Spears Sweeps $10K Footbrake Fest at Greer Dragway

Cody Spears earns the win and runner up during the $10K Footbrake Fest while Callie Hall wins the Junior Dragster class.

Feature photo credit: Mike Smart Photography

GREER, SC – Just two weeks after Greer Dragway delivered a $10,000 payday for the top bulb competitors, bottom bulb drivers had their opportunity to cash in big while staying close to home.

Nestled in an upstate South Carolina neighborhood, Greer Dragway provides a welcoming small town atmosphere, but the cozy vibes quickly subside once local competitors send you towards your trailer with a losing time slip. That tough competition only increases when the stakes are raised as witnessed during the S.H. Carter Development $10K Footbrake Fest.

Junior Dragster

The youngest drivers on the property would face off in the Junior Dragster division, where the winning racer would walk away with $500 while $150 went to the runner up.

The semifinal round featured Rodney Hyatt, Callie Hall, Holden Raper and Myles Heatherly.

Raper is .002 on the tree and runs two above his dial to leave Hyatt mathematically ineligible with an .05 reaction time. Heatherly and Hall are nearly identical on the tree, but Hall runs dead on her dial to secure her spot in the final round.

Both drivers are ready to win with only 9 thou separating the pair on the starting line and Hall runs closer to her dial to take the win over Raper.

$10,000 Footbrake Fest Main Event

After several rounds of racing, the quarterfinal was set with seven entries and six drivers: Michael Brand, Ronnie Forrester, Jacob Ritchie, Parker Dotson, Brent Hyatt, and the double-entered Cody Spears.

Quarterfinal

Brand has a 6 thou starting line advantage but finds himself 7 thou behind at the finish line and Spears takes the win. Dotson leaves the starting line a bit too soon beside Forrester who advances to the semifinal.

Hyatt has the reaction time advantage and runs one above his dial to earn the win over Ritchie. Spears previous .004 reaction time earned him the bye into the semifinal with his second entry.

Semifinal

Spears is first to the staging lanes to avoid running himself but that leaves him paired with both Forrester and Hyatt, back-to-back.

Both drivers are nearly identical on the tree and breakout at the stripe, but Spears is only one ten-thousandth under his dial to earn the win over Forrester who breaks out 1 thousandth.

As Spears coasts back into the staging lanes, the reality begins to set in with only two drivers eligible for the final round. If Hyatt turns on the win light then the pair will compete again in the final round, but if Spears wins then the race is complete one round early.

Both drivers run 2 above their respective dial ins but Spears combines his with an .014 reaction time to leave Hyatt mathematically ineligible.

Cody Spears earns the win and runner up to take home $10,000 and his biggest career win, thus far.

Special Thanks

Greer Dragway has a few more events before the 2022 season wraps up, but the big money bracket racing won’t return until next season. Keep an eye on their website for more details.

Special thanks to S.H. Carter Development for their support of footbrake racing as well as Mike Smart Photography for supplying winner’s circle photos.

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