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Big Money and Big Wins Highlight the Summit Fling at Norwalk

Norwalk, Ohio — Some of the best bracket racers in the country descended on Summit Motorsports Park, Sept. 2-6, for the Summit Racing Equipment Fling at Norwalk presented by Total Seal Piston Rings, where five days of racing produced huge paydays, razor-thin margins and several repeat trips to the winner's circle.

From Rick Harbaugh opening the week with a new Race Tech dragster chassis to Nick Akoury collecting three victories before the weekend was over, the Fling delivered plenty of memorable moments at America's Racetrack.

Harbaugh and Akoury Open the Week on Wednesday

Competition began with OEM Combustion Service Wednesday, where 32 shootout drivers lined up for an opportunity to win a new Race Tech dragster chassis valued at $23,590. In the door car versus dragster final, Rick Harbaugh of Gaithersburg, Maryland, lined up against Mike Matty Jr. of Sullivan, Ohio. The championship came down to a double breakout. Harbaugh posted a .033 reaction time and ran 4.667 on his 4.67 dial at 147.89 mph, while Matty was .019 and ran 5.365 on his 5.37 dial at 130.66 mph. Harbaugh was .003 under his dial compared to Matty's .005 under, giving Harbaugh the win and the new Race Tech chassis. Wednesday also featured the Coltrin Door & Moulding FREE $5K Shootout, which included the top 16 packages from OEM Time Trials. Nick Akoury of Shelby, Ohio, and Tim Markoglu met in the final and were separated by only one-thousandth of a second on the starting line. Akoury was .004 and ran 4.961 on his 4.95 dial at 138.44 mph, while Markoglu was .005 and ran 4.495 on his 4.48 dial at 149.96 mph. Akoury reached the finish line first by just .005 to secure the $5,000 victory and begin what would become an outstanding weekend in Norwalk.

Schuster Scores $20,000 Thursday

Advanced Product Design Thursday put $20,000 on the line, and Meighan Schuster of Vienna, Ohio, came through when it mattered most. Schuster faced Mike Matty in the final round, where just .002 separated the pair on the starting line. At the finish line, Schuster got there first by .007 to claim the $20,000 payday. Her success also earned her an additional $250 bonus from S&T Truck Repair for being the final woman remaining in competition before she went on to become the final driver standing.

Burch Earns $65,000 Saturday Payday

The stakes grew even higher during the Strange Engineering $65,000 race, where Gage Burch of Palmetto, Florida, drove the Dadas-owned Calais into the winner's circle. Burch faced Bryan Sorce of Orangeville, Pennsylvania, in the final. Sorce's chances ended almost immediately when he left the starting line just .001-second red, handing the victory and $65,000 payday to Burch. The win marked Burch's third Fling victory, adding the $65,000 triumph to previous $15,000 and $30,000 Fling wins. Sorce's runner-up performance added another strong showing to his history at Norwalk after winning the Race Tech Shootout at the 2025 Fling at Norwalk.

Warren and Halleen Cash In During Second Shot Shootouts

The Law Chevrolet Second Shot Shootout gave racers another opportunity to leave Norwalk with a big check, and two racers capitalized. Nick Warren of Nicholasville, Kentucky, collected $3,000 after defeating Matt Harp of Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Warren put together a .014 reaction time and ran dead-on his dial by eight-thousandths to seal the victory. Tyler Halleen of Niagara Falls, New York, also earned a $3,000 Second Shot Shootout victory, defeating Joe Julsrud of Stony Point, North Carolina. Halleen was .014 on the tree and ran dead-on his dial to earn the win.

Akoury Makes It Three Winner's Circle Appearances

After beginning his week with Wednesday's $5,000 victory, Akoury wasn't finished. He earned another trip to the winner's circle in the BRODIX Best Package Runoff for a set of SR20 cylinder heads. Bill Balser of West Seneca, New York, qualified on the door-car side with a perfect run, while Akoury qualified on the dragster side with a .003 package. In the runoff, Akoury was .018 total while Balser left the starting line .004-second red, giving Akoury his second victory of the event. Then came the biggest one. Akoury closed his remarkable weekend by winning the ATI Performance Products/S&T Truck Repair $65,000 race over Steve Riggins of Muncie, Indiana. Riggins held a slight starting-line advantage with a .016 reaction time to Akoury's .019, but Akoury chased him down and reached the finish line first by just .004 to collect the $65,000 victory. It was Akoury's third winner's circle appearance of the weekend, joining his Coltrin Door & Moulding FREE $5K Shootout victory and BRODIX Best Package Runoff win. The Shelby, Ohio, racer walked away from his home-state Fling with a $65,000 main-event victory, a $5,000 shootout victory and a new set of BRODIX SR20 cylinder heads.

Schuster Crowned Fling at Norwalk Points Champion

While Akoury’s three trips to the winner’s circle made him one of the biggest stories of the weekend, the final honor of the event belonged to Meighan Schuster. Schuster locked down the Mrcool DIY Direct Fling at Norwalk Points Championship, capping a weekend that also included her $20,000 Advanced Product Design Thursday victory. The championship battle could not have been much closer. Schuster and Akoury each finished the event with 152 points, and both had event victories. With the championship still tied, officials went to the next tiebreaker — which driver had made a deeper run in another race giving Schuster the championship. For the title, Schuster earned a $3,000 bonus, custom sign, event trophy and Biondo Racing trophy shifter.

The battle behind her was just as tight, as second through fifth place also ended in a tie and required the same deepest-run tiebreaker to determine the final order.

The final Mrcool DIY Direct Fling at Norwalk Points Championship standings were:

Meighan Schuster — $3,000
Nick Akoury — $2,000
Austin Johnson — $1,500
Josh Luedke — $1,000
Gage Burch — $500

For Schuster, the points championship put the finishing touch on an impressive week at Summit Motorsports Park. She left Norwalk with a $20,000 main-event victory, the $250 S&T Truck Repair bonus for being the last woman remaining in competition, and ultimately the title of 2026 Fling at Norwalk Points Champion.

The Summit Racing Equipment Fling at Norwalk presented by Total Seal Piston Rings once again brought some of the best bracket racers from across the country to Summit Motorsports Park, with five days of high-stakes competition, major payouts and races decided by mere thousandths of a second.

From Harbaugh’s Race Tech chassis win on Wednesday to Schuster’s championship-clinching performance and Akoury’s three trips to the winner’s circle, the 2026 Fling at Norwalk delivered a week to remember at America’s Racetrack.

Another Memorable Fling at America's Racetrack

The Summit Racing Equipment Fling at Norwalk presented by Total Seal Piston Rings once again brought some of bracket racing's toughest competitors to Summit Motorsports Park, with hundreds of racers battling through close races and high-pressure rounds throughout the five-day event. The Fling format featured separate door-car and dragster competition before the fields came together in the ladder rounds. By the time the final win light illuminated, Harbaugh, Schuster, Burch, Warren, Halleen and Akoury were among those celebrating major victories in the Summit Motorsports Park winner's circle. But few had a week quite like Akoury. Three trips to the winner's circle including a $65,000 victory made the Ohio racer one of the biggest stories of the 2026 Summit Racing Equipment Fling at Norwalk.

More information about the Fling Race Series is available through BracketRaces.com