NHRA Summit Jr Drag Racing League, Western Conference Finals, Final Results Osage Tulsa Raceway Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NHRA LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES Contact: NHRA Field Marketing (626) 914-4761 Poe wins fourth; Ball brothers double up at Western Conference Finals TULSA, Okla. - Last year, Cade Poe became the first driver in NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League history to win three Conference Finals/National Championships titles. The driver from Los Alamitos, Calif., didn't take long to add to his record, winning a second straight and fourth overall title during this year's NHRA Jr. Drag Racing Western Conference Finals presented by Huddleston Performance. Poe was joined in victory by the Ball brothers, Caden and Justin, who scored respective wins in the 6-9 age group and Jr. Comp. Other winners at the national-level event for Jr. Dragster competitors in Divisions 4, 5, 6, and 7 were Rylie Trumble (age 10), Madison Gordon (11), Kinley Wolfford (12), Aaron Jordan (13), Leslie Grissom (14), and Vernon Harris (16-17). Auto Club Famoso Raceway earned the team title. Poe's record fourth win came in a double-breakout final against Troy, Mich., racer Monica Roberts. Roberts, a member of the Tri-State Raceway team, got the jump at the starting line, but Poe, a Famoso competitor, was able to outmaneuver her at the stripe, winning on a 7.89 (7.90 dial) to 7.88 (7.90) count. In the 6-9 age group, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.'s Caden Ball, a Barona 1/8-Mile Drag Strip competitor, outlasted Tomball, Texas' Joshua Nelson, of Royal Purple Raceway. Ball got off the starting line first, .080 to .111, and ran closer to his dial in the double-breakout contest, 11.95 (11.99) to 12.07 (12.16). Trumble, a Pasadena, Texas, racer who represented Royal Purple Raceway, got the better of Geismar, La., runner Ryker Cromwell for the 10-year-old class Wally. Cromwell, a No Problem Raceway Park driver, got the slight .001-second advantage on the starting line, but at the stripe Trumble was closer to his target. As was the case in many of the other finals, this title round was a double breakout with Trumble turning on the win light with his 8.91 (8.93) against the 8.87 (8.90) of Cromwell. Gordon, a third-generation racer from Paso Robles, Calif., added to her family's trophy case when she bested Donovan Harless, of Colorado Springs, Colo., in the 11-year-old bracket. Gordon, who was part of the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park team, had the slight reaction-time advantage and ran closer to her dial to defeat Pueblo Motorsports Park's Harless, winning on an 8.97 (8.96) to 8.93 (8.90) count. The 12-year-old class final came down to a pair of Texas drivers, Orange's Wolfford and Corsicana's Addyson Owen. Wolfford, who represented Royal Purple Raceway, turned a .058 to .085 lead at the Tree into an 8.95 (8.92) to 8.95 (8.94) holeshot win against Texas Motorplex racer Owen. Jordan, who won the 8-9 age group at the 2011 Western Conference Finals, added another Wally to his mantle when he outlasted Rayne, La., driver Bryant Huesers in the 13-year-old class. Jordan, a Fort Worth, Texas, competitor who was part of the Texas Motorplex team, got off the starting line first, .055 to .070, then eased his car to an 8.05 (8.02) to turn on the win light against Royal Purple Raceway's Huesers, who clocked an 8.11 (8.06). Grissom, an Odessa, Texas, competitor who raced for Big Country Race Way, faced fellow Texas Sam Ray in the 15-year-old category final. Unfortunately for Ray, a Texas Motorplex competitor from Blooming Grove, Texas, her car had troubles in the final and slowed to a 13.23 (7.97). That allowed Grissom to slow to an 8.26 (7.90) and turn on the win light. Harris notched a win for the host track, Osage Tulsa Raceway Park, wheeling his Sand Springs, Okla.-based dragster to top honors in the 16-17 age group. Harris got a slight .005-second lead at the Tree against Bryce Granier, a Labadieville, La., racer who was part of the No Problem Raceway Park team, and that proved to be the difference because both drivers ran .032-second off their dials. Harris crossed first with his 7.93 (7.90), followed by Granier and his 7.94 (7.91). In the Jr. Comp exhibition class, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.'s Justin Ball joined brother Caden in the winner's circle when he defeated Yerington, Nev., driver Megan Shaffer in the 6.90-index title round. Ball got off the starting line first, .039 to .11, and he turned the advantage into a 6.95 to 6.94 holeshot win. The team competition remained close to the end with Famoso and Texas Motorplex tied heading into the finals. Poe broke the tie when he won the 14-year-old class title, giving the Bakersfield, Calif., track its second Western Conference Finals team championship. Famoso Team 1 finished with 18 points, followed by Texas Motorplex Team 1 (17), Royal Purple Raceway Team 3 (16), Royal Purple Team 1 (14), and Thunder Valley Raceway Park Team 1 and Texas Motorplex Team 2 (tied at 12). In the Team Spirit competition, Royal Purple Raceway beat out Texas Motorplex for the trophy. 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 Cameron Nelson (6-9), Brooklyn Staab (10), Harless (11), Wolfford (12), Jordan (13), Lauren Dodd (14), Peyton Januik (15), Granier (16-17), and Zach Hartnett (Jr. Comp). Best Reaction Time award winners were Brigg Ray (6-9), Trumble (10), Kyler Skjonsberg (11), Braden Bettis (12), Jenna Kirk (13), Logan Carter (14), Valerie Steffens (15), Granier (16-17), and Justin Ball (Jr. Comp). 6-9 Year Olds Caden Ball, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Barona 1/8th -Mile Dragstrip, 11.956, 52.31 def. Joshua Nelson Tomball, Texas, Royal Purple Raceway, 12.072, 52.43 10 Year Olds Rylie Trumble, Pasadena, Texas, Royal Purple Raceway, 8.914, 71.45 def. Ryker Cromwell, Geismar, La., Royal Purple Raceway, 8.876, 74.26 11 Year Olds Madison Gordon, Pasa Robles, Calif., Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, 8.971, 73.50 def. Donavan Harless, Colorado Springs, Co., Pueblo Motorsports Park, 8.943, 74.84 12 Year Olds Kinley Wolfford, Orange, Texas, Royal Purple Raceway, 8.952, 72.00 def. Addyson Owen, Cosicana, Texas, Texas Motorplex, 8.959, 73.31 13 Year Olds Aaron Jordan, Ft. Worth, Texas, Texas Motorplex, 8.052, 78.59 def. Bryant Huesers, Rayne, La., Royal Purple Raceway, 8.113, 78.36 14 Year Olds Cade Poe, Los Alamitos, Calif., Auto Club Famoso, 7.897, 83.44 def. Monica Roberts, Troy, Mich., Tri-State Raceway, 7.889, 80.83 15 Year Olds Leslie Grissom, Odessa, Texas, Big Country Race Way, 8.264, 64.71 def. Samantha "Sam" Ray, Blooming Groove, Texas, Texas Motorplex, 13.238, 27.85 16-17 Year Olds Vernon Harris, Sand Springs, Okla., Tulsa Raceway Park, 7.932, 80.78 def. Bryce Granier, Labadieville, La., No Problem Raceway, 7.942, 80.57 JR Comp Justin Ball, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 6.959, 89.20 def. Megan Shaffer, Yerington, Nev., 6.949, 96.87 -30-
