Buford Clinches 2016 Championship, Hawkins Takes Lufkin Win
The Southwest Junior Fuel Association held their final points race of the 2016 season at Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas on Saturday, October 22nd. Entering the event, rookie Rusty Burford held the points lead by just one point over Mike Millsap. The 2016 SWJFA series Championship would be decided in Lufkin as these two battled for precious points. Millsap lost his primary motor at the previous event in Tulsa and thrashed between races to get a new motor put in the framerails of his slingshot dragster, but was unable to do any testing before competition began. Would he have enough to make a run for the title or would the rookie cap off a dream season with the Championship?
(Rusty Burford)
(Mike Millsap)
After two rounds of heads up quarter mile qualifying, Odie Coker led the field with a 7.36 at 180 mph in the Ron Ussery owned and tuned Hemi powered entry. Ken Hawkins wheeled the Charlie Smith owned and tuned dragster to the number two spot with a 7.44 at 176 mph. Burford rounded out the top half of the six car field in the number three spot with a 7.64 at 173 mph as the teams returned to the pits and prepared for eliminations. Millsap had no luck in his two qualifiers with his new motor combination and had to find a way to turn on the win light from here forward to keep pace with Burford in the title chase.
Final Qualifying Order:
Final Qualifying Order:
1. Odie Coker (Dallas, TX) - 7.36 @ 180
2. Ken Hawkins (Pooleville, TX) - 7.44 @ 176
3. Rusty Burford (Combine, TX) - 7.63 @ 173
4. Bill Tumlinson (Victoria, TX) - 7.95 @ 162
5. Tim Clark (Royce City, TX) - 8.60 @ 151
6. Mike Millsap (Sachse, TX) - 12.68 @ 73
(Bill Tumlinson)
(Tim Clark)
Eliminations:
First round eliminations brought Hawkins to the line against points leader Burford. At the flash of amber, Burford jumped the tree with a -.027 reaction time and Hawkins clicked off a winning 7.53 at 173 mph to advance. Millsap saw what happened from his position in the waterbox in the next pair, with a win here for Millsap over top qualifier Coker, the title would be his. Unfortunately for Millsap, Coker left the line first and never trailed with an 8.85 at 123 mph win over Millsap's troubled 25.30 at 32 mph as Millsap had a wild launch and almost took out the Christmas tree. Despite his first round loss, Rusty Burford was officially at this point the 2016 SWJFA Champion. With one pair left, Bill Tumlinson ran an 8.17 at 149 mph to take out first time series runner Tim Clark's 8.59 at 151 mph.
First Round Results
(W) Ken Hawkins (.049 rt) 7.53 @ 173 vs. (L) Rusty Burford (-.027 rt) 7.67 @ 173
(W) Odie Coker (.058 rt) 8.85 @ 123 vs. (L) Mike Millsap (.123 rt) 25.30 @ 32
(W) Bill Tumlinson (.017 rt) 8.17 @ 149 vs. (L) Tim Clark (.234 rt) 8.59 @ 151
With humidity setting in and temperatures dropping in rapid form, the SWJFA elected to advance Bill Tumlinson and Ken Hawkins to the final round as the two quickest winners of round one. In the final, Tumlinson blasted off the line with an incredible .001 reaction time but his 8.28 at 162 mph came up short to Hawkins' 7.72 at 173 mph.
Final Round Results
(W) Ken Hawkins (.146 rt) 7.72 @ 173 vs. (L) Bill Tumlinson (.001 rt) 8.28 @ 162
(Bill Tumlinson - Lufkin Runner Up)
(Ken Hawkins - Lufkin Winner)
Congratulations to Hawkins & Smith on their event win in Lufkin, their first of the season. Congratulations to Rusty Burford and company on their impressive rookie season and well deserved 2016 SWJFA Championship. The SWJFA would like to thank Lubrication Engineers Inc, Hayden Enterprises, Champion Spark Plugs and Hilborn Fuel Injection for their support this season.
