certainly the East Coast has

I was talking to to Gleggy after the Tucson race and he talked a lot about how man

I'm kind of learning a little bit more about how the different regions and how the racing is, you know

Here in the West Coast, you guys know we're 300 400 miles away from a racetrack, right?

Out on the East Coast, man, you live in Tennessee or Alabama

You're you're a stones throw away from a racetrack

So you just race more and when you get more seat time it makes you a better driver

So, you know, you got talent all over the country and and obviously it's been proven that that talent all over the country can win

An event like the spring fling million and so

But yeah, it does kind of add a little bit of a fun little rivalry

You know, I think everybody knows that that in the end, you know, we're all just having fun

But no East Coast guys really really they dominated the spring fling million. They really did one of the one of the things

that I want to hit on is a

first stop

We'll start with 30k Wednesday the winner was Gary Williams over Jane Lawyer Lawler, excuse me

The interesting thing to me is there is like an 11 race win streak of a door car winning and

Gary carried that in the truck over Jane who was also in a door car

The next day Matt Datis in a door car over Jacob Collins

Jacob had a great weekend. He went early on Wednesday

Final on Thursday, just the kid is is gonna be one of the next up-and-comers. If not, he already is

He's he's on my note sheet right here, man. That that young fella can wheel it

Like I saw lots of laps double-o dead on and I'm just oh dude

I'll be saying it his way. I think he's only been in a big car like two years or something at this point

He just debuted in a big car a couple years back

maybe two seasons ago 24 maybe and

The young fella can flat out wheel it man. I was super impressed

He's got a real sharp real clean paint scheme or wrap whatever it is on that on that thing that blue and black

Jacob was looking clean and mean man all weekend. So well and talking him in the winner's circle

And I had to correct myself because a part of me wanted to say what he's gonna be one of those guys where remember the name

It's like stop he is here. I mean he is showing up in these winner circles and it's interesting

to talk to him off the microphone because it's a guy who you could you can hear the intelligence and how he speaks and the

things that he's saying and

You know, he's gonna get a lot of opportunities and I was talking to Peter afterwards and I'm like, man

These kids coming out juniors. Jesus. I don't know what kind of water they're drinking

But I want it because they are they're pretty nasty

But you know when you when you start so early and young and you get to the point where you're racing a full-sized dragster at

1819 20 you've been racing for 10 12 years. I mean you're you're savvy veteran

You've been you've been chasing you've been backing in the guys you've been holding you cut killer lights

That's the thing is is not only where they racing but juniors has changed so much

A lot of people turn around head to the pits or whatever when juniors come on if you stay on watch it these days

And you guys know I mean these kids are stomping it to be dead on it's not just flat-footed

See who gets there and maybe a breakout like these kids are driving now

And they know about holding and they know about stop spot dropping and they know about all that stuff

And they're flickering the bulb and do it. You know what I mean?

Like it's it's a whole different game now in the junior

So I still don't think we're seeing the conversion rate to big cars as we want

But the ones that are are coming in there nasty. I

think I think Lou and

The this is bracket racing elite team got a good thing going with that. This is bracket racing junior

I mean if you think about it

he's

Reaching a lot more younger kids and hopefully getting them interested and getting better and when you're good junior drag racer

Makes you want to take the next step and and get into a big car and when you're a good big car racer

You're just gonna bring all your friends in and and and keep the sport growing. So

Cool to see that for Jacob Collins

anything to add

He hit me up and said he's gonna try to come up summer showdown. So

It'd be good to see him

We got him on the alternate list for the gamblers and try to you know, we'll see if he gets a spot on the on the gamblers

But we'd love to see him up here

Trading blows with with some of the Northwest guys for sure. Oh

Yeah, but uh

Matt data sorry bouncing back to Matt giving him his flowers. He drove the wheels off of that Grand Am I love that Grand Am

I mean, it does say California car duster on it. So it's a little bit of a sediment to

the the west side

Imagine being the guy who gets to just get all of Jimmy's old cars

I'm surprised

It's I guarantee if it stays for sale long enough, he'll have that one too like who's got it better than Matt Dallas like

Whenever Jimmy's getting rid of one of his old super stockers like let's just grab that real quick

Guy was locked in and he was locked in honestly right from the get-go even back in Wednesday

But you're talking about a guy who again one of those heavy hitters

That's that's always kind of hanging around and he he was he was stellar and obviously adds his name to a

few group of people who've won at least three of those kind of main events and so

dude dude was locked in and

Obviously, he's a he's a pretty nasty combo in that Grand Am. I

Mean it does really cool wheelies, too

So, I mean what more can you ask for out of Matt Datas turning on wind lines doing the wheelies?

