Bracket Racer Steve Sisko Wins Historic JEGS SFG $1.1 Million Payday

At just before midnight on America’s 244th birthday, Williamstown, New Jersey’s Steve Sisko earned the winner’s share of the biggest single-day payday in drag racing history at the JEGS-SFG $1.1 Million Dollar at Michigan’s US 131 Motorsports Park. Sisko, driving a wheelstanding Chevy II, defeated home-track racer Bill Swain in his dragster, collecting a $1,100,000 check, the first-ever guaranteed payout in excess of $1 million.

“I know that I could do it… I’ve done it on other stages,” said Sisko in the winners circle. “The car was [subpar] all weekend so I just held… and took .00 every time. I think the rear broke [as I was coming back from the finish line].

“I’m 43 years old and I consider myself one of the old guys now, I barely race anymore… but I have a lot of friends out here and the hugs and messages from them is what meant the most. I was texting Big Murph throughout the day and I’m surprised you can’t hear him from New York right now. Obviously this is Anthony Bertozzi’s car.

“Anthony is somebody I met in the 90s going to Florida with Jim Harrington. Jimmy the Shoe was my mentor. My father taught me to drive a car, but Jimmy taught me to win and not complicate stuff, and everybody misses him dearly. This is for Jimmy the Shoe… This is the biggest [expletive] race you can have, and I just won the biggest [expletive] race there is.”

Quarterfinals: In the quarterfinals of this historic event, six of the fiercest drivers in bracket racing remained: Hunter Patton, Sugar Shane Carr, Brian Cireddu, Jason Hemerline, Swain, and Sisko.

Sisko might’ve had his lucky break of the race in this round when Cireddu went -.010 red beside him while he left with a .029 light and put up a 6.328 on a 6.31 (albeit on a drop) for a very vulnerable .047 package.

The next pairing brought up Patton and Carr, with Patton coming out victorious after a .017 light and 4.605 run on his 4.60 dial. Carr was mathematically ineligible after posting a .023 light.

Swain and Hemerline moved onto the semis with their bye-runs in the dragster and door car categories respectively. These “categories” are kept separate for as long as possible at SFG events.

Semifinals: In the semifinals (final round of door cars), Sisko met up with Hemerline. Sisko was .018 on the tree and ran 6.301 on his 6.29 dial-in, beating Hemerline’s .019 light and 5.845 breakout run on a 5.86 dial-in.

Photo by Lou Crouch

On the dragster side of the ladder, Patton was ousted out of competition when Swain put up a breathtaking .005 total package, being .002 on the tree and running 4.653 on his 4.65 dial-in. “Hunny Wayne” Patton was excellent as usual with a .007 light and 4.605 run on a 4.60 dial-in to be .006 behind Swain.

Finals: In the final round of the richest drag race in history, Sisko put up a .012 total package starting with a .011 light and ending with a 6.281 run on his 6.28 dial-in.

Swain was .004 on the tree beside him and took a touch too much stripe (.013) to breakout with a 4.644 on a 4.65 dial-in.

STEVE SISKO WINS THE SFG MILLION $1.1M MAIN EVENT!!!

Steve Sisko wins the LARGEST PAYING DRAG RACE IN HISTORY at the SFG Promotions, Inc. MILLION defeating Bill Swain in the final round!

Posted by GallStar TV on Saturday, July 4, 2020

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Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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