PHOTOGRAPHS BY HOLLOWAY SAUNDERS |
Devin Dudley
If ever there was an event that has become markedly better with age , the BTE World Footbrake Challenge would certainly åqualify , having just shattered the all-time attendance record at the 17th running of this fabled event . The 713 entries not only represented the largest turnout in the event ’ s history , but also Bristol Dragway ’ s highest car count ever for a single class . The record number of pre-entries gave a clue that this year ’ s gathering would be monumental , prompting co-promoters Jared Pennington and Steve Stites to rearrange the schedule ( along with boosting the payouts ) before the race ever began .
The historic event , presented by Coalburg Racing Promotions , kicked off eliminations with a gambler ’ s race on Thursday , June 29 . In the end , Devin Dudley got past Rodney Finchum to score the $ 5K payday . Three more races with raised payouts were scheduled throughout the weekend , including another gambler ’ s race , with an increased purse of $ 15K to win , slated for Friday . An early-morning thunderstorm delayed the start of eliminations on Friday and the curfew of 1:00 a . m . was observed , so the 45 remaining entries resumed their eliminations after the fourth round of Saturday ’ s main event .
It was a short night of rest , as things got kicked off at 8:00 a . m . with gates open and tech beginning shortly after the sun began to peek over the mountains . Things were moving along at a rapid clip midday on Saturday until another thunderstorm
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, this one fiercer than the last , ripped through the facility with sideways rain that left a mangled heap of canopies in its wake .
As damaging as it was , the storm was over rather quickly , as often is the case at Bristol , but the robust number of entries still in contention made it pretty much impossible to restore the track and finish eliminations , so Saturday ’ s eliminator
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was deemed a rainout , and a combined $ 50K-to-win main event was slated for Sunday . The day wasn ’ t a total loss by any stretch , and Friday ’ s carryover was completed late on Saturday , as Todd McKinney held off Cody Barnhart to collect a $ 15K payday .
The final prize of the weekend was the largest , with $ 50K to win still on the line for Sunday ’ s
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September / October 2023 |
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