Driving the wheels off of it buttery GT super stock wheelies man

Anything that trips the 60 foot with the rear tires. I'm all about baby

Same even if it's a big tire, that's okay

Let's uh

Go ahead. No, what's next? Where you going? Let's say let's get into a

Million dollar Friday

Started out with the 50k run for the money. There was a couple

scares for old Peter

What was there like six or seven trip zips we had?

Yeah, oh gosh, I think we counted almost 10 just in the session alone

There were there was one there was one total there was two total we had I think two three totals

Yeah, and it's so funny because you know Peter plays it off, right? He's like, ah, you know, it'll be good

No, no big deal. And then he starts pacing outside of the

The announcers booth and like you can kind of tell like he's pacing around the announcers booth because he wants to hear

who's going trip zip and

We we almost had the way we were we were trip zip under by a thou

trip zip dead one and

unfortunately, we could not give away Peter's money which was I was really hoping we'd be able to do but a

Valiant effort from all the racers and

Honestly, it was a super cool session because it was the best air of the weekend. And so you saw guys

I mean carrying wheelies all the way out to 330

and obviously a

Fun time seeing them go go for broke if you will and and try to drop her dead zero

Run for the money is fun to watch and I think you know in addition to those perfect lights

I think there was quite a few

Double all either green or red dead zeros, you know, I mean on the other end

They they were able to drop it in there and and just miss it up front

So always fun. You kind of sit on the edge of your seat

Attention starts building you get a couple guys on a roll, you know, I meant I mentioned this on the mic

It's it's kind of like watching bottom of the night to the baseball game, right?

I mean, it's like every pitch could be the end

Every hit could be the one and so you you kind of yeah

You pay for the whole seat

But you only use a quarter of it because you're just on the edge just like whole baby

And then he then he drops it dead one and under by a fountain like oh, we're so close

Yeah, well and when you've had years where someone's done it, you know, it just reinforced like it might happen

You know, it'd be it'd be another one of those things if no one's ever done it, but it's been done, you know

So and it's a it's crazy also to me that how often does a perfect run up happen? Not very often, right?

We had two of them. Yeah

That weekend before the run for the money and so if I was Peter, I would be

My butt would be eating my shorts for sure

You know what Sandlin and who had the other one Chuck Sanders Chuck Sanders Chad Sandlin Chad Sandlin. Yeah, man

They'll love truck getting her done. Mm-hmm

All right, I like it a little bit

How about that national anthem by your co-announcer that thing was awesome. I loved it

Yeah, no, it was great to be in the booth the weekend with Nate Hershey and Brent Carver and and I have never worked with Brent

I never met Brent right up until the the event but did a great job and and then it's so funny because

You know, the two walk down to do opening ceremonies out in front of the platform with all the first responders

and I'm kind of the guy who who's in the booth who throws it to them and

Probably about two minutes before we throw. I realized I'm like

Wait, wait, who's singing the anthem and for whatever the reason I never knew and then they're like, oh, no Brent's gonna sing

I was like, oh really and then he obviously did a great rendition and then you know, we we

Had some great timing with the jets flying over and I hope the stream caught the jets

I think it did but

It was it was free. It was something. It was very very cool and we appreciate them for

cooperating on the flyovers because it was it was awesome. I

Actually noticed this weekend that I thought the sound on the jets flying by was the best had been

It's usually garbled and junky or you can't hear it

But you can see them and you know someone on the mics talking about it

You could hear that you could hear the jets every time they flew over and it actually sounded good

it sounded pretty cool and

Yeah, so that was a I love the stream and I love that they brought their stream in-house

You know, I know they brought in some outside people to build that but

They're doing a great job. You know, I don't I can't help but think if you guys remember that

I think it would have been the final motormaney

Broadcast of it or whoever had done it and there was a boom camera

Hmm, and they'd stuck it in Donovan Williams face

Like he had just done the burnout and they had that thing like this far from his face and he's you know

Swatted out and chirped at him and then I never saw that I think the next year they started doing their own video

