Cline Wins Second Title; Seven Others Pick Up First Championships at Western Conference Finals
TULSA, Okla.,- Hayley Cline won the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing Western Conference Finals presented by Huddleston Performance for the second time in her career to highlight the 2017 edition of the first of two national events in the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League. Cline, the 2012 8-9 class champ, won this year’s 13-year-old age group and was joined in the winner’s circle by seven first-time winners: Nolan Baker (age 6-9), Gage Wilson (10), Jonathan McClain (11), Graeme Rufenacht (12), Caylyn Cunningham (14), Monica Roberts (15), and Colin Broermann. Host track Osage Tulsa Raceway Park dominated the team competition to earn its first team championship.
Underwood, Iowa’s Baker, a representative of I29 Dragway, outlasted Larned, Kan., competitor Caleb McDonald to win the 6-9 age-group title. McDonald, who raced for SRCA Dragstrip, got the reaction-time edge in the final but carried too much momentum on the top end and broke out with a 12.54 (12.63 dial). That opened the door for Baker, who won with a closer-to-the-mark 12.25 (12.28).
Wilson, who has had several late-round showings at past Western Conference Finals events, was finally able to go the distance and earn his first Wally, besting Wesley Young in the 10-year-old bracket. Wilson, a Moore, Okla., competitor who was part of the Thunder Valley Raceway Park team, got the automatic nod in the final when Pearland, Texas’ Young red-lighted. Wilson ran an 8.95 (8.90) on his victory pass.
McClain, a member of the Thunder Road Raceway Park team who lives in Bosier City, La., turned a starting-line advantage of more than five-hundredths into victory over Owatonna, Minn., racer Gabbie Poole in the 11-year-old title round. McClain clocked in with an 8.96 (9.00) to defeat Grove Creek Raceway’s Poole, who broke out with an 8.96 (9.00).
Texas Motorplex runner Rufenacht outmaneuvered No Problem Raceway Park’s Kacee Guedry at the stripe to win the 12-year-old age group. Guedry, who hails from Brusly, La., had the advantage on the starting line, but Round Rock, Texas’ Rufenacht was able to drive around him at the stripe and win on a 9.03 (9.00) to 9.02 (8.97) count.
Seminole, Okla., resident Cline earned the second Western Conference Finals Wally of her career when she topped the 13-year-old field. Cline, a member of Thunder Valley Raceway Park’s team, got the automatic nod when 2014 Western Conference Finals champ Braden Bettis, a DeLeon, Texas, racer who represented Texas Motorplex, went red. Cline cruised to an 8.83 (8.78) victory.
Cunningham scored one for host track Osage Tulsa Raceway Park when she outlasted Texas Motorplex’s Shelby Jones for the 14-year-old class Wally. Cunningham, who lives in Collinscille, Okla., got a sizeable starting-line advantage and turned it into an 8.08 (8.05) to 8.11 (8.00) win against Godley, Texas, competitor Jones.
After finishing as the runner-up here last year, Detroit, Mich., competitor Roberts was able to turn on one additional win light, taking top honors in the 15-year-old category. Van Vleck, Texas’ Ty Casey made things easier for Roberts when he left the starting line .001-second too soon. That turned on the win light in the lane of Roberts, a Gateway Motorsports Park competitor who ran 8.46 (7.90) on her winning lap.
Broermann won an all-Tulsa Raceway Park final in the 16-17 age group, defeating teammate Preston Tanner for the title. Broermann, who hails from Sand Springs, Okla., got the edge at the Tree by about two-hundredths, and that pushed Tanner, a Rensselaer, Ind., competitor, into an 8.01 (8.05) breakout. Broermann ran a clean 7.91 (7.90) for the win.
Led by the 16-17 age-group finalists and several other late-round finishers Tulsa Raceway Park Team 2 won the team championship, the first team title for the Tulsa, Okla., track. Tulsa tallied 19 points to handily defeat Thunder Valley Raceway Park Team 1, which finished second with 13 points. SRCA Team 1 (12), Texas Motorplex Team 1 (11), and Texas Motorplex Team 2 and Royal Purple Raceway Team 2 (tied — 10) rounded out the top five.
The following are the final results for from the NHRA Summit Junior Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals at Tulsa Raceway Park:
6-9 Year Old
Nolan Bake, Underwood, Iowa, 12.281 seconds, 52.03 mph def. Caleb McDonald, Larned, Kan., 12.544 seconds, 51.76 mph
10 Year Old
Gage Wilson, Moore, Okla., 8.950 seconds, 77.70 mph def. Wesley Young, Perland, Texas, 9.269 seconds, 69.46 mph
11 Year Old
Jonathan McClain, Boiser City, La., 9.014 seconds, 71.30 mph def. Gabbie Poole, Owatonna, Minn., 8.960 seconds, 70.11 mph
12 Year Old
Graeme Rufenacht, Round Rock, Texas, 9.031 seconds, 70.26 mph def. Keith Gueory (Kacee), Brusly, La., 9.028 seconds, 70.91 mph
13 Year Old
Hayley Cline, Seminole, Okla., 8.834 seconds, 73.00 mph def. Braden Bettis, DeLeon, Texas, 7.946 seconds, 81.43 mph
14 Year Old
Caylyn Cunningham, Collinscille, Okla., 8.083 seconds, 75.35 def. Shelby Jones, Godley, Texas, 8.110 seconds, 79.80 mph
15 Year Old
Monica Roberts, Detroit, Mich., 8.467 seconds, 61.86 mph def. Ty Casey, Van Vleck, Texas, 11.742 seconds, 50.99 mph
16-17 Year Olds
Colin Boermann, Sand Springs, Oka., 7.919 seconds, 81.36 mph def. Preston Tanner, Rensselaer, Ind., 8.015 seconds, 80.19 mph
