Rigler along with Sean Belt, Chris White, David Purifoy, Howard Knowles, DoDad Burton, Anthony Whitfield and Donnie McSwain all could not better Reep’s 4.15 lap and the quick eight teams could now rest and look forward to some intense racing scheduled for the following day. Donnie McSwain’s “II N’Tense” car broke on his first qualifying lap and therefore posted no time. Lucky for some, as McSwain sat third in points and regularly occupies a top half qualifying position. Running this hard will obviously raise the potential for parts damage and unfortunately for Tim Hay and J.T. Heslink, qualifying parts damage left them too wounded to play on Sunday which bumped in Brad Rigler and Chris White from the number one and two alternate positions.
Though their weekends came to an end before they had planned, the Nitro Madness Iowa based team and driver Sean Belt enjoyed their weekend at Mo-Kan. “I have been involved with lots of different kinds of racing and sanctioning groups but there isn't any other that can match the fellowship and friendship of the OFAA,” said Belt, who was just one of many racers involved in a pre-race smack talk battle via the ofaa.net message board which, though all in good fun, just amped up the action on the track even more. Belt may have some “splainin” to do after being outrun by his two biggest internet rivals Chris White and J.T. Heslink in qualifying. Follow up on this topic at www.ofaa.net.
After equating the 4.00 qualifying only index set by OFAA rules the field was set and Sunday would bring a battle for bragging rights and those precious Royal Purple points between eight of the baddest boys on the block.
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Donnie Massey (Little Elm, Texas) – 4.031 (3.969)
2) Ted Elrod (Kansas City, Kansas) – 4.050 (3.950)
3) Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) – 4.057 (3.942)
4) John Broussard (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 4.07
5) J.T. Heslink (Sachse, Texas) – 4.08
6) Tim Hay (Burleson, Texas) – 4.142
7) Nick Poloson (Bulverde, Texas) – 4.145
8) Larry Reep (Austin, Texas) – 4.15
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9) Chris White (Mansfield, Texas) – 4.17
10) Brad Rigler (Heath, Texas) – 4.20
11) Sean Belt (Shawnee, Kansas) – 4.21
12) David Purifoy (Texarkana, Texas) – 4.27
13) Howard Knowles (Carthage, Missouri) – 4.29
14) DoDad Burton (Tyler, Texas) – 4.32
15) Anthony Whitfield (Elk City, Kansas) – 4.34
16) Donnie McSwain (Rockwall, Texas) – No Time
First Round Results:
(W) Donnie Massey (.147 rt) 4.19 at 173 mph vs. (L) Chris White (.077 rt) 4.72 at 113 mph
(W) Brad Rigler (.136 rt) 4.19 at 168 mph vs. (L) Ted Elrod (.575 rt) 4.05 at 174 mph
(W) Bobby Marriott (.114 rt) 3.98 at 188 mph vs. (L) Nick Poloson (.075 rt) 4.17 at 169 mph
(W) John Broussard (.059 rt) 13.31 at 30 mph vs. (L) Larry Reep (-.215 rt) 4.10 at 175 mph
Marriott duplicated his first round 3.98 at 188 mph lap to advance over Larry Reep who yet again improved to a 4.09 at 173 mph and posted a solid semi-final finish. Despite a .001 reaction time by Brad Rigler, his “Toxic” machine could not hang with the “Purple Haze” of Broussard in the semi. Broussard set his career best for the third time of the weekend with a 4.068 at 175 mph to punch out Rigler’s 4.31 at 164 mph.
Semi-Final Results:
(W) Bobby Marriott (.048 rt) 3.98 at 188 mph vs. (L) Larry Reep (.251 rt) 4.09 at 173 mph
(W) John Broussard (.031 rt) 4.06 at 175 mph vs. (L) Brad Rigler (.001 rt) 4.31 at 164 mph
Rigler’s weekend turned out well after being bumped into eliminations and posting semi-final finish. Reep laid down four straight laps in the low four second zone and looks to be back on track in the “Grim Reeper.” Broussard, who failed to qualify at this event last year, advanced to his first ever final round where he would face off with Mr. Marriott who is no stranger to final round racing. Your defending event and series champion, Marriott had the edge with three straight 3.98 passes heading into the final. Broussard had improved on three straight laps also, all career bests, and is known to be very tough on the tree. The time had come to decide a winner. Would Broussard win his first career event and set the record for the youngest OFAA event winner at the age of 19, or would Marriott take the win and re-gain his points lead over Nick Poloson with only two events left in the season?
Broussard cut his best reaction time of the event with a .013 and clicked off a best-ever pass of 4.062 at 174 mph to take the win over Marriott’s quicker but losing 3.98 at 188 mph. Marriott’s third straight 3.98/188 mph combo proved to be strong enough to outrun Broussard but the kid did him dirty on the tree and collected his first career win at Mo-Kan which surely sparked a huge Louisiana style celebration. A huge congrats goes out to the “Purple Haze” team led by crew chief and father of John, Kevin Broussard, who also can whip up the best batch of Cajun gumbo in the world.
John Broussard and team victorious.
Broussard jumped from eighth to sixth in points and now stood a chance to fight for the championship. “For a team that almost decided not to go because we didn’t think we would qualify to step up and run with the quickest field in OFAA history is a dream come true, but to be fortunate enough to win was the greatest dream of all. To have your competitors be happier for your win than they would be to win themselves is an even better feeling. This is the sign of the best racing organization in the world. We are overwhelmed to be associated with the OFAA and even more overwhelmed to be event winners,” said Broussard.
Nick Poloson had been atop the points standings for most of the season but had it taken away by the ever so strong Bobby Marriott who holds a minimal 15 point lead over Poloson with two events remaining. You get 10 points just to show up at an OFAA event, so there is no safety zone for either driver as they fight for the 2008 Royal Purple Outlaw Fuel Altered Champion title and big check from Shannon Tigue and series sponsor Royal Purple. Yet these two must also worry about the rest of the top 5 including Brad Rigler, Donnie Massey and Donny McSwain. McSwain currently sits in fifth, only 48 points out of first. The maximum number of points one can earn at an OFAA event is 50. This championship is up for grabs mathematically by eight different teams, but the only way to earn big points is by qualifying strong and winning rounds. In today’s OFAA series that is no easy feat. 2008 has seen five different winners in six events completed, and no single car has dominated the season. Marriott is atop the standings for now and must repeat his strong Mo-Kan performance in two weeks at Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas as the series hosts their Royal Purple Fall Nationals where 50 of those precious points will be up for grabs. It will all be settled at the Outlaw Fuel Altered Finals on October 18th where not only the series championship, but also the North Star Dragway Fuel Altered Championship will be decided. Be there!