Competitors and spectators traveled from all over the United States & Canada to converge upon the Texas Motorplex to see first hand who would be crowned NHRDA 2012 World Champion.
    The competition was fierce and between the raw carnage on the track and the  2 hour rain delay it looked as the World Finals would be in jepoardy of not finishing,  but the sun came back out and the Motorplex crew got the track dried and we finished the World Finals just in time for the next rain storm and night fall.

Marty Thacker

Top Diesel – World Champion
Marty Thacker pulled up in the final round against Jeff Dean in the Top Diesel class. Both drivers had been on their game all day and Thacker had already broken the world record in qualifying with his 6.69 at 216.27 mph.
Dean had the better light off the line but Thacker and the Hypermax team had the better car and he ran a 6.79 at 211.86 mph. With that run in the final he set the new Top Diesel World Record at 6.79 at 211.86 mph and Won his fist NHRDA World Champion Title.
Congrats to Marty and Team Hypermax !

Michael Pliska

Pro Stock – World Champion  
Michael Pliska is no stranger at both winning and driving the Dirty Max and he was up for the challenge this past weekend at the Motorplex. Brad owner of the Dirty Max stated he had made several changes to the truck and hoped it would break into the 7s.
Michael fought threw the field and the pro stock final was down to  Pliska and Steve Royalty. Pliska had a great reaction time and drove away with the win as Royalty had some issues and he slowed at half track while Team Dirty Max drove to their 1st World Champion Title.
Congrats to Michael , Brad and Team Dirty Max !

Philip Palmer

Pro Street – World Champion
Philip Palmer and Team Green came to Texas in hopes of being the first ever 2 Time World Champion!
Pro Street was shaping up to be one of the best final rounds of the day.  Philip Palmer had already run a 9.11 (quicker than the current record) and Payton Hugie had just clicked off a 9.20 in the semi-finals.  Hugie though had some mechanical issues on that run and had to tow the truck back to the pits and they were frantically trying to get it started for the Finals.
Philip Palmer and Team Green decided they did not want to win Worlds by default so they decided to wait for Hugie and Team H&S to get their truck running.  By a miracle the H&S truck fired up and as they sped down the staging lanes towards Philip Palmer , Mother Nature said sorry boys and dumped rain for the next 10 minutes as the sun went down upon the Motorplex. After looking at the radar and realizing another big storm was minutes away President Randy Cole was making plans to finish the race on Sunday , then Payton Hugie pulled him aside and said their motor was severally hurt and that they didn’t really have a chance to beat Team Green , Plus since Philip had been such a great competitor and gentleman to wait for him that he wanted to do the gentleman thing and return the favor and let Palmer stage the truck and win his Second Pro Street World Championship.
Congrats to Philip and Team Green !
 
Roger Smith

Super Street – World Champion
Roger Smith drove over 40 hours from Alberta Canada in hopes his Ford would be competitive in the most brutal class in the NHRDA Super Street.  The class had 2 former world champions and 4 previous national record holders.  This class had some many heavy hitters no one knew who to put their money on as we headed into eliminations.
In the Finals Roger faced off against one of the top racers and defending World Champion Idaho, Rob Coddens.  Coddens got off the line first with the better reaction time, but Smith had the better truck and he drove around Coddens to pick up the World Finals win and the title of Super Street World Champ.  Smith ran a 10.19 at 133 mph to Coddens 10.78 at 143.57 mph.  Congrats to Roger Smith and I bet that 40 hour drive home wont be so bad as you look at your World Champion Trophy!

Dave Bolwar

Super Diesel – World Champion
Dave Bolwar was another competitor that had to drive a long distance and had plenty of time to think while he drove all the way from Boise, ID on what his game plan was going to be at the World Finals.
Dave decided he was going to cut good lights and run the number and all day Saturday that is what he did as he took out the top competitors in the nation.
Then in the finals he came face to  face with  Ryan Milliken from Navarre, FL at the World Finals in Dallas, TX, that is meeting in the middle.  Their reaction times were almost identical off the starting line, but Bolwar ran closer to the 11.90 index with a 11.95 to Milliken’s 11.99.
Congrats to Dave Bolwar and your 1st World Championship Title !

Verlon Southwick

Sportsman – World Champion
Verlon Southwick looked like he was going to wrap up the National Points Championship in the sportsman category as he needed to win just 2 rounds to clinch the points championship while he was also trying to win the World Championship.
Thoughout the day you could see why Verlon was leading the National points chase as he was deadly on both his reaction and dial times as he won round after round and did secure the national title by 1/4 final round action.
The Sportsman World Championship came down to a final round appearance by the 2012 National Champion Verlon Southwick and George Peppard. Southwick had the advantage off the line and that is all he needed to take the win. Southwick becomes the first ever driver to win both the World Championship and the National Championship in the same season.
Congrats to Verlon Southwick !