Gage Burch wins SFG 500, defeats Ezell in Final
Young drag racing super star Gage Burch won the SFG 500 bracket race to collect the largest payday in drag racing history. He defeated another super star Johnny “Bracket Racer” Ezell in the final round.
MARTIN, MICH. – The largest single payout in drag racing history went down last night at the SFG 500 hosted at US 131 Motorsports Park. After a year of hype, 625 of the best bracket racers in the country took their shot at history.
History is made at the SFG 500
The unbelievably large field battled throughout the day for a shot at the $525,000 payday. Racers filled social media with their hard luck stories and close loses. When the smoke cleared two of the best bracket racers in the world faced off for a place in the history books.
Every week it seems Gage is in a final round or two. Making him a consistent player on the DragChamp Top 10 List. Whether it’s in juniors, off the bottom, or on the top, Gage gets it done week in and week out. To top it off, he’s rarely in the same car as he will race anything, anywhere.
In addition to winning $525,000, Gage was runner up in the Thursday $50K at the SFG 500. See Thursday’s race results here.
Joining Gage in the history making final was another young gun. Ezell, a previous winner of The Million Dollar Drag Race, consistently wins at the highest levels in drag racing. He continues to come up big when large paydays are on the line.
Kyle Cultrera wins $20K Wednesday Warm Up at SFG 500
SFG 500 Quarterfinal Results
In the quarterfinal round, only eight drivers remained in the chase for glory. This included four doorcars and four dragsters. On the doorcar side, Burch defeated Richard Mason. Burch used a .017 dead seven lap to take the .013 victory over Mason.
Drag racing great Jeg Coughlin Jr. met Ray Boyer in the other doorcar match up. Driving his supercharged wagon, Jeggie caught a break when Boyer turned it -.005 red. The redlight was a huge relief after Jeggie missed the tree posting a .056 reaction.
On the dragster ladder, Will Holloman used a perfect light to take down Austin Sloan. Holloman was .004 total after going dead four to his dial to take the .010 win over Sloan. Sloan was .015 total and in the way.
In the final quarterfinal pairing, Johnny Ezell defeated the Red Rocket, Tom Dauber. In a heads up 4.69 race, Ezell was .004 and took nothing in the win. Ezell’s .004 and dead zero lap left no room for Dauber who was .010 and -.005 under.
Semifinal Results at the SFG 500
The pressure in the semifinals had to be unbelievable. After working through the massive field of 625 cars, the final four had to feel pretty good. But no one wants to get so close to history only to come up one win light short. In addition, the final four competitors are pretty good!
In the doorcar final, Gage Burch and Jeggie squared off in an epic battle. Burch, the future of the sport against Jeggie who is an icon in both sportsman and professional drag racing.
They left within .003 with Burch taking a slight .008 to .011 advantage. At the stripe Burch grabbed the .0013 win when his dead seven lap was just enough to hold off Jeg’s dead .006 lap.
On the dragster side, Johnny Bracket Racer squared off with Will Holloman. With the added pressure of making history on their shoulders, JBR dominated the race when his .015 dead six lap locked out Holloman. Will was .022 at the tree and mathematically ineligible.
History making Final Round
With the final set, two of the best young bracket racers in the country battled for their place in the history books. The $525,000 winners purse was unheard of until Kyle Riley announced it last summer.
With a huge crowd watching on the starting line, Gage Burch drove his Ford Ranger pickup into the record books when his .015 dead two turned on the final win light of the night. JBR was .010 at the tree but turned Burch loose at the finish line to go .019 above.
After making the right decisions all night, JBR missed it in the final but has to be proud of his accomplishment. He has now been to the finals of the two largest paying races in bracket racing.
As for Mr. Burch, he solidified his spot as the future of sportsman drag racing. His history making performance at the SFG 500 will go in the record books and proves he can get it done anywhere, anytime, in anything. As a note, Gage ran dead on his dial in each of the last three rounds.
Congratulations to Gage Burch, winner of the inaugural SFG 500, the highest paying drag race in history!
DragChamp is your source for sportsman drag racing. We cover sportsman racing like it should be covered. Find all your drag racing news and drag race results on DragChamp.
Click