LETTER from the EDITOR
Sportsman racing has always been important to everyone here at Drag Illustrated . We started the Sportsman Special Issue tradition with DI # 56 back in August 2011 . Luke Bogacki made his first of two cover appearances , and the issue included some of the biggest names in sportsman racing : Peter Biondo , David Rampy , Frank Manzo , and Scotty Richardson to name a few . Manzo went on to make the cover the following year , and Biondo and his brother , Sal , did the same in 2013 .
Outside the Sportsman Issue , sportsman racers have appeared in some form in virtually every issue of the magazine . For several years now , Van Abernethy has contributed the “ Dialed In ” section to
the magazine . It ’ s a special section that focuses on independent events and bracket racers at racetracks across the country . This section has included everyone from the big-name , big-money bracket racers to local weekend warriors who go racing with a pickup truck , an open trailer and a couple buddies . When people claim that we don ’ t cover bracket racing , I always point to Van ’ s Dialed In stories – and his popular “ On the Road ” column – as proof of our dedication to this segment
Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief of the sport .
For this year ’ s Sportsman Issue , we knew we had to shine a light on the people who helped bracket racing prosper through the challenges of 2020 . Racers needed a place to race , and when large , corporatelevel racing organizations had to take a step back due to COVID-19 restrictions , independent promoters stepped up . For many reasons , bracket racing was able to weather the storm better than other forms of drag racing , but bracket racing promoters still had their fair share of obstacles to overcome .
In the cover story , Gaylon Rolison Jr . and Britt Cummings share the trials and tribulations they faced with their brand of bigmoney bracket races last year . In 2019 , they announced they would pay out one million dollars to the winner of their Great American Guaranteed Million in May of 2020 . Though the pandemic forced them to move that race back to October , they went ahead with the race as planned and actually paid out more than the original million to the winner , Jeff Serra .
Along with talking about their own races , Rolison and Cummings offer up their opinions on the state of sportsman racing in general and predict how the events of 2020 might impact the future of bracket racing .
On a similar note , this issue includes my interview with Dr . Jamie Meyer , who became the president of the Performance Racing Industry ( PRI ) group just a few months into the pandemic . We had an illuminating conversation about the health of the racing industry and how PRI is working to ensure the individuals and businesses that operate in racing can continue to do so without threats from a number of sources . It ’ s encouraging to know that people like Dr . Meyer are looking out for us .
There are also a number of other sportsman-focused features in this issue , from Kelly Wade ’ s tribute to the late promoter and racer Kyle Seipel to Josh Hachat ’ s look at the growing Top Alcohol Funny Car program in the Mid-West Drag Racing Series . We ’ ve also peppered in stories from other areas of the sport , like Pro Mod and Top Fuel racing .
As always , I encourage readers to reach out and let us know how we did . Did your favorite racer or class finally get the ink they deserve ? Did we completely overlook an event we should know about ? Please be sure to let us know . DI
Feel free to email me at nate @ dragillustrated . com and follow me at facebook . com / nitronate1320 and nitronate1320 on Instagram and Twitter .
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