Written by Mary Lendzion
Photos by NMCA Staff
Haley Burkhammer has had a lot of exciting life-changing events in the last several years.
She married the love of her life, Matthew Burkhammer, and they welcomed a beautiful baby, Elena Grace.
While she took some time off from racing, she returned to Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin Dickey Parts Center on a full-time basis in 2022, and her goal was to make all six races on the annual tour and muscle to a championship.
Her grandfather and fellow racer, Ronnie Hackelton, wanted to make sure she was equipped for an exceptional season, so he suggested they part with the orange Camaro she was competing in, and put together a blue CRC Camaro with a class-spec DR525 crate engine and a Turbo 400 transmission built by Dave Klaput from Proformance Racing Transmissions. Burkhammer agreed.
The team was ready to rev in time for the first race of 2022, the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines in March at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. There, Burkhammer qualified in the fourth spot with a 10.05 in and won the first round of eliminations with a 9.98 and exited in the second round of eliminations with a 10.01.
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Burkhammer, of Arkansas, set the pace in qualifying with a 9.81 at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport in April at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina, and proceeded to win the first round of eliminations with a 9.84. She posted a 9.88 on a solo pass in the second round of eliminations, and from there, she finished as the runner against Glenn Pushis with a 9.87. Making that race even more memorable, she set an elapsed-time class record with a 9.819.
“At the beginning of the year, we struggled with the new car, trying to get it competitive,” said Burkhammer. “We were way off when we went to Bradenton and we had to come home and work on the car until the next race. Then at Rockingham, we started off great but then the car fell off in the final round of eliminations and we didn’t know why. Pop (Ronnie Hackelton) came home with the car and immediately found the problem and fixed it, and from then on we had a car that was capable of winning.”
Burkhammer was ready to roll for the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing presented by Fuelab in May at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois, where she qualified in the second spot with a 9.96, won the first round of eliminations with a 9.93, broke the beams on a solo pass in the second round of eliminations and exited in the third round of eliminations with 9.96.
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Her race season really started to heat up from there, as she set the pace again, this time with a 9.92, at the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival presented by TorqStorm Superchargers in July at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan. She won the first round of eliminations with a 10.03 and the following month, she won that rain-delayed race, which was completed during qualifying at the NMCA All-American Nationals presented by Sick the Magazine in August at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio, with a 9.98 over Glenn Pushis. Adding to the excitement in Ohio, she led qualifying with a 9.92, won the first round of eliminations with a 9.97 and later lapped to her second win of the weekend, this time with a 9.96 against Glenn Pushis.
Showing zero signs of slowing down, Burkhammer led qualifying with a 9.83 at the NMCA World Street Finals presented by Chevrolet Performance in September at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana, and won the first and second rounds of eliminations with a 10.00 and 9.88, and earned another trip to the NMCA Winner’s Circle with a 9.89 against Kevin Lumsden.
On top of all of that, she emerged as the 2022 Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin Dickey Parts Center champion.
“I couldn’t accurately put into words what it means to me to finally win a championship,” said Burkhammer. “I knew that if I won the second round at Indy, I would win the championship, so when I saw that win light come on, I think I screamed and also had a few tears, especially when I saw my daughter, Elena, who was clapping and saying ‘Yay, momma’. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this season. It means the world to me to finally say that I am an NMCA champion. First and most importantly, I would like to thank my Pop, Ronnie Hackelton, for building me a fast and competitive car, and giving me my best chance to win a championship. He is the best crew chief and supporter I could ask for. I would also like to thank my husband and daughter for letting mommy live her dream of driving race cars, my mom and Nan for being at every race and always supporting me, Gene Rogers, who helps Pop work on my car, and a big thanks to Dave for building me an awesome transmission and to Chevrolet Performance and Scoggin Dickey for supporting our class.”
Please watch for upcoming stories about each of our champions on NMCADigital.com and RacePagesDigital.com as well as in Fastest Street Car magazine.
