"Toxic" Conquers Caddo Mills
Redline Raceway - May 12th, 2007
Event #2 of 9
It’s hard to find a much better place to spend a spring time Saturday night than at the drag strip watching blown fuel altereds battle down a local eighth mile drag strip. For the fifth consecutive year Redline Raceway in Caddo Mills, Texas hosted the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association at the Prestige Ford Spring Nationals. Coming off a very emotional win at Shreveport, Bobby Marriott and the “Shockwave” team were ready to mix it up hoping for their third win in a row but with sixteen other fuel altered teams on the grounds that would be no easy task. The Prestige Ford Spring Nationals also featured the Southwest Junior Fuel Association who put on a great show of Jr.Fuel dragster racing for the fans who were packed in the stands and ready for an outstanding dose of nostalgic drag racing action.
Mitch King had won at least one event each season since 2001 until last year when he failed to compete, but King made the tow from Galveston Island to see if he could take home a win in 2007. Tom and Phyllis Butherus and their “Rude Rat” made the trip from Goddard, Kansas but the long distance traveler award goes to Mark Jones and crew who came all the way from Tampa, Florida and brought along a case of big juicy Florida oranges to share with the other racers who weren’t nibbling on salt water taffy courtesy of Mitch King and the La King’s Confectionery. Most notable was the visit from Jack Heslink who was injured during a warm-up accident at his home earlier this year. It was great to see Jack back at the track again!
As the evening skies lit up with orange, red and yellow hues the call went out to fire em’ up. After two qualifying sessions the quickest ten cars will be paired up for first round eliminations and the two quickest winners from first round come back for the final, a process the OFAA calls “Outlaw Eliminator”. Eighteen year old Louisiana native John Broussard wheeled the “Purple Haze” car to a 4.62 at 151 mph in only his second event behind the wheel of his father’s car. The “Southern Outlaw” machine from Waco driven by Jack Hodgson clicked off a very strong 4.17 at 176 mph to set the pace. Bobby Marriott laid down a very nice 4.23 at 180 mph in his cackling fuel burner along side Brad Rigler’s 4.26 at 166 mph. Rigler had his hands full at the top end as the car skated toward the guardrail as he crossed the finish line. Mitch King’s “Bone Bucket” hiked the front end and carried it until he lifted at 500 feet and it came down with a puff of white smoke as King tripped the clocks with a blistering 4.01 at only 153 mph. Terry Tanner and Tim Hay lined up their cackling nitro machines next and went 5.44 and 4.32 respectively. Travis Bouchey’s “Excitation” Fiat went a 4.26 and Larry Reep lit up the scoreboards with a nice 4.20 at 171 mph to get solidly in the field. Jimmy Todd, Wayne Lewis, John Tappan among others all had problems and had one pass left to get in the show.
As qualifying continued in second session anticipation set in for yet another thrilling night of fuel altered action under the lights. The qualifying ladder got a shuffle as teams started to find their combinations and laid down some nice runs. Hay’s “High Voltage Hayride” stepped up to a 4.25 at 171 mph to secure the seventh spot. Bouchey had a nice pass going until the car started skating around at the top end forcing him to do a quick pedal job and still ran a very stout 4.13 at 155 mph to put him third. King skipped the session but did make the first ever pass in the Henry Gutierrez owned Jungle Jim Camaro Nostalgia Funny Car. At the hit the car immediately went into a wheel stand and King brought it back down then ran into even more issues when the steering wheel fell off the car. King wrestled the car safely down to the big end and I’m sure will address the issues and be back behind the wheel of the Jungle Jim car this summer. King’s 4.01 elapsed time held up for the number one qualifying position. Tim Hay was the winner of the Meyer Enterprises Qualifying Bonus and the Marriott Progressive Qualifying bonus went to Travis Bouchey for qualifying second at the second event of the season.
