Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 28

Multi-Millionaire Kenny Underwood claims second Million Dollar Race title By Rob King T hey say that lightning doesn’t strike twice but that wasn’t the case for veteran E.T. bracket racer Kenny Underwood, who won the prestigious Mickey Thompson Million Dollar Drag Race for the second time in five years. Driving his JEGS-backed dragster, Underwood made his way through a field of nearly 300 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers to capture the huge $275,000 first-place prize on Sunday, Oct. 21 at Montgomery Motorsports Park. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can’t believe this is really happening,” said Un- derwood, who has long been regarded as one of the best bracket racers in the sport. “Obviously, I’m very, very happy. I want to thank Randy [Folk, Million Dollar Race promoter] for having this race and JEGS for all their support.” Racing late into the night, Underwood made his way through nine tough rounds of competition on the eighth-mile track. In the final round, he staged against 17-year old phenom Cory Gulitti of Spring, Texas, and won with a 4.767 elapsed time, matching his dial-in prediction of 4.76-seconds. Gulitti broke out by running quicker than his 4.44 dial with a 4.435. Underwood’s path to the final also included wins against successful E.T. racers David “Bird” Jones and Chuck Flanagan. For Underwood, a second Million Dollar Race win is just the latest milestone in a lengthy career that includes countless high-stakes E.T. bracket wins at tracks across the country. Underwood is a three-time winner of the presti- gious Moroso 5-Day E.T. Cham- pionships in West Palm Beach, Floridq, and last November, he earned a $50,000 victory at the Bracket Racing World Series in Darlington, South Carolina. Now, he joins Gary Williams as the only two-time Million Dollar Race winners. “To win this race once is spe- cial to do it twice is just hard to imagine,” said Underwood. “I can’t describe it. I just feel really fortunate to have all the support that I have.” Underwood’s second win was nearly overshadowed by the ad- ventures of runner-up Gulitti who crashed his dragster follow- ing his round six win over Slate Cummings. Gulitt’s car rolled several times, but he was able to quickly climb from the wreckage unharmed. Rules for the Million Dollar race allow a driver to con- tinue using a replacement car, so Gulitti was able to continue by driving a second dragster owned by his father, Chris. Shaken but undeterred, Gulitti advanced to the final with wins over Scotty Richardson and Randell Reid. “I was a little nervous. I’m not going to lie,” said Gulitti of his decision to get back in the car. “I felt able. I felt good enough to keep going. Once I got back in car my nerves were calmed down. You’ve got to push through and act like nothing ever happened. That was the only way I could think to do it. “By the time I got to the final, I don’t think anything was go- ing to faze me,” Gulitti said. “I don’t think I could have gotten any more nervous or scared than I was [after the crash] in sixth round. I’m just very fortunate to be able to do this.” The best losing package win- ners from Sunday’s main event included Chance Partin ($500 Auto Meter gift certificate), Brandon Taylor ($500 Yukon Gear & Alxe gift certificate), Rachel Henderson (BTE Rac- ing converter), Jay Bunce ($500 JEGS gift certificate), Johnny Ezell (set of Mickey Thomp- son tires), and Josh Baker (Moser Engineering spool and axle package). The Million Dollar Race VIP Club also held its grand prize drawing for a complete dragster chassis, which was won by Amanda Boggs of Magnolia, Kentucky. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 28 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 139 Dirt