Champions crowned at Jr. Eastern Conference Finals

Hope Capley (age 6-9), Cody Holberg (10), Corey Kyle (11), Callie Martel (12), Wallace Wilson (13), Jonathan Northrop (14), Austin Alvey (15), and Rachael Weis (16-17) outlasted the fields in their categories to claim top honors at the 2016 NHRA Jr. Drag Racing Eastern Conference Finals presented by ViperizerRacing.com. All eight are first time winners at the race, one of two national events in the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League. Virginia Motorsports Park earned the team championship.

Capley, a Huntsville Dragway racer who hails from Madison, Tenn., earned the first Wally of her young career when she bested 2015 Eastern Conference Finals champion Carson Emmett in the 6-9 age-group final. Emmett, another Huntsville competitor who lives in Cedar Bluff, Ala., made Capley’s job easy in the final when he went red by.012-second. Capley posted a 12.19 (12.05 dial) on her victory pass.

The 10-year-old final was an all-National Trial Raceway affair with Newark, Ohio’s Hoberg taking on Blaine Bazell, of Lancaster, Ohio. Hoberg cut a strong .010 light and used the more-than-a-tenth advantage it gave him on the starting line to defeat Bazell on a holeshot, 8.95 (8.90) to 8.96 (8.95).

Kyle joined brother Dillan, who won this event in 2010, as an Eastern Conference Finals champion when he got the better of Cody Drummond in the 11-year-old category title round. Kyle, a Silver Dollar Raceway driver who lives in Gay, Ga., had the reaction-time edge, .087 to .118, and ran an 8.94 (8.92) to turn on the win light against the 9.07 (9.06) of Drummonds, a Laurel, Del., competitor who raced with the Numidia Dragway team.

Martel became the second member of her family to win the Eastern Conference Finals, too, joining sister Lizzie, who scored in 2014. A Carleton, Mich., resident who was part of the Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park team, Martel cut a .071 light then eased her car to an 8.87 (8.90) to defeat Boyertown, Pa., and Maple Grove Raceway driver Kelsey Brinckman’s further-under 8.90 (8.96) in the 12-year-old class final.

Atlanta Dragway runner Wilson, who is from Taylors, S.C., earned top honors in the 13-year-old bracket, outlasting Aubrey Collins, a Summit Motorsports Park team member from Fairview Park, Ohio. Both Wilson and Collins ran under their dial-ins, but Wilson’s 7.88 (7.90) was closer to the mark, turning on his win light. Collins posted a 7.91 (7.97).

Northrop, whose family’s strong racing history includes a Super Gas national championship by his uncle Dan, added to that history when he bested the field in the 14-year-old age group. The final was decided on the starting line when Boonville, Ind., racer Logan Jamison, who represented Lyons Raceway Park, fouled out. That gave the automatic nod to Perkaskie, Pa.’s Northrop, an Atco Dragway team member, who posted a 7.86 (7.92) en route to victory.

Mount Washington, Ky., and Ohio Valley Raceway competitor Alvey ran right on his 7.93 dial to turn on the win light in the 15-year-old class final. Ethan Rudisell, a Hamilton, Ohio, driver who was part of the National Trail team, settled for runner-up honors after breaking out by .006-second.

The 16-17 class came down to a pair of Virginia Motorsports Park cars, and when all was said and done Weis, of Ashland, Va., got the nod over Doswell, Va., driver Allison Lloyd. Weis had the advantage at the Tree, .013 to .036, and that proved to be the difference because Weis and Lloyd ran identical 7.950 (7.90) times.

Bolstered by Weis’ win in the 16-17 bracket, Virginia Motorsports Park Team 1 took the team championship. This is the second team title for Virginia, which also finished on top in 2007. Virginia tallied 32 points, two more than second-place Huntsville Dragway Team 2. Silver Dollar Raceway Team 1 and Virginia Team 2 tied for third with 26 points, and National Trail Raceway Team 1, National Trail Team 3, and Atco Raceway Team 1 all finished with 25, tying for fifth.

The battle for the Team Spirit award was once again a heated competition with several strong teams. In the end, Huntsville Dragway earned its second straight Team Spirit award, just edging the strong effort of Summit Motorsports Park.

Awards were also presented to the drivers in each category who ran closest to their dials and those with the best reaction times on winning runs in the first round. The Closest to Dial winners were Lucie Feltner, Sean Kershner, and Blaine Todd (6-9); Zachary Smith (10); Tucker Brown (11); Ozell Brown (12); Bryce Stansbury (13); Dalton Hayes (14); Anthony Capirose (15); and Olivia Sheets (16-17). Best Reaction Time award winners were Riley Hoover (6-9), Hannah Turner (10), Keaton Vester (11), Bailey Whitaker (12), Trinity Marshall (13), Alec Harper and Seth Jimenez (14), Rebecca Guedry (15), and Skyler Stump (16-17).

6-9 Year Olds

Hope Capley, Madison, Ten., Huntsville Dragway, 12.192, 51.82 def. Carson Emmet, Cedar Bluff, Ala., Huntsville Dragway, 12.529, 46.44

10 Year Olds

Cody Hoberg, Newark, Ohio, National Trial Raceway, 8.954, 70.63 def. Blaine Bazell, Lancaster, Ohio, National Trial Raceway, 8.962, 71.28

11 Year Olds

Corey Kyle, Gay, Ga., Silver Dollar Raceway, 8.947, 69.64 def. Cody Drummond, Laurel, Del., Numidia Dragway team, 9.070, 68.68

12 Year Olds

Callie Martel, Carleton, Mich., Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, 8.871, 73.24 def. Kelsey Brinckman, Boyertown, Pa., Maple Grove Raceway, 8.909, 73.07

13 Year Olds

Wallace Wilson, Taylors, S.C., Atlanta Dragway, 7.881, 83.10 def. Aubrey Collins, Fairview Park, Ohio, Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, 7.911, 81.04

14 Year Olds

Jonathan Northrop, Perkaskie, P.a., Atco Raceway, 7.864, 83.23 def. Logan Jamison, Boonville, Ind., Lyons Raceway Park , 7.907, 83.56

15 Year Olds

Austin Alvey, Mt Washington, Ky., Ohio Valley Raceway, 7.934, 80.86 def. Ethan Rudisell, Hamitlon, Ohio, National Trial Raceway, 7.914, 80.82

16-17 Year Olds

Rachael Weis, Ashland,Va., Virginia Motorsports Park , 7.950, 76.18 def. Allison Lloyd, Doswell, Va., Virginia Motorsports Park , 7.950, 82.38