SPORTSMAN ISSUE /// STEVE SISKO
THE MOMENT Kyle Riley and his SFG Promotions team announced the pre-entry opening for the JEGS-
SFG $1.1 Million last summer, Steve Sisko typed in his credit card info on the pre-entry form and paid
the $1,750 entry fee for each of his two entries in full. He knew he had to be at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park
in Martin, Michigan, on Saturday, July 4, 2020, when one racer would walk away with the winner’s
share of the richest paying race in the history of drag racing. ¶ That $3,500 turned out to be the
best investment Sisko ever made, as he became that one racer. After splits, the New Jersey native walked away with
$400,000 to split in half with the winning car’s owner, Anthony Bertozzi. The next day, driving a completely different
car with a different owner, Sisko went another 11 rounds to win the final $100K race in SFG’s week of mega-money
bracket racing. He bagged $44,000 of that to split with the car owner, Bob Maclosky. The $1.1 Million win also came with
a one-of-a-kind Cold Hard Art trophy modeled after Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s Chevy II Wagon and a custom-painted helmet.
“It’s one of those weekends that if you dreamt
about it, it wouldn’t even work out as good as it
did,” Sisko, 43, says as he drives into work at A.A.
Auto Salvage, an auto salvage business owned
by a fellow racer, Tom Stalba.
It’s been a couple weeks now since Sisko lit
up 22 consecutive win lights in one of the most
incredible performances in bracket racing history.
He’s had plenty of time to reflect on the
weekend, starting from the beginning.
Even though Sisko has race cars of his own,
he didn’t feel like they were ready to carry him
to victory at the SFG race. Instead, he called
on a couple good friends to provide him with
his steeds. He secured Maclosky’s ’87 Camaro
and Bertozzi’s ’67 Chevy II, which he’s raced
before, “obviously because it does wheelstands
and it’s fun.”
“I’d rather drive two cars instead of double-enter
one in case you break something and screw
yourself twice,” Sisko says. “It worked out good
being that I brought Bobby’s car with me and
Anthony had the Nova in their trailer, so when
the trailer got there I just parked close by and I
had both cars right there.”
Sisko’s warmups for the million-dollar main
event went reasonably well. He grabbed a handful
of round wins in the first hundred-grander
but lost early in both entries in the $20,000 race.
Friday, though, things started to change. He
moved past the first round of the $1.1 Million
race, which started with 630 entries. Eliminations
continued Saturday morning, and Sisko got
UNDER A MICHIGAN SKY
FULL OF FIREWORKS, SISKO
GOT TO CELEBRATE HIS SFG
$1.1 MILLION VICTORY WITH
HIS WIFE LINDSAY AND A
CROWD OF FRIENDS AND
SUPPORTERS IN A MASSIVE
STARTING LINE PARTY.
68 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 159