Jenkins Wins DragChamp Junior Dragster $10,000 Invitational

CJ Jenkins captured the 2nd Annual BTE King of the Coast Christmas on the Coast Junior Dragster $10,000 Invitational 64-Car Shootout presented by DragChamp victory.

GULFPORT, MS- The highly anticipated 2nd Annual BTE King of the Coast Christmas on the Coast Junior Dragster $10,000 Invitational 64-Car Shootout presented by DragChamp took place December 14-18, 2023 at Gulfport Dragway.

Months prior to the event, racers submitted resumes and a panel of five judges made up of Makenna Brown, Chris Forsythe, Kevin Brannon, Kris Whitfield, and Michael Beard sorted through the entries and chose 63 racers to compete in this prestigious event. The panel was only provided the portions of the resume that showed the accomplishments and they were not given the name of each racer. Additionally, submitters provided a brief two minute video. The 64th racer was determined by a “Last Chance” race which was contested on Friday night.

Friday Night “Last Chance” Race

The remaining racer to round out the field of 64 was determined in the Friday Night “Race your way into the Jr Dragster $10,000 Invitational”. All racers who submitted resumes that were not selected by the race selection panel had the opportunity to compete in the race your way in event. The winner also collected $1,000!

Brayden Todd earned the last spot in the 64-car Drag Champ $10,000 Invitational by defeating Landon Grayson in the Friday Night “Last Chance” final round. Landon Pruett was the semi-finalist. Due to a participant unable to be in attendance, both the runner-up and winner were able to race in the 64-car Invitational.

Junior Dragster $10,000 Invitational 64-Car Shootout presented by DragChamp Results

Quarter-Finals

In the quarter-finals, there were just eight cars left to see who would be crowned as the 2nd Annual DragChamp Junior Dragster $10,000 64-Car Shootout Invitational winner. The eight drivers consisted of: Rylee Wells, Easton Hodge, Wyatt Palmatier, Jordan Denny, CJ Jenkins, Joshua McDaniel, Mario Gonzalez, and Zack Pearce.

Easton Hodge def. Rylee Wells

Wyatt Palmatier def. Jordan Denny

CJ Jenkins def. Joshua McDaniel

Mario Gonzalez def. Zack Pearce

Semi-Finals

CJ Jenkins, Easton Hodge, Mario Gonzalez, and Wyatt Palmatier were the semi-finalists left to battle it out to see who would continue on to the $10,000 winner takes all final round.

In the semi-finals, CJ Jenkins defeated Mario Gonzalez and Wyatt Palmatier defeated Easton Hodge.

Final

In the final, CJ Jenkins turned on the final win light of the race and collected the $10,000 pay day. Wyatt Palmatier was the runner-up finisher.

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