The Thunder Valley Raceway Park Team 1.

NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference at Denver

Oklahoma’s Thunder Valley takes team championship

Words by Graciela Sanchez
Photos courtesy NHRA

Individual victories by Hayley Cline (age 8-9), Ashleigh Joy (11), and Tristan Marti (12) lifted Thunder Valley Raceway Park Team 1 to the team championship at the 2012 Mopar NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals presented by Lucas Slick Mist and JR Race Car on June 28-30. The group from Noble, Okla., tallied 32 points to edge out Auto Club Famoso’s team, which finished with 30 points, thanks in large part to a victory by Cade Poe in the 10-year-old age group and Justin Ball’s runner-up finish in the 15-year-old age bracket.

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway finished third with 29, followed by Western Colorado Dragway Team 2 and Speedworld Dragstrip Team 1, which tied with 25 points.

Joining Cline, Joy, Marti, and Poe in the individual winner’s circle were Boyd Eickmann (13), Cody Webber (14), Nash Keen (15), Zac Bogner (16-17), and Lerae Jacobs (Jr. Comp).

The class winners.

Cline, who hails from Seminole, Okla., had the reaction-time advantage in the 8-9 class final, .122 to .373, and she turned that into a 13.270 (12.95 dial) to 13.326 (13.03) victory over Canyon Lake, Calif., runner Dutch Farr.

In the 10-year-old age group final, North Las Vegas, Nev., racer Keoki Desa, a former Western Conference Finals winner, made things easy for Poe when he went red by .008-second. Poe, who traveled from Los Alamitos, Calif., for the event, paired a .084 light with an 8.924 (8.93) on his victory pass.

Norman, Okla., competitor Joy won the 11-year-old class final on the starting line, leaving first, .155 to .259, and turning the advantage into a 9.375 (9.26) to 8.981 (8.92) holeshot win against Canyon Lake, Calif.’s Dash Farr.

The 12-year-old category final was determined on the starting line as well, this time on a red-light start by Brighton, Colo., competitor Andrew Thorpe. Marti, who is from Noble, Okla., paired a .111 light with an 8.950 (8.90) en route to the win.