The Ronnie Hobbs World Finals at The Double Down in T-Town did not disappoint despite a waterlogged Saturday. Fans from across the Midwest flocked to Tulsa Raceway Park and Tulsa Speedway to watch the first-ever Double Down, merging ASCS 360 Wing Sprints and drag racing into one event with action sprawling over the entire complex.
The 2025 champions tell the story of family and teamwork, as Aaron Wells and Tyler Wells brought home the Stroud Safety Pro Mod and Compressed Air Supercharging Top Sportsman championships for Wells Motorsports. Pennington Motorsports completed the first-ever “trifecta” as they brought home Race Star Wheels Top Dragster, Zimmerman Sportsman Junior Dragster, and Race Star Wheels Pro Junior Dragster with Keith Youngblood, Jovee Brundidge, and Karlee Brundidge, respectively. Dave Pierce was the only driver not on the Wells or Pennington crew to win a 2025 championship, grabbing his third consecutive Pro 4.20 championship.
On Friday, the Ronnie Hobbs Memorial $10,000 Shootout was fielded by the top 8 qualifiers after two rounds of qualifying, leading to a stout field of Pro Mods including Bob Glenn, Kallee Mills, Aaron Wells, Keith Haney, Shawn Ellington, Billy Banaka, Tommy Cunningham, and Rian Hayward. After rain delayed the final round of qualifying until Saturday afternoon, the field finalized itself and the final round of the shootout featured two big names in the world of drag racing, Mills vs. Ellington. For the $10,000 paycheck and the amazing Kenzie Pierce-made trophy, it was the 187 Customs crew who pulled off the shootout victory in front of packed stands at TRP.
It was Mills who got the last laugh, however. She took home $20,000 and her first-ever Pro Mod win after dew point and downpours moved racing to Friday. “Scarlett” bested Aaron Wells and became the only Pro Mod to dip into the 3.50s all weekend with an impressive 3.590 at 208 mph.
Wells was still a happy camper on Sunday night, however, relishing his second MWDRS Stroud Safety Pro Mod Championship alongside his son’s first big car championship in Compressed Air Supercharging Top Sportsman. Also joining the Wells’ in victory lane was Olivia “Danger” Mayer, in a Jr. Dragster formerly piloted by Tyler himself, after a final-round win over Reid Clocker in Race Star Wheels Pro Junior. Aaron went to the finals, but it was a round one loss by Jacob McNeal that sealed him into the title on Sunday morning.
In J&A Service Funny Car, Jim Whiteley took home his first MWDRS championship and his second win of the season with a final-round win over Lance VanHauen. Whiteley consistently found himself in the 3.50s in each round of eliminations, setting himself up as the fastest car on property through the weekend.
Champion Auto Lift Pro 4.20 was locked into a pure tie following qualifications, leaving Derrol Hubbard and Dave Pierce to duke it out on Sunday. Pierce held the tiebreaker, but left nothing to doubt as he clinched the championship in an unceremonious fashion, taking a first-round bye to lock it in after Hubbard was dispatched by Rich Smith. This is Pierce’s third straight Pro 4.20 championship, a feat only matched by Rod Moore in Top Sportsman from 2022-2024.
Compressed Air Supercharging Top Sportsman saw LODRS D5 points leader Michael Chitty take home his fifth victory in as many seasons with the MWDRS. He bested Jeremy Maples in the finals, dialing a 4.26 and crossing with a 4.28 at 165 mph. Chitty had a second round re-run against Tyler Wells, saying that he “wanted to beat (Tyler) the right way. I had to get a win against him.”
Race Star Wheels Top Dragster saw Lloyd McClure take a finals win over Tim White. McClure had to take out 2025 MWDRS champion Keith Youngblood in the semis en route to victory. Youngblood was quoted as saying prior to the event that he “only wanted to impress Wade (Pennington),” and it would be safe to assume Wade had a smile on his face as Keith clinched Pennington Motorsports’ third championship this year.
In Zimmerman Sportsman Jr, it was Brooklyn Magee taking the win with a double breakout in the finals. Jovee Brundidge was eliminated in the first round with the championship already clinched as she celebrated with her Pennington family.
In other news, Washington native Ryan Griffin laid down his personal best E.T. and MPH mark on Saturday during qualifying. Ryan Bush grabbed what he called a highlight win of his racing career thus far in round 1 when he tree’d the talented Billy Banaka to claim a 16 seed over 1 seed win in “El Chapo.” Rod Oxford and John Gentry made their Pro Mod debuts in Tulsa as well. Oxford drove the D-Bar-D Racing Camaro in lieu of longtime driver Ed Thornton, and Gentry debuted his new custom-built machine as he spools up for what should be an exciting 2026 campaign. Tommy Cunningham returned to MWDRS, and after playing coy about “trying to get up to speed and hopefully be in the show on Friday,” Cunningham went to the semifinals of both the $10,000 shootout and the main race after qualifying second overall.
The Summit Racing Equipment Midwest Drag Racing Series will be back in 2026 for its 10th anniversary season and promises to be bigger, badder, and better than ever. The schedule will be released shortly on all platforms.
Article by Luke Clevenger
This story was originally published on October 22, 2025. 
The post Families Win MWDRS Championships at Ronnie Hobbs World Finals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
