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The cackle from a 427 Chevrolet on nitro could only mean one thing; the “High Voltage Hayride” was in the house! Hay had not been back in the car since his accident here just a few months before and decided to run a solo on his first pass back in the cockpit. The car might have looked a little different with an all primer paint job and a few stickers, but the performance was still there. Hay laid down a mammoth 4.10 at 176 mph as his wife and crew celebrated with excitement and I’m sure an overwhelming feeling of relief. The Hayride is back, Jack. (No pun intended Mr. Hodgson.)
The “Thrill Factor” of Wayne Lewis and “Shockwave” of Marriott rolled out next with side by side burnouts. Lewis and Herb Whisnant’s “Thrill Factor” team enjoyed a great weekend at the last event in Missouri at Mo-Kan Dragway after setting their career best pass and opened their weekend clicking off a 4.41 at 155 mph on their first lap at Denton. Marriott stole the spotlight on this pass as he clicked off yet another four-o pass with a 4.02 at 187 mph to jump to the top of the pack. DoDad Burton laid down a 4.48 at 156 mph to get in the show with Dale “Lurch” Wilkens in the other lane behind the wheel of Bob Voirin’s “All American” fuel burner. Wilkens was out of the throttle early and had his hands full at the top end after a valve cover gasket let go, oiling the left slick as he crossed the finish line with a 5.24 at 103 mph. Lurch is no rookie behind the wheel and kept the car off the wall but the “All American” was done for the evening with engine damage beyond a quick repair.
Jack Hodgson went 4.37 at only 152 mph in the “Southern Outlaw,” which has been in the threes earlier this season. Brad Rigler (shown) clicked off a nice 4.15 at 171 mph in the “Toxic” machine. Rigler was the Meyer Enterprises low qualifier here in July with a 4.00 and looked good after their first lap off the trailer. Travis Bouchey came out and was out of the throttle early and still coasted to a 4.13 at 139 mph to put him third behind Tim Hay after the one session.
Donnie Massey brought out his new nitro combination and went 4.71 at 150 mph on his first pass on fuel in the “Showtime” machine and John Tappan grabbed the bump spot at 5.07 at 134 mph after the first session. Chris White’s “White Lightning” was in attendance but unable to compete due to a transmission issue discovered prior to first session.
Back in the pits, Wayne Lewis and the “Thrill Factor” team discovered an event ending mechanical failure and loaded up early after their 4.41 had them solidly in the field. Chris White and team along with Kevin Broussard and the help of a generous fellow racer put in a big effort to get their transmission fixed but ran into some issues on the warm-up. The “White Lightning” pitched the blower belt, which smacked the arm of Kevin Broussard resulting in a very quick trip to the Denton hospital. The good news is that it was not broken but Broussard will be hurting for a while. White purchased the motor out of Broussard’s “Purple Haze” machine which you can expect that car to be back in action in 2008. We all want to wish Kevin a quick recovery back home in Louisiana.