91°µÍø

Mother Nature delayed the completion of the NHRA Right Trailers Eastern Conference Finals presented by MikeBosRacing.com, pushing final eliminations into the night, but it was well worth the wait with several great storylines unfolding as the race for drivers in the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League wrapped up at Bristol Dragway.

Easton Hodge earned a second straight Eastern Conference Finals championship, winning the 12-year-old class. The Stack brothers – Eli and James Jr. – shared the winner’s circle after respective wins in the 11- and 13-year-old age brackets. Shawn Sanseverino (16-17) added a second Eastern Conference Finals Wally to his mantle, Josiah Varner (14) joined brother Jesse, a winner last year, as an event champion, and Luke Hutchinson (6-9), Waylon Bennett (10), and Michael Artim (15) added Eastern Conference Finals championships to their racing resumes. Bristol Dragway Team 1 topped the team competition.

Hutchinson, a Bristol Dragway regular from Hampton, Tenn., continued his hot 2024 season when he outlasted Edison, N.J.’s Christian Handwerk in the 6-9 bracket. In the final Handwerk got off the starting line first, but he carried too much momentum on the top end and broke out with an 11.966 (11.98 dial). That opened the door for Hutchinson, who won with an on-the-dial 11.967.

Sharpsburg, Ga., runner Bennett got the automatic win in the 10-year-old class final when Burke, Texas, competitor Dawson Rogers, a winner at this year’s NHRA Right Trailers Western Conference Finals presented by CAPCO Contractors, red-lighted in the final. Bennett celebrated with a 9.196 (9.15) victory lap.

Eli Stack notched the first of two wins for the Gilbertsville, Pa., Stack family when he bested Mechanicsburg, Va., driver Landen Lewis in the 11-year-old bracket title round. Stack got off the starting line first .034 to .051, then ran right on his 8.97 target to turn on the win light against Lewis, who finished with a 9.044 (9.02).

Hodge will take another Wally home to Franklin, Ky., after tallying an 8.967 (8.90) to 8.971 (8.98) win against Titus Wolfe, of Boone, N.C., in the 12-year-old division. Hodge was the 11-year-old class champ at last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Moments after brother Eli won the 10-year-old category, James Stack Jr. joined him as a champion, getting the win when Chattanooga, Tenn., competitor Emma Green fouled out in the 13-year-old age-group final. Stack proved he would have been tough to beat with a perfect .000 light and on-the-dial 7.936.

After watching younger brother Jesse win last year, it was the older Varner brother’s turn to claim a Wally. The Temple, Ga., runner got off the starting line first in the 14-year-old category final, .037 to .079, and that proved key. Bluefield, W.Va., racer Autumn Adkins ran closer to the dial with an 8.092 (8.07), but it wasn’t enough to best Varner’s 7.983 (7.93).

In one of the best races of the day, Boyertown, Pa.’s Artim edged former Eastern Conference Finals champion Hope Capley by .011 in the 15-year-old bracket title round. Artim had the slight starting-line advantage, .010 to .015, then powered to a 7.949 (7.91) to best Madison, Tenn.’s Capley’s 8.145 (8.10).

The final run of the event featured a pair of former champions seeking their second event win: 2017 winner Sanseverino and 2020 champ Kade Renoll. Old Bridge, N.J., racer Sanseverino cut a near-perfect .009 light and parlayed the advantage it gave him into an 8.895 (8.87) to 7.895 (7.90) win against El Mirage, Ariz.’s Renoll.

The team from the host track took top honors in the team competition. Bristol Dragway Team 1 tallied 37 points to handily take the title. Gainesville Raceway Team 3 finished second with 29 points, followed by Gainesville Team 1, Virginia Motorsports Park Team 1, and Beech Bend Raceway Park Team 1 all tied for third with 26 points apiece.

Results from the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals

6-9
W: Luke Hutchinson (Hampton, Tenn.): .115, 11.967 (11.96)
R/U: Christian Handwerk (Edison, N.J.) .027, **11.966 (11.98)
Semi’s: Evan Stack (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Maddox Mason (Northborough, Mass.)
Quarters: Jaxson Jensen (Pleasant View, Tenn.), Hutch Harger (Pace, Fla.), Carley Bauman (Poolesville, Mass.), Noah Taylor (Elizabethtown, N.C.)

10
W: Waylon Bennett (Sharpsburg, Ga.): .069, 9.196 (9.15)
R/U: Dawson Rogers (Burke, Texas): -.008, *9.008 (9.03)
Semi’s: Caden Oliveira (Cypress, Calif.), Carson Blankenship (Grundy, Va.)
Quarters: Madison Pickens (Elyria, Ohio), Gary Bogacki (Carterville, Ill.), John Dykes (Gray, Ga.)

11
W: Eli Stack (Gilbertsville, Pa.): .034, 8.977 (8.97)
R/U: Landen Lewis (Mechanicsburg, Va.): .051, 9.044 (9.02)
Semi’s: Brayden Baehr (Norwalk, Ohio)
Quarters: Kendall Stephenson (Bastrop, La.), Terralynn Fletcher (Hershey, Neb.), Lincoln McMaster (Leon Springs, Fla.)

12
W: Easton Hodge (Franklin, Ky.): .084, 8.967 (8.90)
R/U: Titus Wolfe (Boone, N.C.): .100, **8.971 (8.98)
Semi’s: Ciara Haight (Keystone Heights, Fla)
Quarters: Lily Kersnason (Charlotte, Fla.), Tanner Mocny (Venice, Fla.), Grayson Edelmann (Land O Lakes, Fla.)

13
W: James Stack Jr. (Gilbertsville, Pa.): .000, 7.936 (7.93)
R/U: Emma Green (Chattanooga, Tenn.): -.016, *9.777 (8.15)
Semi’s: Charlotte Ecks (Quarryville, Pa.)
Quarters: Forrest Radford (Riner, Va.), John Varner (Temple, Ga.)

14
W: Josiah Varner (Temple, Ga.): .037, 7.983 (7.93)
R/U: Autumn Adkins (Bluefield, W.Va.): .079, 8.092 (8.07)
Semi’s: Kylan Bator (Palm City, Fla.)
Quarters: Robert Starr (Palm Coast, Fla.), Lucas Graves (Burleson, Texas)

15
W: Michael Artim (Boyertown, Pa.): .010, 7.949 (7.91)
R/U: Hope Capley (Madison, Tenn.): .015, 8.145 (8.10)
Semi’s: Emma Scheuer (Holland, Ohio), Madalynn Price (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Quarters: Connor Kannapel (Leitchfield, Ky.), Jackson Wolfe (Boone, N.C.), Ean Guenthardt (Manistee, Mich.), Sofia Cabral (Manchester, N.H.)

16-17
W: Shawn Sanseverino (Old Bridge, N.J.): .009, 8.895 (8.87)
R/U: Kade Renoll (El Mirage, Ariz.): .074, **7.895 (7.90)
Semi’s: Phillip Radford (Riner, Va.), Kayslee Price (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Quarters: Gage Wilson (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Grace Varner (Temple, Ga.), Blake Combs (Bluff City, Tenn.)

*red-light   **breakout