And I always wonder if it was

If it was because of that

Yeah, I always give credit to Warren Evans and the team and and Tristan and Joey and less they do a great job

Austin does a great job with with the videos and it really is it's a it's a full effort between

announcers and the video guys and you got guys who are down on the starting line for hours doing the

Live camera on the starting line, which I personally for me is just awesome because then you you get to highlight those small details

About people's car, you know

Tribute stickers and small little modifications that they've made that that just amplify a broadcast

So that if you're sitting at home, you feel like you're at the event

I guess over the wall angle was sick right at the starting line. Yeah, we tried that out this week. No, that was good

I liked it. Yeah, I guess the the term race it experience it isn't just for the people at the track

If you're viewing at home, you get quite the experience just watching their live feed. I love their camera angles

It's just that much more intimate and it's it's awesome

Moving on to our next big topic. How about Tyler bow hand in man?

Broke the string for the door cars, but Tyler was on fire that day

literally

and as well

and

He had he had quite the troubles

That morning, I guess he caught on fire

fuel pump went bad not once not twice, but I guess three times and

Got it all figured out just in time to to make the million

He actually got pushed off the starting line in the the run for the money and I come to find out

the fuel pump had run some trash into his carburetor and

They got that figured out and it paid off for

Tebow, what do you know Ronnie? Yeah, it's it's crazy to talk to Bohan and afterwards because it's like, you know

You a lot of times you don't hear about this right until until the end and you know

The the million is such a mentally difficult event in the first place, you know, you wake up Friday morning

It's just a different vibe. It's just a different tension

I mean you're staging with a lot of money on the line

And then you deal with the fact that you're you're you're driving a vehicle that is not cooperating

We've all been there right as racers

We we've driven a car that you know

It's sputtering or not running well or you know

You got issues with with fuel or spark or whatever may be and then you talk about cars on fire

Wheels are falling off fuel pumps going bad and then the dude parks it in the winter circle by triple zero two

It really showcased the mental

The the extreme mental strength that Bohanan has

and just the raw natural talented driving too and uh, he uh, he he earned it man. He he earned it because that that was a

while weekend for him

Another impressive thing is he he didn't hardly ever race that car the last couple weekends

He was mostly in the cobalt and just switched over to the dragster on a limb

obviously jayden was doing well in the cobalt and

I guess he wanted to go that route and so him jumping into the the dragster was kind of a last minute decision and uh,

I mean

Tyler's Tyler's made enough runs and in anything to where he could probably get comfortable real quick in anything so

But for for me

The that's impressive because it takes me a couple runs to get used to a new car, but uh,

Yeah, even going back to twosan, you know, they they struggled in the cobalt. They were talking about converter issues and

You know not quite getting it there and then they they bring it to vegas and stuff starts to click jayden did very

You know pretty pretty well in the cobalt and um, but yeah, we were actually kind of asking that question thursday night of like

Who's driving the dragster who's driving the cobalt and uh, obviously it paid off in the end. So

job job well done to that camp because

That that was that's a tough race to win man

You know you talk about racing all day and the the time between rounds and dealing through doubles and buybacks and again

Just the the amount of money that's on the line. It's different from now a lot of these east coast guys

You you do that on an every weekend basis and you get a little bit more comfortable

So that's where that seat time pays off so much

But nonetheless, it's still different when you travel all the way to las vegas and again

You've got heavy hitter round after round after round

There's there's really no letting up in any way shape or form sometimes we we say in some of those events where it's like

Well in the second third round you you start to tighten up

Man, it's tight right out the gate, right? I mean, we were just talking about the roadx run for the bunny, right?

I mean, they're they're nailing it, you know, three two one total right off the bat

And so you have to be so sharp immediately and keep that sharpness all day long

into near midnight where you're staging for hundreds of thousands of dollars and

he obviously

Got her done and and to do it in the the slimmest margin of victory in in fling

million history triple zero two is

Probably got to be a little bit sweeter for him

It was it was a killer way to end the night and you know

Didn't surprise me at all that he jumped in the dragster

That's a race that he's not going to take chances in the cobalt because he can win that thing

And so what I wasn't surprised to see him in the dragster

I was surprised early rounds and I don't have like the run sheet in front of me

And so I could be wrong, but he didn't feel like early on like he was stellar

He was turning on the win light, but I don't remember

Taking you know particular notice to any of his early round

You know numbers they were just good enough to win, but I don't think he was crushing it

