Labor Day Weekend is a time to celebrate America. Recognizing hard work, freedom and the red white and blue. It's about barbecues, fishing trips and to any gear head on the planet it's about drag racing! Many of drag racing's elite do battle each Labor Day Weekend at the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis where memories are made and legends are born. Also each year, just a few hours south of Indy the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association's elite visits Mo-Kan Dragway to headline the 41st Annual Labor Day Weekend Classic. This event is always a favorite stop on the schedule for the association because the track is well managed, the fans are great and the event's overall vibe has everyone in a good mood and eager for some good ol' drag racing.

This marks the last points earning event of the season for the Outlaw Fuel Altereds and the championship battle between Larry Reep and Brad Rigler was still undecided. Any error would be disastrous in hopes of winning the championship for either team. Both have found success at Mo-Kan Dragway since both the 2004 and 2005 events resulted in a Reep vs. Rigler final round duel with Rigler coming out on top. Larry Reep's "Grim Reeper" team put together a stout first half of the season with two wins and three final round appearances to take a sizable points lead early on. Rigler's "Toxic" crew answered with three wins out of the next four races and four Meyer Enterprises Low Qualifier efforts heading into this weekend; proving they had a definite shot at defending their 2005 series championship. All the while, Reep was still packing on points posting two runner up finishes in this second half of the season and one number one qualifying effort to boot. The "Grim Reeper" team won the 2001 series championship and held a fourteen-point lead over Rigler with just this event remaining before a winner is decided. The pressure was on these two in a battle for a championship but don't forget the fourteen other cars that were ready to play spoiler and end the season with a Labor Day Weekend win.

A season high sixteen cars came to fight on Saturday night for one of the top eight qualifying positions that would advance them to eliminations on Sunday of this special two-day event. The stands were packed with screaming fans and at the tick of seven 'o clock the starter gave the call to fire up the first pair and we were underway with qualifying under the lights. Tim Hay's "High Voltage Hayride" team took the win at the World Fuel Altered Nationals just two weeks prior to this event at Eddyville, Iowa and looked good in hopes of closing out the season with another victory. A best of 4.22 at 168 mph for Hay landed him in the number four qualifying spot and earned him a first round match-up with Nick Poloson who held on to the bump spot with a 4.317 at 161 mph in Tom Wood's "Sundown Racing" altered. Gary Wheeler made the tow from Oklahoma with his "Slayer" Chevrolet powered beast with help from fellow racer and long time association member Dale "Lurch" Wilkens. Wheeler's best of a 4.31 at 161 mph slid him into the number seven spot earning him a dance with Travis Bouchey in first round. Bouchey's nice 4.18 at 171 mph earned him his best qualifying position of the season in third. Randy Baker's "Nitro Madness" machine held on to the number five spot with a tire hazing 4.24 at 159 mph which landed him a first round duel with the points leader and number one qualifier Larry Reep. Reep clicked off a stellar 4.11 at 172 mph in the second session to claim his second Meyer Enterprises Low Qualifier award this season and the top spot heading into eliminations.

Rigler qualified number two just six hundredths of a second behind with a 4.17 at 168 mph and would meet number six qualifier Bobby Marriott and his beautiful "Shockwave." The list of non-qualifiers included some big names. Number three in points Jack Heslink, 2002 series champion Donnie Massey, Lufkin winner Jack Hodgson, hometown racers Tom Butherus and Howard Knowles, veteran fuel altered pilot and Ford fanatic Bob Voirin who is back in the seat after a spectacular crash in Tulsa and Jimmy Todd. Todd's car broke a rear end housing allowing the rear axle and wheel to come off his racecar sending him into the wall. Todd's driving skills kept this situation from getting a lot uglier than it did but his day was done none the less. Massey's "Showtime" machine missed the field by just one hundredth of a second, ouch. The teams loaded up and headed for the hotel to get some much needed shut eye before the big first round on Sunday afternoon.

Final Qualifying Order:

1. Reep........4.11.....172mph
2. Rigler......4.17.....168mph
3. Bouchey.....4.18.....171mph
4. Hay.........4.22.....168mph
5. Baker.......4.24.....159mph
6. Marriott....4.25.....174mph
7. Wheeler.....4.313....135mph
8. Poloson.....4.317....161mph
9. Massey......4.32.....165mph
10. Leigh.......4.64.....145mph
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11. Heslink.....4.66.....150mph
12. Butherus....5.13.....126mph
13. Hodgson.....5.20.....128mph
14. Knowles.....6.28.....89mph
15. Voirin......6.59.....102mph
16. Todd........6.65.....68.61mph

(Tim Hay's "High Voltage Hayride" - Photo by Erik Anderson)

It's Sunday, it's raceday and the championship is on the line. It is now time to go hard or go home. Rigler and Marriott kicked off Sunday's event with side by side burnouts. Note that this event is run true elimination style with the winners from each round advancing hence there will be three rounds instead of the usual two. Marriott won this event in his 2003 championship season and knew he could end Rigler's hopes of the championship if he took out the "Toxic" car in this match up. Rigler needed every possible point he can get at this point since he was out-qualified by Reep and now fifteen points behind. Rigler got off the line first with a slight advantage and started drifting towards the centerline and spinning the tires allowing Marriott to start reeling him in. When the cars crossed the finish line the clocks read a 4.384 at 152 for Rigler and 4.388 at 171 mph for Marriott. Rigler took the win after almost crossing the centerline with a .003 margin of victory over the "Shockwave."

