Noble Sunday summary

BATEMAN, MANNERS TAKE WINS IN NOBLE

NOBLE, Okla. -- In the final results from Thunder Valley Raceway Park Roger Bateman and Michael Manners took home big wins for this, the season finale of the NHRA South Central Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Bateman, Calgary, Alberta, CAN, outran Steve Harker, Gainesville, Ga., and moved a step closer to the NHRA West Central Division Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship. Bateman also took out fellow division racer Kirk Williams in his semi-final match up before posting a 4.763 second pass to Harker's 4.824 second run. The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series is divided into seven divisions across the country with Harker, unofficially wrapping up the South Central Division with his final round appearance.

Manners of Willis, Texas, posted a lap of 4.455 seconds for the Top Alcohol Dragster win over Brandon Lewis of Broken Arrow, Okla. Manners beat a pair of California racers in Chris Demke of Sunland, and Del Cox Jr. of Downey on his way to the final round.

Comp Eliminator racers were running for not only NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series championship points and the Thunder in the Heartland event win, but a Bonus of $25,000. Scott Benham of LaGrange, Texas, took home the trophy and the cash as he held off No. 1 qualifier Kevin Self of Caddo Okla., in the final round.

Oklahoma racer Greg Tucker of Lindsay, drove his '07 GTO to the win in the Reher-Morrison Top Sportsman class over Lee Didier of Fort Smith, Ark., while fellow Oklahoma racer Steve Evans of Moore, Okla., fell short of the win loosing to Mark Grame, Overland Park, Kan., in the final of the TCI Comp Cams Top Dragster class.

Texas racers dominated the remaining classes with former Lucas Oil National Champion Jonathan Womack of Houston taking the win in Super Stock; Billy Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, won in Super Comp; Rustin Mayes, Frost, Texas, took Super Gas; and Larry Eperjesi of Dallas, won the Sportsman Motorcycle class presented by Harley Davidson.

Slate Cummings rounded out all the winners taking the win in Stock Eliminator out of Hammond, La.

This was the final event in the NHRA South Central Division however, South Central Division racers can travel outside their NHRA division and score points toward national and divisional championships.

The following are the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Thunder in the Heartland event at Thunder Valley Raceway Park:

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:

Round 1
5) Brandon Lewis, Broken Arrow, Okla., 4.659, no speed def. 4) Diana Harker, Gainesville, Ga., 8.528, no speed

6) Chris Demke, Sunland, Calif., 4.561, no speed def. 3) David Brounkowski, Cypress, Texas, 10.471, no speed

2) Michael Manners, Willis, Texas, 18.263, no speed def. 7) Del Cox Jr., Downey, Calif., broke

8) Arthur Allen, Jacksonville, Fla., 4.584, no speed def. 1) Kimmelyn Buff Pesz, The Woodlands, Texas, 9.038, no speed

Semifinals
Lewis, 4.475, no speed def. Allen, 4.591, no speed
Manners, 4.445, no speed def. Demke, 4.542, no speed

Final
Manners, 4.455, no speed def. Lewis, 7.157, no speed

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR:

Round 1
1) Steve Harker, Gainesville, Ga., '05 Monte Carlo, 4.788, no speed def. 8) Lee Callaway, Baytown, Texas, '07 Mustang, 5.363, no speed

2) Roger Bateman, Calgary, Alb., '08 Mustang, 4.792, no speed def. 7) Kebin Kinsley, Kennedale, Texas, '03 Camaro, 4.884, no speed

3) Kirk Williams, Glenwood, Iowa, '02 Camaro, 4.809, no speed def. 6) Steve Burck, Corpus Christi, Texas, '02 Camaro, foul

5) Bob Alberty, Muskogee, Okla., '02 Camaro, 4.953, no speed def. 4) Burl Brown, Gainesville, Texas, '00 Avenger, foul

Semifinals
Bateman, 4.755, no speed def. Williams, 4.800, no speed
Harker, 4.736, no speed def. Alberty, 4.954, no speed

Final
Bateman, 4.763, no speed def. Harker, 4.824, no speed.

COMP ELIMINATOR

Scott Benham, La Grange, Texas, '05 Sunfire, E/SM, 9.641, 105.82 def. Kevin Self, Caddo, Okla., '32 Bantam, F/EA, 8.465, 120.40

SUPER STOCK

Jonathan Womack, Houston, '05 Cavalier, SS/BS, 8.915, 145.39 def. Gary Emmons, Friendswood, Texas, '96 Firebird, SS/JA, 10.376, 125.76

STOCK ELIMINATOR

Slate Cummings, Hammond, La., '94 Camaro, B/SA, 10.880, 105.63 def. Luke Siebert, Emporia, Kan.,

'69 Nova, H/SA, 11.512, 111.91

SUPER COMP

Billy Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, dragster, 8.918, 188.24 def. Richard Huffman, Burleson, Texas,

dragster, foul

SUPER GAS

Rustin Mayse, Frost, Texas, '02 Corvette, 9.939, 155.68 def. Heidi Robison, Gardner, Kan., '63 Corvette, 9.891, 160.22

SUPER STREET

Greg Parson, Whitehouse, Texas, '77 Nova, 10.903, 133.86 def. Craig Abbott, Strawn, Texas, '76 Vega Wgn, 10.876, 144.92

SPORTSMAN MOTORCYCLE

Larry Eperjesi, Lake Dallas, Texas, '00 Koenig, 7.881, 171.49 def. Alex Barmettler, Maplewood, Minn., '78 Kawasaki, 9.421, 135.19

TOP SPORTSMAN

Greg Tucker, Lindsay, Okla., '07 GTO, 4.439, 160.77 def. J. Lee Didier, Fort Smith, Ark., '08 GXP, foul

TOP DRAGSTER

Mark Grame, Overland Park, Kan., dragster, 4.430, 146.50 def. Steve Evans, Moore, Okla., dragster, 4.506, 153.87

-credit: ihra