But then steadily throughout the day he got better and better and better and then 11 take trips for the dub

in the milli. I mean

That's just stupid. Uh, that's just nasty and and um, you know

You get you put tyler in something that has a 240 inch wheelbase and give him any chance at all and he's gonna find a way to get it done

Yeah, yeah, and you know and that's why I picked him to win super comp. You know, he hasn't got started yet this year

You know, it was it was between that and super stock and it's like I think he's better in the dragster

You know, I know he wants super stock a lot, but he's so good in a long car

And he's proven it time and time again, man. He's uh

hell of a performance for tebow

Did you ever have any doubt that him jumping in anything that will hollerman has prepared wasn't gonna be really good?

Um, here's your sign that even though it wasn't good initially

It was good enough to get the job done

Well, and I think the car was probably fine. I don't know that tyler was great first thing first off

You know, and I don't know maybe, you know, I guess we we heard about the issues

They were having with it, you know, but but how those affected

It's you know consistency. I don't I don't know but uh

but yeah, man, I mean he

He's driving good stuff. He's not gonna jump in some junk, you know

And and even if they had a few bugs to work out anything that will he's turning wrenches on it's gonna be be solid

and uh,

He's just he's got the skills man to figure it out and uh, and you know round after round like you say I remember last year

You know

That was the most impressive part to me about watching cooper do what he did

Wasn't that he did it

I mean as impressive as it is right like someone does it every year

Uh, and and you have to win 10 or 11 rounds to do it and and someone does that every year

It was the consistency

All day long

From 8 a.m. Until 2 a.m. Right you're you're at 2 a.m. You're coming up with the same kind of focus that you had at 8

And that's a special thing that not a lot of people have

Well, and when you race these 30 k's millions where there's you know, 300 400 entries

I mean you you guys know it is such a round by round

It's it's funny because we we compared it to march madness right survive in advance

That's really kind of what it is and you really kind of have to slug your way through the rounds

Until you can start to get to the laders

But but I think naturally you almost kind of feel like all right

We're kind of through the thick of it of buybacks and doubles and all that stuff

And now we're it's single everybody across the board

We're getting towards the split and you almost feel like you want to exhale

But you know you can't because you're sitting around this split with the nastiest sharks that are around in our bracket racing world

And so it's like, you know, you almost kind of have to dig deep and kind of hit that next gear of like all right

We're we everything we do is to get to this point now. Let's go to work

And uh, obviously t bow did a great job of that

We did have one driver doubled at the split. Do you mind me who that was?

Kyle Caltrero. Kyle. Yeah, Kyle did a very good job this weekend

I obviously he'd he'd love for that to end with him hoisting the big check

But uh, somebody who won a lot of rounds doubled into the 16 at split

He honestly did very well for a majority of the weekend

But for whatever the reason, you know, you again, you talk about so many rounds and sometimes things just got to fall your way

Right. I mean, I I could think of several drivers who were who were cutting killer lights and dropping great packages

And they're nine total and then the other guy's six, right? I mean, they're eight total and the other dude's four

and it's just like

Sometimes you just are on the wrong end of uh pulling into the lane wrong. So it is what it is

There was a bunch of sub 15 total no goods this weekend against people where you're like, I mean, I think I think, um

I think Whitfield had one where I was like, I was like, oh buddy like laid down a nasty lap

You know, and it was like but there wasn't no no win like for that

You know go home and it was like third round or something

Maybe I think I think it was after buyback and I was just like oof

You know any other round that's getting it done and and and there was quite a few of those man

And you know, Kyle someone we talked about he was on the original east coast list

at Tucson, I think he got subbed out for somebody

Um in the end, but we talked a lot about him, you know going into that and uh

You know, he he was wrecking shop. I picked Donovan Williams to win the biggie just missed it

Missed about one day. Well, and he went deep like there was a minute there. I was like, I'm gonna call this shot

you know, I thought it might happen and uh

But he went pretty deep

I think he was down to eight cars or whatever the number was around that around that mark and then yeah, then got it done the next day

um in the truck like

That's another guy who obviously he can wheel a door car, but like if donovan's in a dragster

There's not many times where I wouldn't pick him, you know

Against the field because he's just super nasty. So I didn't know that he had that kind of versatility in a