"It was close, it was real close. I saw him start to haze the tires and get towards the centerline. We didn't know who won until we got word at the top end of the track," said Marriott. If Marriott had won this round he would have jumped past Heslink for third in points and clinched the championship for Reep. Obviously that did not happen and Marriott had to settle for a fourth place finish in 2006 which is not bad out of twenty-two total teams.

Whew! Next up brought Larry Reep and Randy Baker in an all purple battle and re-match of the Tulsa final. Reep just saw Rigler advance in the pair ahead of him and knew he had to do the same to hold off "Toxic." Baker was no slouch in the other lane with his "Nitro Madness" Scott Gaulter tuned machine. Unfortunately for Reep his nerves got to him and he turned on the red bulb in his 4.12 at 171 mph effort handing the win to Baker who went 4.25 at 167 mph to advance. Reep's championship hopes were still alive but dwindling. Next up, Tim Hay laid down a 4.29 at 166 mph to put Nick Poloson and his 4.47 at 150 mph on the trailer. Poloson and Wood teamed up at the beginning of this season and finished a very respectable ninth their first year out. Wrapping up the first round was Travis Bouchey and Gary Wheeler. The flame throwing "Excitation" went low elapsed time of first round with a 4.11 at 180 mph to park Wheeler's nice 4.25 at 166 mph. Wheeler ended up rounding out the top ten in points. After an intense first round it was down to these four in the semi-finals: (2) Rigler vs. (4) Hay and (5) Baker vs. (3) Bouchey.

Rigler and Hay started off the semi's in a must win for Rigler. With his first round win Rigler was now just ten points behind Reep. If he wins this round he earns ten points and clinches the championship knowing he will earn at least five more points in the final. If he looses he earns only five points and Reep will win the championship. Point being, Rigler must win! Tim Hay laid down a nice 4.34 at 164 mph which simply was not enough to take out Toxic who went 4.16 at 165 to take the win and clinch the teams second Outlaw Fuel Altered championship. A points series which Larry Reep lead from the very first day of the season all the way through to loose on the very last day of the season. A bummer indeed for the "Grim Reeper" team but a second place finish in one of the closest championship battles in circuit history isn't too so bad! Rigler was marching on to his fifth final of the season seeming almost unstoppable at this point. That win marked his seventh elimination round win in a row at Mo-Kan since 2004.

Bouchey and Baker fired up to settle the other half to the semi-final round. Bouchey was forced to change a piston between rounds in his nitro burner and had Baker covered until half track when his rear end let go allowing Baker to advance to the final with a 4.22 at 169 mph. Bouchey coasted to a 5.08 at 98 mph and claimed eighth spot in the championship standings just behind Tim Hay who finished seventh. The final round paired up the champ Brad Rigler with lane choice over Randy Baker and the gang out of Iowa who in only their second race this season were making their second trip to the money round.

At this point with the championship locked up and tremendous weight off their shoulders the "Toxic" team focused in on not beating themselves and ending the season with a win and a "helluva" comeback story in clinching the championship. In the final, Baker left the line first but got loose early and started hazing the tires before getting sideways just before the traps. Rigler drove around him and never looked back to took the win with a 4.14 at 166 mph to defeat Baker's 4.52 at 143 mph.

First Round Results:

W Rigler......4.38@152 L Marriott...4.38@171
W Baker.......4.25@167 R/L Reep.....4.12@172
W Hay.........4.29@166 L Poloson....4.47@150
W Bouchey.....4.11@180 L Wheeler....4.25@166

Semi-Finals:

W Rigler......4.16@165 L Hay........4.34@164
W Baker.......4.22@169 L Bouchey....5.08@98

Final Round:

W Rigler......4.14@166 R/U Baker....4.52@143

For Baker and the "Nitro Madness" team their first Outlaw Fuel Altered victory is yet to come but for Rigler and the "Toxic" crew a well deserved third win in a row at Mo-Kan and more importantly a second Outlaw Fuel Altered Championship! Congratulations to all the "Toxic" team and fans on their win and thanks to every racer, fan and track who helped make the 2006 Outlaw Fuel Altered season one to remember. Don't forget there is another chance to catch the Outlaw Fuel Altereds in action at a non-points race at Abilene Drag Strip on October 28th!

Event Low Elapsed Time - Larry Reep, 4.11

Event Top Speed - Travis Bouchey, 180 mph

(Brad Rigler and the "Toxic" team. The 2006 Outlaw Fuel Altered Champions)