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Photos by NMCA Staff
Haley Burkhammer has had a lot of exciting life-changing events in the last several years.
She married the love of her life, Matthew Burkhammer, and they welcomed a beautiful baby, Elena Grace.
While she took some time off from racing, she returned to Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin Dickey Parts Center on a full-time basis in 2022, and her goal was to make all six races on the annual tour and muscle to a championship.
Her grandfather and fellow racer, Ronnie Hackelton, wanted to make sure she was equipped for an exceptional season, so he suggested they part with the orange Camaro she was competing in, and put together a blue CRC Camaro with a class-spec DR525 crate engine and a Turbo 400 transmission built by Dave Klaput from Proformance Racing Transmissions. Burkhammer agreed.
The team was ready to rev in time for the first race of 2022, the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines in March at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. There, Burkhammer qualified in the fourth spot with a 10.05 in and won the first round of eliminations with a 9.98 and exited in the second round of eliminations with a 10.01.
Burkhammer, of Arkansas, set the pace in qualifying with a 9.81 at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport in April at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina, and proceeded to win the first round of eliminations with a 9.84. She posted a 9.88 on a solo pass in the second round of eliminations, and from there, she finished as the runner against Glenn Pushis with a 9.87. Making that race even more memorable, she set an elapsed-time class record with a 9.819.
“At the beginning of the year, we struggled with the new car, trying to get it competitive,” said Burkhammer. “We were way off when we went to Bradenton and we had to come home and work on the car until the next race. Then at Rockingham, we started off great but then the car fell off in the final round of eliminations and we didn’t know why. Pop (Ronnie Hackelton) came home with the car and immediately found the problem and fixed it, and from then on we had a car that was capable of winning.”
Burkhammer was ready to roll for the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing presented by Fuelab in May at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois, where she qualified in the second spot with a 9.96, won the first round of eliminations with a 9.93, broke the beams on a solo pass in the second round of eliminations and exited in the third round of eliminations with 9.96.
Her race season really started to heat up from there, as she set the pace again, this time with a 9.92, at the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival presented by TorqStorm Superchargers in July at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Michigan. She won the first round of eliminations with a 10.03 and the following month, she won that rain-delayed race, which was completed during qualifying at the NMCA All-American Nationals presented by Sick the Magazine in August at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio, with a 9.98 over Glenn Pushis. Adding to the excitement in Ohio, she led qualifying with a 9.92, won the first round of eliminations with a 9.97 and later lapped to her second win of the weekend, this time with a 9.96 against Glenn Pushis.
Showing zero signs of slowing down, Burkhammer led qualifying with a 9.83 at the NMCA World Street Finals presented by Chevrolet Performance in September at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana, and won the first and second rounds of eliminations with a 10.00 and 9.88, and earned another trip to the NMCA Winner’s Circle with a 9.89 against Kevin Lumsden.
On top of all of that, she emerged as the 2022 Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin Dickey Parts Center champion.
“I couldn’t accurately put into words what it means to me to finally win a championship,” said Burkhammer. “I knew that if I won the second round at Indy, I would win the championship, so when I saw that win light come on, I think I screamed and also had a few tears, especially when I saw my daughter, Elena, who was clapping and saying ‘Yay, momma’. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this season. It means the world to me to finally say that I am an NMCA champion. First and most importantly, I would like to thank my Pop, Ronnie Hackelton, for building me a fast and competitive car, and giving me my best chance to win a championship. He is the best crew chief and supporter I could ask for. I would also like to thank my husband and daughter for letting mommy live her dream of driving race cars, my mom and Nan for being at every race and always supporting me, Gene Rogers, who helps Pop work on my car, and a big thanks to Dave for building me an awesome transmission and to Chevrolet Performance and Scoggin Dickey for supporting our class.”
Please watch for upcoming stories about each of our champions on NMCADigital.com and RacePagesDigital.com as well as in Fastest Street Car magazine.