In a door car. I don't think I've got to see him race a door car much but uh

And that little s10 delivers for those williams boys

Oh, yeah

One one more thing before we wrap up million dollar friday

Yes, tyler won a lot of money, but the money will go away

One of the things that that kid's always gonna remember is the night he got the limo ride

The showgirls the suite the champagne bath

Uh, tell us a little bit about that winners circle celebration. Ronnie. You were there firsthand

Oh, man, you should have seen his face riding around in the limo

It just get in the can store right and you know, you you got the limo sitting

Right there ready to go and and you get done with the high of winning and

Celebrating with family and then it's like, all right. Let's let's let's go decompress and brought the trophy into the limo

And they were they were doing laps around and I mean it was it was great time, you know

And that's that's just cool to see because again, those are those are things you'll take away and remember for for the rest of your life

You know and when you do it with friends and family and uh, you know people that people that you love

Um, it just makes it that much better. And so yeah, it was it was a cool winners circle

He he got the champagne bath and uh, it was uh, it was pretty pretty awesome pretty awesome to see

A couple of those champagne bath pictures are like I'd be printing them and framing them on the wall

It's pretty there's some pretty solid ones in there

Uh, so yeah pretty cool to see man, uh another shout out to t-bow. Uh, just a fantastic job

You know again 11 take trips to put a to put a bow on it is uh, it doesn't get any nastier than that

So that's the that's the way you want to win

You know, he could have easily just as easily won that on a red light and you'll take it

Because that's not your that's not your deal. You know, you do your job, but um, you'd much rather go 11 take triple zero

Than than some anything else, you know, so what a way to kind of put a put a bow on it

Yeah, you you hope that the drivers are the ones who who get to settle it in the end and and i'll give a quick

Shout out shout out to uh chat axford who my heart broke for him, man

When that when that dragster locked up broke a planetary

Uh at four it's like, you know, you always nobody wants to win that way, right?

You want the drivers to be able to settle in and um, you know, he can hang his head high knowing that he had a great performance

You know, and he he will be back at this gig, but um, you know, you you hope that always it's a cleaning green

They're settling at the top end. It's it's it's a it's a fair fight and uh, yeah

It was it was stellar final. It was it was worth staying up for

It was late one. It was

We uh, we also need to need to give a shout out to greg brotherton. I haven't mentioned him yet

Guy uh flies in drives, uh, steve williams dragster

He's been here the last couple years driving that car, but again, not very familiar with that car other than

Once a year at the fling so uh for him to wheel that thing down. I mean, he's going for 30s. That's one

bad hot rod

Um, and if you don't know greg brotherton owner, I believe of brodex cylinder heads

Who sponsors that run for the 50k?

Very smart guy. Um, he's got steve williams behind him who is also very smart. So, uh

Just just awesome to see, uh, mr. Brotherton down to the finals. I mean, you're two ten thousands away

From being the million dollar winner totally different story, right?

You know, that's the they again

They got a great racing program and a lot of talented people there and um, yeah to come up that just

Just that short is uh, it's obviously difficult

But you know what I tell you what how many people have been the runner-up at a spring fling million, you know

I mean, that's a man. That's a major honor and and uh, he should be very proud of that performance because it was a good one

That's a that's a runner-up picture. You're definitely taken

You know and uh and parkin for and yeah, he drove drove fantastic

I was I was wondering I'm like I wonder how far steves went recently in that car

Because I always think it's funny when people borrow someone's car and then go win the race with it

You know, it's like it kind of puts some pressure on whoever owns that car when they get it back like hey, man

This thing's pretty good

you know

So I hope steve, you know gets it in some winter circles now because we'll know it we'll know it's not the car

So I think that's funny and shout out to our guy Doug Johnson

Doug's been going some rounds

And he was he was going some rounds this week too and

Saw him pop up on my live feed quite a few times

He didn't quite get quite as deep as I know he wanted to get but for a guy who's

Not known as a big money racer. I think certainly in comparison to his nha stuff

Cool see Doug Johnson getting it done out there

Little insider on Doug Johnson and his son Grady. So Grady actually races one race a year and it's the spring fling

They they double it and Grady shows up and shows out when it's his turn to

Press the gas in that dragster and it was pretty excited to see that Grady won the the race tech dragster raffle

for a hundred bucks

I wouldn't be surprised if Grady puts a dragster together now

He's had some success at the fling. So uh shout out to the johnsons

We may have another one on our hands to deal with. Oh, yeah

I want to see it when it gets done. Did you see paul dowdy's new dragster?

