ENNIS, Texas - The team from Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla., walked away with the team championship at the South Central Division's NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals. In an event that boasted 617 cars -- a record for the division -- Thunder Valley earned 117 points. The runner-up team from Paris Dragstrip in Texas scored 112 points. Just one point out of second, with a total of 111, was Houston Raceway Park. Last year's championship team from Texas Raceway in Kennedale, Texas, finished in fourth place.

"This team's just gotten tougher than a boot over the last few years," said a happy Jerry Bob Stevens, owner of Thunder Valley Raceway. "This is our second win in four years."

Track manager Marcia Crook echoed Stevens' sentiments and added, "I especially like taking this money from Houston Raceway Park track operator Gerald Critchfield," referring to the running $1 bet she and Critchfield have on the final point standings. "This same dollar has come with me here for the last three years and every year I get to take it home because Gerald loses the bet," she laughed.

In individual competition, Jason Rogers won in Super Pro, Jimmy Lewis won in Pro and Mark Scott won the No Electronics Street category. Jeromy Hefler won the No Electronics Quick class. In the two finals that were run on Saturday, in Motorcycle and High School, the winners were Larry Eperjesi and Chad Sandlin.

Rogers, representing the Texas Motorplex, beat renowned engine-builder Tommy Costales of Houston in the final. Former Super Gas national champion Lewis, who was representing Alamo Dragway, took out Eli Lopez from Paris Dragstrip, and in No E Street, flying the Thunder Valley colors, Scott won over Idalou Motorsports Park's Mike Mathis. In No E Quick, Kennedale Raceway's Hefler beat Freddie Gomez from International Raceway.

The winners in each of the four higher classes will compete against the winners from NHRA's other six division at the NHRA Automobile Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, Calif., in November. Each class will compete for a "winner-takes-all" purse of $5,000.

The Division holds a run-off between the winners in Super Pro and Pro to determine who will go to Pomona to vie for the National Championship. Rogers beat out Lewis for the honors.

The following are the final results from the South Central Division NHRA Summit Racing Finals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas:

SUPER PRO
Jason Roger, Tyler, Texas (Texas Motorplex), 8.082 seconds, 162.54 mph def.
Tommy Costales, Houston (Houston Raceway Park), 7.356, 172.18

PRO
Jimmy Lewis, Forney, Texas (Alamo Dragway), 11.422, 130.81 def.
Eli Lopez, Irving, Texas (Paris Dragstrip), 10.874, 120.09

NO ELECTRONICS STREET
Mark Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Thunder Valley Raceway), 13.098, 96.85
def. Mike Mathis, Lockney, Texas (Idalou Motorsports Park), 14.162, 92.79

NO ELECTRONICS QUICK
Jeromy Hefler, (Kennedale Raceway), 11.224, 115.69
def. Freddie Gomez, Relampago, Texas (International Dragway), 11.332, 116.33

RUN OFF - SUPER PRO & PRO
Rogers, 8.087, 158.64 def. Lewis, 11.385, 138.35

FINAL POINTS STANDINGS:
Thunder Valley Raceway Park, Noble, Okla., 117
Paris Dragstrip, Paris, Texas, 112
Houston Raceway Park, Houston, 111
Texas Raceway, Kennedale, Texas, 103
Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas, 100
State Capitol Dragway, Baton Rouge, La., 98
Alamo Dragway, San Antonio, Texas, 98
Idalou Motorsports Park, Lubbock, Texas, 90
Hallsville Raceway, Hallsville, Texas, 88
Texahoma Raceway, Walters, Okla., 78
No Problem Raceway, Belle Rose, La., 66
Twin City Dragway, Monroe, La., 48
International Racetrack, Edinburg, Texas, 32
Amarillo Dragway, Amarillo, Texas, 17
Memphis Motorsports Park, Memphis, Tenn., 2