Coker & Hawkins Final Delayed By Rain
White Walls & Drags - May 11th, 2013 - Ardmore Dragway

The Southwest Junior Fuel Association held their third event of the 2013 season at the Ardmore Dragway "White Walls & Drags" event on Saturday, May 11th. Ron Muncy came into the event leading the points by a slim margin over Odie Coker, with Brian Briggs hanging tough in the number three position. The SWJFA teams warmed their machines and the call went out to bring em' to the lanes for the first session of qualifying. Ken Hawkins made his first appearance of the season, behind the wheel of Charlie Smith's "Whiz Kids" racing dragster, subbing for Brandon Lewis who usually occupies the seat.

(Ken Hawkins)

Hawkins clicked off a strong 4.70 at 145 mph to qualify number two in the six car field after two sessions. Odie Coker took the top spot in his Ron Ussery owned and tuned Hemi powered slingshot, posting a 4.63 at 148 mph to claim the pole position. Ron Muncy, Brian Briggs and Mike Buchanan all posted times in the 4.80 zone and Mike Millsap rounded out the field with a 4.97 at 137 mph in the "Sachse Rod Shop" dragster. Coker and company claimed their third straight number one qualifying effort as the teams returned to the pits to prepare for the opening round of eliminations.

(Mike Millsap)

Final Qualifying Order:

1. Odie Coker (Dallas, Texas) - 4.63 @ 148 mph
2. Ken Hawkins (Poolesville, Texas) - 4.70 @ 145 mph
3. Ron Muncy (Weatherford, Texas) - 4.80 @ 142 mph
4. Brian Briggs (Lake Charles, Louisiana) - 4.82 @ 142 mph
5. Mike Buchanan (Wichita, Kansas) - 4.87 @ 142 mph
6. Mike Millsap (Sachse, Texas) - 4.97 @ 137 mph
7. Bill Tumlinson (Victoria, Texas) - No Time

(Mike Millsap)

First Round Eliminations

Ken Hawkins and Brian Briggs kicked off the first round of eliminations with a nice side by side drag race. Briggs was off the line first with an impressive .009 reaction time but by half-track Hawkins had closed the gap and at the stripe Hawkins' 4.72 at 145 mph was enough to advance over Briggs' 4.82 at 142 mph.

(Brian Briggs)

Odie Coker rolled through the water box next alongside Mike Millsap. Millsap looked to upset the number one qualifier in the opening round, but Coker took the advantage off the line and clicked off low elapsed time of the event so far with a 4.61 at 148 mph to take out Millsap's 4.98 at 137 mph.

(Odie Coker)

In the final pair of the round, points leader Ron Muncy's "Foolish Pleasure" slingshot crept into the beams ready to take on Mike Buchanan's "Lou Ann" injected dragster. Buchanan held a slight advantage off the line and the cars were nose to nose at half-track. As they approached the stripe, Muncy drove around and lit the win light with a 4.81 at 143 mph to Buchanan's 4.85 at 142 mph in the closest race of the round.

(Mike Buchanan)

First Round Results

(W) Ken Hawkins (.024 rt) 4.72 @ 142 mph vs. (L) Brian Briggs (.009 rt) 4.82 @ 142 mph
(W) Odie Coker (.029 rt) 4.61 @ 148 mph vs. (L) Mike Millsap (.051) 4.98 @ 137 mph
(W) Ron Muncy (.046 rt) 4.81 @ 143 mph vs. (L) Mike Buchanan (.036 rt) 4.85 @ 142 mph

(Ron Muncy)

In the semi-finals, as rain approached the first pair between Ken Hawkins and Ron Muncy resulted in a round win for Hawkins as he secured a trip to the final round in his first event behind the wheel this season. Odie Coker proceeded through his burnout but during the staging process the skies opened up and unleashed a heavy amount of rain which ended the racing action for the remainder of the day at Ardmore Dragway.

Hawkins and Coker will settle their final round bout at the next SWJFA event, when the series returns to Ardmore Dragway for the Hot Rod Reunion on August 31st! The SWJFA series would like to thank Hayden Enterprises, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Champion Spark Plugs and Smiley's Racing Products for their support of the 2013 racing season.

Click Here to see photos from Ardmore.