Tire Smoke and Christmas Trees Combine with Wheelies and Quick E.T.s, as Bradenton Motorsports Park and the Freedom Factory Hosts the 6th Annual Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship

Event Coverage

Dec 22

There lots of traditional things to do around Christmas time, but until recently, most wouldn’t say “drag racing, jets cars or big burnouts” as something associated with Christmas. But, the crews at Bradenton Motorsports Park and the Freedom Factory are working to change that, with the increasing popular Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship.

Originally the brainchild of Cleetus McFarland and good friend Victor Alvarez, partners in Bradenton Motorsports Park, the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship has grown from a small gathering of friends, to a full-tilt sold-out show in 2025. The sixth edition of the show would include two new classes to the original Christmas Tree Challenge class, as well as a pair of jet-powered dragsters, and a twin-engine jet truck.

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The first two years of the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship were claimed by former Sick Week winner Rick Prospero, and then Ricardo Diniz scored back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023. Last year, Jason Terrell wheeled the popular ‘Charlie Brown’ nitrous-fed Chevrolet Malibu to the top spot over Street Racing Channel’s Billy Hoskinson and his twin-turbo Nova.

The premise of the event is simple: heads-up drag racing where the first to finish line wins on as green light start on the Christmas Tree starting system (the racing kind of tree, not the holiday one). Each of the accepted 32 competitors must have a Christmas Tree on their vehicle, minimum six-foot tall, and can be real or fake. The tree must be attached to each vehicle, it must be lit, and it must remain attached the entire length of the run, or the competitor risks disqualification.

In addition to the single class that the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship was built upon, two more classes would be added to the 2026 lineup. An invitational ‘Quick 8’ class, packing an all 6-second field, and the popular Lil Gangstas 5.30 index class, where no times are shown, and no time slip index class, would join the Christmas Tree Drags party.

Every year, there is at least one pair where the finish line would find the competitors less than half a car length apart. That pairing in round one in the OG Christmas Tree Drags class would be twin turbo Mustang of Travis Akins against Cleetus McFarland and the twin turbo Corvette known as ‘Leroy.’

At the green on the starting line Christmas Tree, Cleetus less than a hundredth of-a-second in front of Akins. By the eighth-mile mark, Akins has erased Cleetus’ early lead, and starting to pull ahead. But engine woes nipped Akins just before the finish line, allowing Cleetus to come around for the win via a 6.93 at 207 mph to the 6.96 at 188 mph from Akins.

Cleetus and Leroy had their hopes set on a final round appearance, but fellow Floridian stick shift driver Sam Warner sent Leroy to the trailer after round three. That got the twin-turbo Mustang of Warner a semifinal round date with Kevin Smith and the popular KSR Performance & Fabrication drag and drive proven Camaro known as ‘Soccer Mom.’ Smith was in full control from the start, cutting the better reaction time and leading all the way to the finish line while Warner’s clutch threw in the towel.

In the opposite lane in the final round would be Todd Kasper, piloting the supercharged Hemi-powered Camaro that set low et of the class, a 6.29 at 208 mph pass in round three. Kasper rolled into the final the heavy favorite opposite Smith, and Kasper would become the youngest winner in the history of the event with a 6.38 at 206 mph over Smith’s 10-second shut off effort.

The Lil Gangstas class featured five rounds of action, with a couple upsets and some interesting results. The biggest match up was Gage Burch opposite Tommy Hoskinson, a rematch of the recent final round from the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, where Hoskinson claimed the win and a $20,000 payday.

This time, Burch got the win light, stopping Hoskinson’s winning streak at seven rounds. But just past the finish line, the Christmas Tree at the front of the ‘El Toro’ Mustang snapped off, disqualifying Burch and putting Hoskinson back into the racing action for round three.

Two rounds later, Hoskinson would stage in his second final in as many appearances opposite the turbocharged ride of Evan Pixley. In a good final round battle, Hoskinson would turn on the final win light, getting the LS-swapped Ford Falcon another win and a $10,000 payday.

The second new class addition to the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship would be the invitational ‘Quick 8’ and the field was stacked with hitters, including X275 champion Ron Rhodes, multi-time no prep winner Ryan Mitchell, and defending event champ Jason Terrell. But the one everyone was paying attention to was the GMC full size pick up of Ray Morton, ‘Maximus.’

After clocking a 5.97 at 242 mph at World Cup Finals last month, some predicted Morton was the odds-on favorite to win. He delivered a stellar performance with a trio of 6.0-second time slips, winning the final round with a 6.09 at 231 mph over a troubled pass from the Mustang of ‘Turbo John’ Phillips.

The entire race was streamed live by the team at FRDM+, who will also stream our Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive event in February. CLICK HERE to subscribe to FRDM+!