paul dowdy's dragster

Man

What I don't know what color that is that green

Yeah, they kind of dark ish. Oh, it looks oh that thing is gorgeous and that was a that was another raffle

Deal or he bought it from someone who won the won the shoot out or whatever the deal

you know is one another one of those like unfinished bear deal and uh

It's cool to see those cars come back out because most people just sell them

You know first thing and so whether they build it or someone buys it and gets it built

It's cool to see it come back and man paul dowdy

He didn't win best appearing car

But certainly deserved it. I saw in the chat someone was asking the uh the lone ranger chop top, uh orange

Ford ranger

Got it and uh pretty slick ride, man. Yeah, right ryan old connor's ford ranger was uh turning heads in tusan

Honestly, like he was parked right by the gate when I was driving in every morning and I was like, oh my gosh, man

We got to check this out and his logo usage of of the ford logo

I thought was just artwork honestly, and then you know, they do the video. Nate did a great job interviewing

ryan and and kind of learning about the history of it

It was it's grandpa's and then they they parked it his dad raced it he he races it and then they they reach in

And lift the hood off because the logos pivot and spin and my my mind melted man

I was like that is so cool and so unique and then you got the canadian penny kind of ingrained into the door and I mean

It was a very deserving

Not because it just looks great, but it just has those small little details that really separated from the rest

So I don't know who chose it. I can't take that credit

It was a great choice great choice

It reminded me of like just as a nod to like late 80s early 90s pro street culture

Which I love right? I still like

big giant tires in the back slam down like like pro street is I still think that was the peak right and

You it's it's got some fatty tires. It sits low. It's low slung

It's got those little tricks like the door handles the Ford emblems

It's got the delorean style

Where the tonneau cover and the tailgate are are one piece and the whole thing comes up

and it's

Like super sick, man. I love seeing

You know people who put some some interesting twists on their race cars for sure

and it just

Shows the amount of craftsmanship and the hours put in for something like that and and I love that because that's just

Somebody who loves the automobile who's putting those little small customizations in and we all know how long that takes, right?

to do that small simple change took him hundreds and hundreds of hours and

It's cool to see I I was uh

Very impressed very impressed with the lone ranger

Yeah, it was pretty sweet

What about uh, mvp's park should we uh, should we drop the mvp of the week?

Absolutely

You go first

Me first. Yeah, buddy

Well, we already discussed my mvp of the week. I'm gonna go ahead and give it to jacob collins. He did not win

Per se, but he went a lot of rounds. It was very impressive performance and I had my eye on him all week

I uh, he did uh

Lose early in the million, but it was one of those those races where it was just

Uh, a good lap versus good lap and he was on the wrong side of it. So my mvp of the week jacob collins

down to you ronnie

Who do you got how do you choose?

How do you choose? I mean

Gary williams drives insane in the truck at some point. He won like 15 in a row

Donovan is dominant in that car donovan went deep with the dragster

Datus wins a 30k. He was killer. Tebow wins million

Andy schmalz over here winning pro every single day. I mean, how do you how do you choose?

I'll tell you. I'm gonna give three names. I'm gonna cheat here. I'm gonna cheat

I'm gonna give three names

Best driver over the weekend in my opinion was donovan williams

Donovan was elite round to round to round

There were certain times where he just ran into somebody was just a little bit better

But i'm gonna give best driver to donovan williams. I'll give him. I guess an mvp

To andy schmal winning pro twice is is killer. That's uh, pretty unbelievable. He did very well in the

Jamie's car as well too is as jamie was playing mom for the weekend

So shout out andy and then um, i'ma i'ma say the one who did the best when it mattered

Tyler bohanan went in the million is a big big deal

Um, I think we all know that bohanan had that talent

In fact, I think a lot of people would say that i'm surprised. He hasn't won the spring fling million already, but

To say that he's in that caliber is one thing to actually do it and then to go triple zero two at the top end is is stellar

But but again, there's just so many names that when you have an event like that gosh

You know, I I could go on and on but uh, I would give my my three names particularly in my mind donovan williams

andy schmal tyler bohanan

Ronnie stole my notes that next week the podcast will be starring parker and ronnie

