Burch, Akoury, Schuster Score Big at Fling at Norwalk

NORWALK, OH — Big money bracket racing returned to Summit Motorsports Park as the Fling at Norwalk brought some of the country’s toughest racers to Ohio for a weather-challenged weekend.

Rain forced schedule changes throughout the event, including combining races to keep the weekend moving. Despite the adjustments, the Fling team worked through the weather to crown its champions, with Nick Akoury, Gage Burch and Meighan Schuster among those leaving Norwalk with big checks.

The week opened with Rick Harbaugh scoring the Race Tech Chassis Shootout victory over Mike Matty Jr. Harbaugh came out on top in a double-breakout final to earn the brand-new Race Tech dragster chassis.

Nick Akoury also started his standout weekend early, defeating Tim Markoglu in the Coltrin Door & Moulding Free $5K Shootout. Akoury was .004 on the tree and took the stripe by just .005 for his first win of the event.

Meighan Schuster found the winner’s circle in the Advanced Product Design $20,000 race, defeating Matty in the final. Just .002 separated the pair on the starting line before Schuster turned on the win light by .007.

Schuster’s success continued throughout the weekend, eventually earning her the overall Fling at Norwalk points championship. She and Akoury finished tied at 152 points, with Schuster taking the title on the tiebreaker.

With weather forcing the remaining schedule to be combined, two $65,000 champions were ultimately crowned.

Gage Burch drove the Dadas-owned Calais to one of the $65K victories, defeating Bryan Sorce in the final. Sorce missed the tree by just .001 red, handing Burch his third career Fling victory.

Akoury capped his impressive weekend with the other $65,000 payday. He met Steve Riggins in the final and overcame a slight starting-line disadvantage to take the stripe by .004.

The victory completed a huge weekend for Akoury, who collected a $65,000 main-event win, the $5,000 shootout victory and a set of BRODIX SR20 cylinder heads after winning the Best Package Runoff.

Despite Mother Nature shaking up the schedule, the Fling at Norwalk delivered another weekend of close racing and big-money wins at Summit Motorsports Park.

An avid racer herself, Megan Strassweg, 28, sees her two worlds collide with DragChamp – journalism and drag racing. Megan resides in Evansville, IN, and she pilots a 2015 American Dragster in the NHRA North Central Division 3 Super Comp series, along with some local bracket racing on the side. Her passion for racing began early, having grown up at the racetrack, and she remains committed to the sport.

You can reach Megan on Facebook or email at megan@dragchamp.com