TJ Pruitt
Cecil, GA — When you think of the Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels Million Dollar Drag Race, there’s one thing that comes to mind, who will go down in history as the 26th winner? Who will add their name to the winner’s list and forever be remembered as The Million Dollar Race winner? After 9 rounds of competition, Adam Russell of Brandon, MS was crowned your 26th Million Dollar Race Champion adding his name to the hall of fame. The final round and winner’s circle were emotional as Russell’s family and friends joined him in celebrating his historic win.
In the final, Russell denied bracket race phenom Scotty Richardson once again from finally collecting his first title as he competed in his second Million final round. It was a classic door car vs dragster final round with Russell’s blown American Race Cars Dragster dialed 4.33 and Richardson’s wheel-standing Nova dialed 5.73. In typical Million tradition, as the burnouts were completed, a massive crowd gathered behind the starting line while thousands watched live through the Vintage Trailers Live Feed to witness Russell defeat Richardson in a double breakout.
Russell said “this win really hasn’t set in yet. I just don’t know what to say. I was lucky several rounds, and later in the rounds I realized that it just might be my night.”
“This is my 5th Million Dollar Race and my focus while staging in the final round was to not make any mistakes, and it’s just a great feeling to stand here in the winner’s circle of such a great race.”
“I have to thank the Cummings family, Allen Wickell, Russ Miley, Billy Fuller, Justin Albritton, and all my family at home watching. This is my anniversary weekend and it just feels good to win this with my family here watching me.”
In the quarter-finals it was Ricky Jones, Kevin Brannon, and Michael Pennington, while Nick Folk and Stephen McCrory were defeated in the semi-finals.
Richardson said “I wouldn’t miss this race for anything. It’s still the original Million no matter what anyone says and it’s still the most prestigious bracket race. Until I win it, I’ll keep coming back if I’m healthy enough.”
During the semi-final round, the main event JEGS Performance VIP prizes were given away. Robert Reynolds of Dayton, OH won the Glynn Smith 2021 SS Camaro, Mark Martin won the 2021 American Dragster Raffle Winner, Brandon Jones won the FTI Torque Converter, and Travis Eaton was the winner of the customized Overkill Motorsports Golf Cart.
Saturday kicks off the final Summit Racing Equipment $50K and the action will be streamed live on MotorManiaTV.com free and the staging lane jumbotron presented by Glynn Smith Chevrolet.
