Marriott Finds Heavenly Horsepower
To Win Shreveport!
Red River Raceway - April 21st, 2007
Event #1 of 9
The new season of drag racing has seen a lot of highs and lows and that is no different in the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association. 2007 will welcome new members and race teams to the series. Unfortunately, some friendly faces will also be missing. Two weeks prior to the season opener in Shreveport OFAA driver Jack Heslink suffered serious head injuries during a warm up accident at his home in Sachse, Texas. The car slipped into gear on the ground while running and ran over him coming to a stop in the kitchen of the house. Jack is recovering quickly and says he will be back on the track by the end of the season which is great news. Charlie “Tuna” Duncan is one of the biggest personalities in the circuit and friend to everyone. His constant smile, caring demeanor and hilarious sense of humor are some of the many characteristics that make “Tuna” one of a kind. After being in and out of the hospital last year with cancer he was forced to go back to the hospital with complications resulting from his treatments just after Easter. He remains in the hospital in Austin but is doing better and gaining strength. We hope to see his and Jack’s friendly faces back at the track soon! 2004 series champion Jim Pruett made stickers that each car will run this season to recognize Heslink and Duncan and wish them a quick recovery.
Meanwhile, OFAA president Bobby Marriott had been spending every night in the Denton County Hospital with his father who was battling cancer. B.O. Marriott had a close relationship with his son Bobby and time was critical as days came closer to the first race of the season. B.O. told his son that he wanted him to go and race no matter what condition he was in. B.O. ran an altered himself back in the 1960’s with Bobby and was no stranger to racing. Two days prior to the event, B.O. lost his fight with cancer. Bobby followed through with his fathers wishes and made the tow to Shreveport’s Red River Raceway to what would end up being the most memorable and special event in his life.
Thanks to many new supporters of the OFAA for 2007 the qualifying bonus program has expanded tremendously. P&M Speed and Machine Shop of Longview, Texas has put up a $250 cash bonus for the number one qualifier at Shreveport and Lufkin. Bobby and Nancy Marriott have put up a $100 bonus that will be awarded to the #1 qualifier at the first race, #2 qualifier at the second race and so on until the #9 qualifier earns it at the ninth and final race of the season. Meyer Enterprises has renewed its bonus program this season. The DallasMachineShop.com bonus will be awarded by drawing a number at random before qualifying begins. The car that qualifies in the same position as the number drawn will win. Lone Star Forklift has put up a bounty for $250 that can be won only if the number one qualifier goes on to win the event. Let’s hand out some cash and burn some rubber!
Qualifying started out with a very emotional and heart warming tribute to B.O. Marriott organized by Candy Hay of the “High Voltage Hayride” team. All the OFAA drivers, crews and members gathered around the starting line and paid tribute as Bobby did a solo pass to honor his father. Marriott lit up the hides and smoked the tires through the eighth mile on his burnout sending smoke and nitro fumes floating to the heavens so B.O. could get a little whiff! With a tear in his eye as he saw amber bulbs flash Marriott blasted down the strip on a picture perfect run of 4.10 at 183 mph. Stout! Marriott along with crew Ray MacFarland and Allen Friar switched to a 85% nitro combination for the 2007 racing season.
“It’s a 426 cubic inch late 70’s early 80’s top fuel set up basically. It makes me so proud to be associated with such great people. They realize the hard times I went through and the tribute meant a lot to me. I can never express to them in words how it made me feel,” explained Marriott.
Drivers suited up and the rest of qualifying continued with sixteen more cars sitting in the lanes ready to make the asphalt beg for mercy. Jack Hodgson’s “Southern Outlaw” from Waco threw down a 4.36 at 165 mph which was third quickest of the session. Tom Wood’s “Sundown Racing” machine driven by Nick Poloson went a very strong career best pass of 4.17 at 168 mph. Mark Jones made the tow from Florida to compete in his first OFAA event of his career and went 4.95 on his first pass. Louisiana native John Broussard made his first appearance as a driver on the OFAA tour taking over driving duties from his father in the “Purple Haze” machine. John went 4.81 at 147 mph on his first pass. Terry Tanner made his debut behind the wheel of Bob Voirin’s “All American” nitro burner and clicked off a 4.64 at 161 mph. It is great to see that car back on the track after Voirin’s nasty top end crash at Tulsa last season.
