Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 28

Multi-Millionaire
Kenny Underwood claims second
Million Dollar Race title
By Rob King
T
hey say that lightning doesn’t
strike twice but that wasn’t the case
for veteran E.T. bracket racer Kenny
Underwood, who won the prestigious
Mickey Thompson Million Dollar Drag Race
for the second time in five years. Driving his
JEGS-backed dragster, Underwood made his
way through a field of nearly 300 of the nation’s
best sportsman drag racers to capture the huge
$275,000 first-place prize on Sunday, Oct. 21 at
Montgomery Motorsports Park.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I
can’t believe this is really happening,” said Un-
derwood, who has long been regarded as one of
the best bracket racers in the sport. “Obviously,
I’m very, very happy. I want to thank Randy [Folk,
Million Dollar Race promoter] for having this
race and JEGS for all their support.”
Racing late into the night, Underwood made
his way through nine tough rounds of competition
on the eighth-mile track. In the final round, he
staged against 17-year old phenom Cory Gulitti of
Spring, Texas, and won with a 4.767 elapsed time,
matching his dial-in prediction of 4.76-seconds.
Gulitti broke out by running quicker than his
4.44 dial with a 4.435. Underwood’s path to the
final also included wins against successful E.T.
racers David “Bird” Jones and Chuck Flanagan.
For Underwood, a second Million Dollar Race
win is just the latest milestone in a lengthy career
that includes countless high-stakes E.T. bracket
wins at tracks across the country. Underwood is a
three-time winner of the presti-
gious Moroso 5-Day E.T. Cham-
pionships in West Palm Beach,
Floridq, and last November, he
earned a $50,000 victory at the
Bracket Racing World Series
in Darlington, South Carolina.
Now, he joins Gary Williams as
the only two-time Million Dollar
Race winners.
“To win this race once is spe-
cial to do it twice is just hard to
imagine,” said Underwood. “I
can’t describe it. I just feel really
fortunate to have all the support
that I have.”
Underwood’s second win was
nearly overshadowed by the ad-
ventures of runner-up Gulitti
who crashed his dragster follow-
ing his round six win over Slate
Cummings. Gulitt’s car rolled
several times, but he was able to
quickly climb from the wreckage
unharmed. Rules for the Million
Dollar race allow a driver to con-
tinue using a replacement car, so
Gulitti was able to continue by
driving a second dragster owned
by his father, Chris. Shaken but
undeterred, Gulitti advanced to the final with
wins over Scotty Richardson and Randell Reid.
“I was a little nervous. I’m not going to lie,” said
Gulitti of his decision to get back in the car. “I felt
able. I felt good enough to keep
going. Once I got back in car
my nerves were calmed down.
You’ve got to push through and
act like nothing ever happened.
That was the only way I could
think to do it.
“By the time I got to the final,
I don’t think anything was go-
ing to faze me,” Gulitti said. “I
don’t think I could have gotten
any more nervous or scared than
I was [after the crash] in sixth
round. I’m just very fortunate
to be able to do this.”
The best losing package win-
ners from Sunday’s main event
included Chance Partin ($500
Auto Meter gift certificate),
Brandon Taylor ($500 Yukon
Gear & Alxe gift certificate),
Rachel Henderson (BTE Rac-
ing converter), Jay Bunce ($500
JEGS gift certificate), Johnny
Ezell (set of Mickey Thomp-
son tires), and Josh Baker
(Moser Engineering spool and
axle package).
The Million Dollar Race
VIP Club also held its grand
prize drawing for a complete dragster chassis,
which was won by Amanda Boggs of Magnolia,
Kentucky.
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