Set to begin in just a couple of weeks, the fabled BTE Million Dollar Race X1 will feature more “extra” races, more money and a chance for one good, lucky racer to drive home from its home track, Memphis Motorsports Park, with a cool $1,000,000 in cash. Dates for this most famous of bracket races are September 14-17, and will be presented by a plethora of sponsors and George Howard Racing Inc.

“This may be our best million dollar drag race yet,” Howard, of Birmingham, Alabama said. In addition to bracket racers going off for a possible $1,000,000, several other races and giveaways are planned for the weekend, beginning on Thursday, September 14. Heading the list is a chance to win the drawing for a new Corvette, to be given away on Saturday. Also, Howard has planned a special 64-car shootout on Saturday for a custom-built $60,000 Pro Street chopper built by Biker Haven and Danny Nelson of Arkansas, the same man who has built scores of Super Comp and bracket dragsters. Then there is an  “everyone’s welcome” TCI Automotive-sponsored gambler’s race on Thursday that kicks the BTE/Million race off, for a $10,000 first-place prize. Also on Thursday evening , racers can enter a 64-car shootout for a $65,000, 30-foot

Optima/Roger McCombs RV stacker trailer that is fully loaded.

What’s more, racers for this year’s “million-dollar weekend” will be shooting for two $30,000 first-place prizes, called the Comp Cams Twin 30s, to be held on Friday and Sunday. That’s $10,000 more each day than was paid to the winners of last year’s Friday and Sunday races.

Other “goodies” in the Howard Racing’s bag include a 32-car race for a Race Tech dragster and a drawing for a new 555-inch Shafiroff engine, a “run-for-the-money” free entry into the Million on Friday, raffles, door prizes, giveaways, an Optima/RPM Depot Beale Street Bash barbecue and even cash for the longest-distance-traveled racer, the “Viagra” oldest racer and a best-engineered car award.

The Memphis Motorsports Park track will open on Wednesday, September 13, at 10 a.m., and time trials for the weekend begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday. First round of the 11th annual BTE Million will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday’s, Friday’s and Sunday’s races can be entered for $450, and Saturday’s BTE Million’s entry fee is $2,000, with a $500 buy back first or second round. If there are 500-plus entries, the race will pay $1,000,000 to the winner. Entry fees for all other BTE Million weekend events vary, so contact George Howard Racing at 205-251-7311 or through www.georgehowardracing.com.

Footbrakers at the BTE Million are not entirely excluded, either. Howard says that there will be a special 16-car field for footbrake cars only, to be held on Friday, September 15. Ten of the 16 racers have already been chosen, based on their points tallies earned at the TCI/Comp Cams Mega Series, a series of six races split between Memphis Motorsports Park and Huntsville Dragway over the 2006 season. The other six will be chosen from across the country based on resumes sent into Howard’s racing site, www.georgehowardracing.com.

Also coming up will be the Halloween Classic Footbrake race, to be held over the October 27-29 at Montgomery Motorsports Park, wherein footbrake racers will be going off for a $100,000 first-place prize. Howard said all footbrake racers are welcome, including those with front-engine dragsters and roadsters. And at Howard’s Bama Dragway in Sumiton, Alabama, on Saturday, September 2, there will be a special heads-up race for 6.0-, 7.0- and 8.0-classed cars, plus several exhibition passes by Pepe Urban’s Jet Freightliner truck. Also on that same night will be “Big Rig” night, wherein the track will be open for a truck show, complete with a best-appearing truck contest. - Dale Wilson