NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Jeff Hefler won his third Summit Racing Series national championship and was joined in victory by Timothy Smith, Chad Isley, and Curtis Spracklin as the yearlong competition raced to a conclusion at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

The quartet of winners, all champions at the divisional level, battled drivers from other regions of the country in eight-vehicle fields to win bracket racing’s greatest honor.

Hefler, who also won national championships in 2010 and 2013, drove his Fort Worth, Texas-based ’65 Chevy to the Summit Sportsman victory, defeating Californian Willie Hoefer and his ’94 Camaro in the final round.

Isley, a former Summit Motorcycle national champion who shared the victory stage with Hefler in 2013, collected his second crown, this time on four wheels with his Charleston, Ill.-based ’67 Chevy when he bested Wisconsin runner Steve Stockton in the Summit Pro E.T. class.

Smith, of Roanoke, Ala., won his first national championship by driving his dragster to victory in the Summit Super Pro class, besting Texan Max McGlothin and his ’27-T Ford in the final round.

Spracklin made his second trip to the National Championship pay off when he won the Summit Motorcycle title aboard his ’05 Athanis, besting Kansas-based racer Michael Shelton and his Hayabusa in the final round.

Summit Racing Equipment's Jim Greenleaf congratulated the 2016 National Champions.

Super Pro winner Timothy Smith

Pro E.T. winner Chad Isley

Sportsman winner Jeff Hefler

Motorcycle winner Curtis Spracklin