Houston Raceway Park hosted their 1st Annual Ultimate Chevy Challenge on September 17th and 18th and booked in the rambunctious Outlaw Fuel Altered Association to headline the event. The heat was blistering all weekend but once the motors fired up the focus switched from fun in the sun to battling down the Baytown quarter mile as the 2005 altered racing season starts to wind down and the points chase thickens.

Travis Bouchey kicked off first session of qualifying with a nice 6.47 at 205 mph in the "Excitation" Fiat. Tim Hay wrestled the "High Voltage Hayride" to a 6.68 at 195 mph along side Bobby Marriott's 7.06 at 179 mph. Louisiana racer Kevin Broussard clicked off a 7.00 at 179 mph with Gary Wheeler in the other lane who ran a 7.99 at 182 mph. Points leader Brad Rigler went 6.95 at 206 mph to place him in the top half of the field after the first session and Scott Essmeier thundered to a stout 6.06 and had the chutes out before the finish line dropping his speed to only 157 mph.

Second session of qualifying was witness to some great performances as expected. Donnie Massey took his "Showtime" altered to the number three qualifying spot with a 6.51 at 206 mph. Tim Hay shaved a few hundredths off his first session elapsed time with a 6.65 at 197 mph. Rigler's "Toxic" lit up the scoreboards with a 6.70 at 206 mph and Jim Pruett bumped into the field in the six spot with a 6.87 at 183 mph. Larry Reep had the "Grim Reeper" all over the track wide open down the quarter mile on a white-knuckle pass. Reep tagged a cone as he fought the car off the centerline, which coincidentally lodged itself into chassis of the "Cone Shark" in the other lane. Reep narrowly missed contact with Pruett then went through the traps with a 6.65 and tagged the right hand guardrail just past the finish line. The chutes blossomed and he brought the car to a safe stop with minimal damage, but failed to make the field. The Oklahoma based "Slayer" team of Gary Wheeler, second in points, discovered a broken lifter as the crew prepared their 526 Chevrolet for the second session which unfortunately sidelined them for the rest of the event. Essmeier skipped the second session and his 6.06 held up as low elapsed time and he took his first career Meyer Enterprises Low Qualifier Award.

Final Qualifying Order:

1) Scott Essmeier - 6.06
2) Travis Bouchey - 6.47
3) Donnie Massey - 6.51
4) Tim Hay - 6.65
5) Brad Rigler - 6.70
6) Jim Pruett - 6.87
7) Kevin Broussard - 7.00
8) Bobby Marriott - 7.06
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9) Gary Wheeler - 7.99
10) Larry Reep - 8.02
11) LaDonna Caulk - 8.77

The first round pairings were as follows: Essmeier vs. Rigler, Bouchey vs. Pruett, Massey vs. Broussard, and Hay vs. Marriott.

The first round got underway Sunday afternoon with Hay and Marriott in a great side by side match. Hay was off the line first and thundered to a 6.64 at 199 mph almost breaking into the 200 mph zone. Marriott was right along side with a loosing 6.65 at 202 mph, his quickest pass of the weekend. Bouchey sent the "Cone Shark" back to deeper water with a 6.54 at 206 mph. Pruett had his hands full as his 'shark' searched for prey and found two finish line cones to eat on his 6.70, 182 mph effort. Essmeier lost the blower belt just before the finish line in his battle against Rigler but he still took the win with a 6.45 at 163 mph over Rigler's 6.76 at 164 mph. Massey took out the "Purple Haze" machine of Broussard with a 6.68 at 189 mph to a 7.09 at 187 mph. The quickest two winners, Essmeier and Bouchey, advanced to the final.

First Round Results:

(W) Hay (.141 rt, 6.64 at 199 mph) vs. (L) Marriott (.170 rt, 6.65 at 202 mph)
(W) Bouchey (.067 rt, 6.54 at 206 mph) vs. (L) Pruett (.081 rt, 6.70 at 182 mph)
(W) Essmeier (.133 rt, 6.45 and 163 mph) vs. (L) Rigler (.045 rt, 6.76 at 164 mph)
(W) Massey (.104 rt, 6.68 at 189 mph) vs. (L) Broussard (.029 rt, 7.09 at 187 mph)

Bouchey, in his third final this season, was looking to make a jump in the points standings with the leader on the trailer and Essmeier was in search of his first altered victory. Bouchey fired up and in the other lane Essmeier had problems in the water box and shutoff before the burnout sending Bouchey on a solo victory pass. Bouchey launched hard, went into tire shake and coasted to a 8.34 at 133 mph winning effort.

Unfortunately the side by side race that usually makes up an Outlaw Fuel Altered final round was highlighted by Bouchey's spectacular hide blazing half track burnout. With his third win of the season Bouchey and the "Excitation" team jumped to second in points just two behind Rigler with two events left this season. The Outlaw Fuel Altereds are heading to Abilene Drag Strip on October 1st for their second to last event of the year. The season is winding down, but the action on the track is getting even hotter as a close points battle will be decided in the final two events. Congratulations to the “Excitation” team on their win and a special thanks to Bobby and Nancy Marriott for their efforts. Also, thanks as always to Wizard’s Warehouse and Meyer Enterprises for their support.