Mooresville Dragway Makes the Most Out of WDRA Summit Southeast Bracket Finals
Rosters full of racers from tracks across the Southeast gathered at Union County Dragway for the WDRA Summit Southeast Bracket Finals presented by Laris Motorsports Insurance. The competing tracks were Union County Dragway, Greer Dragway, Farmington Dragway, Mooresville Dragway, Ware Shoals Dragway, Cherokee Race Park, Kinston Drag Strip and Coastal Plains Dragway.
Five races were completed over the four-day event, with winners emerging in everything from Zuma scooters and street cars to full-size dragsters. The first winner’s circle celebrations took place on Thursday night, with Parker Dotson winning the Pit Vehicle Race and the host track’s Tony Brown claiming the Track Operator Race victory.
Friday began with a time trial for all competitors before diving into eliminations for the Fuel Factory Race of Champions. In the Box class, Scottie Watts, representing Union, was .008 on the tree and ran one above his dial to earn the win over Kale Hoffman from Coastal Plains. Mooresville’s Jerry Cline won the No Box class when Tommy Duff from Kinston broke out one-thousandth at the finish line. Calla Varner from Farmington had a better reaction time and claimed the double-breakout win over Will Dotson from Greer in the Junior Dragster final. Mark Dudley Jr from Mooresville earned the automatic win in Sportsman when Greer’s Cody Spears turned on the red bulb. In the Teen Racing division, Jordan Philbeck from Union took the win over Caleb Dix representing Greer.
After the track champions were finished battling each other, the attention would turn to Friday’s Gamblers Race. Only four-thousandths separated the Box final pair in reaction time, but Lonnie Plyer (Mooresville) breaks out beside Damon Smith, who earns the $3,000 victory at his home track. Footbrake was an all-Farmington final round and likely the closest round of the event when both drivers were .022 on the tree and ran dead on their respective dial-ins. Ernie Humes snags $3,000 with a .0003 margin of victory over Garrett Howell.
Another familiar battle took place in the Junior Dragster final between two Greer Dragway racers. Both drivers ran one above their dials, but Hudson Edwards used the starting line advantage to take the win over Adam Agee. In the Sportsman class, Brantley Duncan (Ware Shoals) earns his first win of the season over the reigning WDRA Sportsman World Champion, Robbie Philbeck, by one-thousandth. In the Teen class, Cody Perryman has the better light but breaks out beside Caleb Dix, who wins.
On Saturday, the air is buzzing with excitement as racers cheer on their teammates and try to accumulate points for the overall Team Championship. Qualified Main Event winners will earn a trip to the upcoming WDRA World Championships, while everyone has their eye on the impressive WDRA Rod Trophy and the prestige of winning a Bracket Final race. The first racer to feel that celebration is Caleb Dix from Greer Dragway. In the Kentucky Gears Teen Racing class, he wins his second consecutive race over Cody Perryman from Farmington Dragway.
Mooresville driver Chaz Nichols earns the emotional .016 margin of victory over Autumn Jones, representing Coastal Plains in the Junior Dragster class. Mark Dudley Jr earns another win for Team Mooresville in the Sportsman class by leaving Cody Spears (Greer) mathematically ineligible.
Farmington Dragway also produced two Main Event Champions, with Gavin Whisnant taking the $5,000 Box class victory over Marc Jones from Coastal Plains and Brian Holbrook earning the double-breakout $5,000 win over Britt Sinclair (Mooresville) in the No Box class.
Mooresville Dragway earned the overall Team Championship with 48 points, even though they brought one of the smaller rosters of the weekend. Farmington Dragway and Union County Dragway were tied at 47 points, followed by Ware Shoals with 35, Greer with 29, Coastal Plains with 27, and Cherokee with 10 points.
One more set of winner’s circle celebrations occurred on Sunday, where Gamblers Race winners also earned a free 2025 WDRA membership on behalf of their class sponsor. In the Outlaw Trailers Box class, Lee Crawford from Ware Shoals left Union’s Damon Smith mathematically ineligible for the win. The Technocraft Trailer Cabinets Footbrake final was an all-Farmington matchup that was unfortunately cut short due to parts failure in the Robert Sawrey ride, giving Wade Holbrook the automatic win.
Ware Shoals earned another victory when Stephen Rodgers took the Funny Bone Embroidery Junior Dragster win over Kyle Chapman, who was representing Union. Cody Spears from Greer returned to his third final round of the weekend but had to settle for runner up honors once again due to a red light, while Noah Thompson ran one above his dial for the Sportsman win at his home track. Cody Perryman earned the Kentucky Gears Teen victory for Farmington after defeating Jordan Philbeck from Union.
Special Awards were distributed throughout the weekend, such as Coastal Plains Dragway showing the Best Team Spirt, Farmington Dragway earning the Best Decorated Grandstand, and Union County Dragway named as Best Appearing Team. The Best Appearing awards were Kaylee Deese from Union (Open-Bodied), Steven Medina from Coastal Plains (Full-Bodied), and Jaxon Phillips’ Junior Dragster from Farmington. The Laris Best Package First Round of the Main Event went to B. Angel from Farmington Dragway with a .0099 total package.
The final stop during the WDRA season is arguably the most important race of the year. Qualified track champions and bracket finals main event winners will compete at the invitation-only WDRA Summit World Championships presented by SunCoast Performance on October 24-26, 2024. The 2025 WDRA World Champions will be crowned at Montgomery International Dragway, and the event will be live streamed on MotorManiaTV.com.
This story was originally published on October 14, 2024.
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