Serra made history in late August when he became the first driver in the history of the “ Fling ” bracket races to carry both entries into a final round . He raced himself in the Friday night $ 100,000 final round at the inaugural JEGS Summer Fling at National Trail Raceway . It ranked right up there with his million-dollar win , but it didn ’ t quite top it .

“ The 2021 season as a whole was better , but I don ’ t think anything will ever replace that [ Guaranteed Million win ],” Serra says . “ I feel like when I ran myself in the finals at the Summer Fling , that was a very similar feeling . Just the way people were reaching out to me , it seemed like it was as big a deal , if not a bigger deal than the Million .”

The Summer Fling victory was just one of Ser-

LUKE BOGACKI , TYLER BOHANNON , SEAN BELLEMEUR , AND CHRISTOPHER DODD

ra ’ s numerous big paydays over the course of the season . He also won a $ 175,000 SFG Promotions race at Darlington Dragway , a $ 75,000 win at Virginia Motorsports Park ’ s Triple Threat Series , a $ 40,000 race at the Great American Guaranteed Million , a pair of $ 25,000 wins , and a $ 20-grander win , among other smaller wins and runner-up finishes . Once he was on , he was on .

“ From my perspective , if I ’ m not mentally prepared , I might as well not even race that day ,” Serra says . “ On the flip side of that , if I ’ m feeling good and I do feel mentally prepared , I do feel like I can duplicate that performance .”

Serra also credited his equipment for getting him to the starting line every time and allowing him to consistently run the number .

“ You gotta have a good car , for sure ,” Serra says . “ I ’ m fortunate to drive for some of the best . Steve Witherow is the car owner I drove for most of the time . He always gives me great cars . Without a good car , you ’ re pretty well screwed today .”

Coming off his historic performances of the last two seasons , it will be hard for Serra to top those moments in 2022 . Serra believes a strong start will be critical to get the ball rolling in time for the big-money races later in the year .

“ It ’ s a lot easier to stay on a roll if you have a little house money to play with ,” says Serra , who gave a shoutout to his kids , Adrienne and Brianna . “ If you start off with 3-4 races in a row where you ’ re paying out rather than collecting a payout , it ’ s going to be hard to get going through the middle of the season .” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

PHOTOS : CHRIS SIMMONS

88 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 174