(Travis Bouchey and Wayne Lewis)
Final Qualifying Order:
1. Mitch King - 4.01 @ 153.37
2 Travis Bouchey - 4.13 @ 155.93
3. Jack Hodgson - 4.17 @ 176.68
4. Larry Reep - 4.20 @ 171.95
5. Donny McSwain - 4.231 @ 171.89
6. Bobby Marriott - 4.237 @ 180.07
7. Tim Hay - 4.25 @ 171.17
8. Brad Rigler - 4.26 @ 166.17
9. Donnie Massey - 4.461 @ 156.41
10. Tom Butherus - 4.467 @ 165.62
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11. Wayne Lewis - 4.60 @ 147.93
12. John Broussard - 4.62 @ 151.57
13. Mark Jones - 4.87 @ 146.25
14. Terry Tanner - 5.44 @ 84.43
15. Nick Poloson - 5.93 @ 73.76
16. John Tappan - 6.54 @ 98.64
17. Jimmy Todd - 14.69 @ 30.10
Thank god for nitro fumes. The Texas mosquitoes were out in full force as first round got underway but with Bobby Marriott and Mitch King both pumping out fumes of above 80% nitro no mosquito had a chance. Both cars got out of shape and the drivers had their hands full as they fought for one of the two quickest winning elapsed times and the ticket to the final. King left the red bulb on at the starting line and clicked off a 4.69 along side Marriott who was out of power before the finish line after kicking the rods out of his machine but took the win with a 4.67 at only 114 mph. Whoa! McSwain took out Butherus with a 4.30 and Hay enjoyed a bye run when Bouchey couldn’t make the call. Hay laid down a 4.34 at 166 mph which earned him a ticket to the final against McSwain with just two pairs left to run. Too bad Reep and Rigler were two of the four cars still waiting to run. Reep stole Hay’s ticket to the final when he took out Massey with a 4.23 at 169 mph. Rigler denied McSwain a final round appearance when he held off a hard charging Jack Hodgson with a very strong 4.14 at 162 mph to Hodgson’s 4.18 at 166 mph. This was the quickest and closest race of the night no doubt. Reep’s 4.23 and Rigler’s 4.14 advanced them to the final round which was not a new trip for these two teams who battled down to the elimination rounds of the last event last season to decide a champion and have met in many a final round.
(Mitch King in the "Bone Bucket")
First Round Results:
(W) Bobby Marriott (4.67 at 114.83 mph) vs. (L) Mitch King (4.69 at 119.84 mph) (Foul)
(W) Donny McSwain (4.30 at 149.40 mph) vs. (L) Tom Butherus (11.11 at 38.13 mph)
(W) Tim Hay (4.34 at 166.54 mph) vs. (L) Travis Bouchey (Broke)
(W) Larry Reep 4.23 at 169.30 mph) vs. (L) Donnie Massey (4.36 at 161.06 mph)
(W) Brad Rigler (4.14 at 162.40 mph) vs. (L) Jack Hodgson 4.18 at 166.54 mph)
Rigler and the “Toxic” team were advancing to their second final in a row at Caddo Mills and looking to repeat their win after defeating Gary Wheeler Jr. last season. Larry Reep’s “Grim Reeper” team out of Austin advanced to their second final in a row still without the familiar smiling face of crew chief Charlie “Tuna” Duncan who’s condition is thankfully improving. Time was becoming an issue as the clock approached 1 A.M. The Jr. Fuel final saw Keith Breazeal of Houston take his second win in a row over Ricky Marshall who smoked the tires at the hit. Now it was time for the final pass of the night to see who would take home the victory in a battle of two of the best in the business. These two would be squaring off in the final round for the fifth time in history with Rigler ahead 4-1. Well, make that 5-1. Rigler red lit with a .354 handing the win to Reep who ran into troubles immediately at the hit and shot across the track narrowly missing the christmas tree and crossed the centerline handing the win back of to Rigler per the first or worst rule. Rigler clicked off a 4.29 at 167 mph to take his third win in the last five events dating back to last season.
Final Round Results:
(W) Brad Rigler (4.29 at 167.04 mph)(Foul) vs. (L) Larry Reep (14.88 at 30.47 mph)(Centerline Violation)
(Team "Toxic" Winners Circle)
After everything was said and done Rigler had these comments on his well earned win. “What a weird night of racing it has been tonight. Leaving there with a win after all the struggles we encountered is just strange but I’m glad. On our first qualifying lap we lost fluid from the reverser that got under the tires right in the lights that gave me an up close and personal moment with the guardrail. Looking over the clutch back in the pits we discovered we had a problem in the bell housing and had to rip everything apart to make a quick repair. It was a mad thrash to make the second qualifying session. Coming in as the number eight qualifier we knew we had to "step it up" to have a shot at the final. We got the win in our race against Jack in the “Southern Outlaw” which was probably the best side by side race of the evening. Coming out of that with the win certainly pumped up the team. Things got weird again in the final when I left early getting the dreaded red light, but Reep crossed the center line and gave us the win. Minus all the issues we faced we are glad we are leaving here with a win and we think we have started to come around on a tune up with this new combination,” explained Rigler.
The Outlaw Fuel Altereds have two weeks off until the May 26th event at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. Thanks to Meyer Enterprises, Wizard’s Warehouse, Royal Purple and Prestige Ford for their support of the OFAA. Also a special thanks to Kay Wright for her great job of announcing our events this season.
Click here to see photos from this event.
Points Standings (Top 5):
(After 2 of 9 events)
1. Brad Rigler 43
2. Larry Reep 42
3. Donny McSwain 36
4. Bobby Marriott 35
5. Mitch King 35
Low Elapsed Time – Mitch King (4.01)
Top Speed – (180.07 mph)
Event Bonus Winners:
Meyer Enterprises Bonus – Tim Hay
Marriott Progressive Bonus – Travis Bouchey
Cen-Tech Scale Quick Reaction – Jack Hodgson (.405)
