Bradenton Motorsports Park Draws Thousands for FL2K25 Racing Weekend

BRADENTON, Fla. —  With the summer heat subsiding and the rains coming to a stop, car racing culture is picking up speed once again in South Florida. 

Earlier this month, Bradenton Motorsports Park held the largest streetcar gathering in the southeast, FL2K25 with over $150,000 in payouts on the line, drawing hundreds of racers from across the country. The event, which sold out and took place over the course of four days in early October, drew spectators from all walks of life ranging from families with strollers to groups of friends, from old to young. 

Between races, Melody Murdock, a 24-year-old student, browsed Cleetus McFarland merchandise. “I really like the American muscle cars like the Mustangs that are racing today,” she said. 

Heat buzzed off of car hoods, which shimmered mirage-like, as competitors lined up to race in their respective racing class. A widebody Mustang with twin turbos and a cobalt-black Supra idled near the starting line as crews made last-minute touches before launching off. 

Tensions were high as a race between Leroy (Cletus McFarland’s car) and Grannas Supra (Joel Grannas’ car) where a winner took all in the cash pool in a grudge match: Leroy had previously lost to Grannas Supra. Now the two were matched up again–this time with $30,000 on the line. 

Saturday night eliminations continued throughout the race classes. Under the bright lights, the track felt like its own world. Nothing mattered at this time but the race, and the money behind it.

Two Mustangs squared off, their superchargers whining as they struggled to keep the car straight from all the torque they were creating. Smoke filled the air as tires burned off, and within seconds the cars blurred into the distance.

Richard Arias, 35, owner of Land Sea Air vinyl wrapping company, looked on. “Man, I had to come see the action this weekend,” Arias said. “Everybody been talkin’ ‘bout it all year so I had to pull up.” 

Gesturing at the cars, Arias added, “I like it all, but them high boost imports and clean AWD launches always hit different. They just hook and go.” 

The event wasn’t without hiccups as rain delayed some races. However, on the last day Leroy ran against Grannas in the grudge match. Leroy ran a quarter mile in 6.8 seconds at 217 mph vs Grannas’s 7.3 seconds at 141 mph.

Notable winner of FL2k25 was Brett LaSala, who won $10,000 check and ran a final run of 6.33 s at 224mph, calling the top door-car headline performance for the event. Other class winners included Travis Magnum (Street Car Shootout Elite), Michael Chambley (True Street), Shane Garcia (Pro Street), Dean Moslow Jr. (Super Street), Jonathan Atkins (Outlaw Stick Shift), Nichole Elff (X-Street / FWD class), Troy Pirez Jr. (No-Time Shootout), Faith Frost (10.50 Index), and Michael Botti (A90/B58 Shootout) among many others. 

With previous cars that raced on the track, driving home on the road, they roared into the hills and curves of the back road by Bradenton Motorsports Park. Hours earlier they were burning rubber, and putting it all on the line for a cash prize.