I'm no longer necessary here

I same same thing for me is you know, I think donovan if it's just most rounds

Right, I think donovan probably won the most rounds

I bet andy came really really really close to that same amount of round wins

Um coming off the bottom is impressive. He's faster than a lot of the bottom guys

So he's chasing most of the time which maybe is a little easier

Um, I think andy brings a specter

The about him, right? I think there's an aura about him at this race in particular

Where like he's kind of got a weird advantage

I think just mentally like if you're staging up against andy and pro at the fling

Like chances are it's not going to go well for you

Uh, you know, I would even go that that goes across the country. Uh, there's a there's a

Grand junction that uh, I attend yearly and it's so funny because andy loves to be early

So andy will pull into the right lane at the shootout race

And everybody will start coming into the lanes and they'll see that banana yellow beretta and they go to the right lane

And there was at one point where there were 16 cars in the right lane

Totally we finally found the first left lane car. He he uh, I like to say he lives rent free and a lot of racers heads and

100 that's it nowadays, man. But but it's because he's so talented. Yep. Yep. He's he he earns every one of those laps

100 um, so yeah, I gotta put him up there. Uh, but to me it goes to tebow

um, just from the point sense that like

And he goes there and and of course he wants to win the million

Right, but he's coming in trying to do it off the bottom

Like that's a whole different challenge and a whole different quest that he's on right

Donovan and tebow come to win the million

Right, they could really give two shits about the 30s like it'd be cool to win them

But they're there to win the million dollar race, you know, and that's why tyler bohan is there

I'm here to win this race

Right now and then he did it and he did it in the fashion that he did it in

um, like

You know, that's that's the equivalent of somebody calling their shot at home plate

Like i'm here for this race if there's no 30ks

Tyler bohan is still there for a million dollar friday

There's a decent chunk of people that aren't right if there were no 30ks

They're not gonna come down and do that thing tyler bohan and would do it

You know, he's there and so he's there to win that race

And he accomplished his goal and when you come to somewhere with goals that lofty

And are able to accomplish them. Um, I just I don't know how you can't give it to tyler

For that reason alone donovan and andy drove their asses off

So shout out to those guys, but

You know tyler's the million dollar man for the next 20, you know 12 months. So

Tebow is my mvp the the the jury has spoken

Your mvp your greatest of all time of this week

and potentially the week before

tyler bohan and

Is your mvp?

Yep, shout out to everyone on the west coast who went rounds put in work represented us well out there at the fling

Many of you are are maybe listening to this while you're on your way to

A not-so-sunny pomona california

Yeah, pomona. They extended the the withdrawal deadline to wednesday for

There's potential rain in the forecast and I say potential

Hopefully hopefully it's potential. It's looking more certain than potential

It's like 90 chance on saturday and sunday

I have not seen a schedule yet, but if it were my guess

Sportsman will be finished thursday or friday before

Any of that what's the minimum number of rounds for 100 points?

I think it's five five rounds

I think so. Oh, well five five would get you 95

And then the sixth round would be a 105 got it

Because when you win top dragster you get 95 at a national so that's yeah five rounds 32 cars

yep

Yeah, I was thinking about that for like for phoenix and now for pomona. It's like

Yeah, this is one where if the field's just big enough, but not too big, right?

You could go score some decent points for not having to go a whole lot of rounds

so I think

There's gonna be some group of people who don't go they just bag it because they had to drive too far to chance it for some

Rain, but I think there's some folks. They'll sit there till the last minute till they call that thing

Right where it's like. Hey, I might be able to get 100 points for

You know five rounds here

Rather than having to go six or seven right, which I think if the weather was going to be 82 all weekend

You know, you're looking at field quotas across the board at the winter nationals and you're not going to see that this weekend now

As far as I'm aware, I haven't looked for a couple hours, but supercup is the only full

Spring Fling MILLION recap and Winternationals

time slips

Spring Fling Million

diesel prices

heavy hitters

dragster

juniors (junior drag racing)

breakout

bracket racing

Dacia Duster

wheelies

flyovers

in-house streaming

burnout

live camera on the starting line

fuel pump

converter issues

seat time

hoisting the big check

door car

champagne bath

red light

finals

two ten thousands away

runner-up

chop top

logos pivot and spin

tonneau cover

MVP of the week

In-N-Out

animal style

Steve Riggan

entries sold out first day

About this episode

Original notes