Late bracket racer honored through inaugural Sean Serra Memorial Drag Race By Nate Van Wagnen

The race was a production of Big Block Promotions , which includes Sean ’ s older brother , Jeff , as well as Jamie Sarracco and Kyle Cultrera . In a nod to Serra ’ s competition number , 139P , Friday ’ s race paid $ 13,900 to win , while Saturday and Sunday both paid $ 20,000 to win .

Racing was off to a slow albeit fun start on Thursday with the Over Kill Motorsports Golf Cart Showdown , which saw Stephen “ Champ ” McCrory get the win .

Footbrakers Jake Clayton and Jeff Krushinskie picked up the “ Heavy ” wins on Friday and Saturday , respectively , earning a $ 500 bonus and a spot in the Super Pro portions of the event .

In a door car versus dragster final round , Virginia ’ s Steve Witherow raced to victory in Friday ’ s L & L Transmission & Axle Services $ 13,900 race , with runner-up honors going to Thomas Bell in his wheelstanding Chevy S10 . They were separated by five thousandths at the starting line , then Witherow laid down a 4.465 on a 4.46 dial-in to beat Bell ’ s 5.731 on a 5.73 dial-in by . 0005 . Jamie Holston was the lone semifinalist .

Witherow was understandably emotional in his winner ’ s circle interview . Both Serra brothers have driven for him over the years , so it was fitting that he won the $ 13,900 race . “ This means a lot . It really does ,” Witherow said in his interview with announcer Ryan Gleghorn . “ I miss Sean . I ’ m glad I came through . He was riding with me all day .”

Friday night ’ s action concluded with a 280 MPH blast down the track by Dawn Perdue in the “ Wicked Sinsation ” Jet Dragster .

It was a dragster versus S10 final round yet again on Saturday for the FuelTech $ 20,000 race . Cory Gulitti was . 002 off the line in his dragster , then ran a 4.459 on a 4.43 dial-in to beat Turtle Brannon ’ s 5.046 on a 5.03 dial-in . Jeff Dobbins II and Hayden Lambert were the semifinalists .

“ I ’ m speechless ,” Gulitti said . “ I ’ ve had the most lucky rounds today that I ’ ve ever had . This thing has fought me pretty hard the last week or so , but thankfully , with the help of Bug McCarty , my

MVP Donovan Williams

parents , and Chris Wilson , we ’ ve got this thing turned around and it ’ s on kill . It ’ s proven itself because it ’ s a lot better than me right now .”

The on-track competition wasn ’ t limited to bracket racing . Racers smoked out the starting line in the Hubbard Heating & Cooling Burnout Battle , with Bug McCarty and Jason Rich named co-champs by the time it was over .

Donovan Williams earned the inaugural Sean Serra Memorial Drag Race Berserker MVP Award by winning the most competition rounds throughout

the weekend . He outlasted Steve Witherow and Cory Gulitti to pick up a custom painted helmet provided by Champs Performance and Schuster Paint Works .

Rain brought racing to a hold during Sunday ’ s third round , and the rest of eliminations was eventually cancelled due to the weather . Though the weekend came to an end earlier than planned , racers walked away grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to Sean .

“ Thanks Kyle , Jamie , and the countless others who made this a successful first event ,” Jeff Serra said . “ It definitely gave us a different perspective and respect for the ones who organize races each week . Look forward to doing it again in 2024 .”

McCrory , winner of the Thursday golf cart race , shared his post-race thoughts on Facebook , saying , “ The Sean Serra Memorial Drag Race was the most fun and most well-ran race I ’ ve been to in a long time ! Got lucky on Thursday and won the golf cart race . Didn ’ t do much on the track after that , unfortunately . Did get lucky and get some of the rainout split on Sunday . Great job Jeff Serra , Kyle Cultrera , Jamie Sarracco ! Can ’ t wait for the next one ! We love and miss you down here , Sean , but even your memory is still making our world a more fun place .” DI

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS SIMMONS