(Louisiana racer John Broussard in the "Purple Haze")
(Photo by Kristie Burge)
Second session of qualifying saw Reep kick Marriott off the top spot with a very nice 4.08 at 175 mph which would stay as number one. Reep won the P&M Speed and Machine Shop $250 bonus as well as the Marriott Bonus of $100 being the number one qualifier at the first event. Jack Hodgson remains the burnout king as he stopped fifteen feel past the finish line on his second session burnout then stepped up to a 4.21 at only 134 mph after blowing the burst panel at 450 feet to claim the number four qualifying spot. Donny McSwain, owner of Lone Star Forklift, piloted his beautiful machine to a 4.22 at 165 mph to round out the top five. Marriott lost the reverser in his hot rod and towed back to the pits in a hurry to replace the transmission before first round. Defending series champion Brad Rigler and the “Toxic” gang got in the show in the sixth spot with a 4.22 after an aborted run in the first session. Travis Bouchey’s “Excitation” fuel Fiat went a best of 4.43 after sub four second runs in testing. Terry Tanner’s 4.64 was strong enough to round out the quick ten field and Tanner also won the DallasMachineShop.com qualifying bonus.
Final Qualifying Order:
1. Larry Reep - 4.08@175.78
2. Bobby Marriott - 4.108@183.89
3. Nick Poloson - 4.171@168.85
4. Jack Hodgson - 4.211@134.22
5. Donny McSwain - 4.220@165.60
6. Brad Rigler - 4.221@166.64
7. Travis Bouchey - 4.436@132.09
8. Herb Whisnant - 4.526@155.06
9. Howard Knowles - 4.553@143.09
10. Terry Tanner - 4.648@161.42
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11. Donnie Massey - 4.660@155.63
12. John Broussard - 4.720@145.47
13. Dodad Burton - 4.886@130.81
14. Mark Jones - 4.908@131.72
15. Tim Hay - 4.926@144.12
16. Jimmy Todd - 5.341@146.53
17. John Tappan - 5.748@111.59
In a battle of heavyweights Larry Reep lined up against Brad Rigler to open up the first elimination round of the season. Reep raced to another great run, 4.07 at 174 mph to take out Rigler who suffered transmission failure and coasted to a 5.00. Missouri racer Howard Knowles got in the field at number nine but blew a burst panel in second session and had a small fire. The safety crew had to squirt extinguisher inside the motor and Knowles felt unsafe in running first round without rebuilding the engine which bumped in John Broussard who would appear in his first elimination round as a driver. John lined up against Jack Hodgson in his first round match up. Hodgson laid down low elapsed time of the event with a blistering 3.99 at 178 mph but left that big red bulb glowing on the Christmas tree and Brossard took the win with a 4.77 at 148 mph and also won the Cen-Tech Scales quick reaction time bonus of $50 with a .027 light. Donny McSwain laid down a 4.23 at 167 to take out Terry Tanner who shook the tires. Herb Whisnant made it in with a 4.52 but broke and Tim Hay was put in his place to take on Nick Poloson. Poloson defeated Hay with a 4.77 to Hay’s 5.22. Bobby Marriott continued his strong performance and kept the candles lit to take out Travis Bouchey in a great side by side header flaming duel. Marriott’s 4.06 at 187 mph pass was top speed and low elapsed time of first round and earned him a ticket to the final where he would take on Larry Reep who got in with his second quickest winning time of 4.07.
(Howard and Melody Knowles made the tow from Missouri and qualified ninth)
First Round Results:
(W) Larry Reep (4.07 at 174 mph) vs. (L) Brad Rigler (5.00 at 100 mph)
(W) John Broussard (4.77 at 148 mph) vs. (L) Jack Hodgson (3.99 at 178 mph, -.013 red light)
(W) Donny McSwain (4.23 at 167 mph) vs. (L) Terry Tanner (5.62 at 94 mph)
(W) Nick Poloson (4.77 at 132 mph) vs. (L) Tim Hay (5.22 at 139 mph)
(W) Bobby Marriott (4.06 at 187 mph) vs. (L) Travis Bouchey (4.22 at 175 mph)
The “Grim Reeper” was hoping to kick off the season with an event win for the second year in a row. Marriott won the last event of the season at Abilene in 2006 and had hopes if repeating with back to back wins. Both teams had been running very strong all night but B.O. was working his magic upstairs for Bobby and the “Shockwave” team on this night. Bobby tipped 88% into the tank for the final and the fumes were so thick you could choke a Texas size mosquito. After side by side burnouts he was out of the gate first with a two tenths advantage on the tree. Marriott thundered down the track powered by horsepower from heaven to a beautiful 4.05 at 188 mph to defeat Reep’s 4.07 at 172 mph. The night could not have been more meaningful to the “Shockwave” team and flawless performance earned Marriott the event victory and the team’s second win in a row.
Final Round Results:
(W) Bobby Marriott (.134 rt) 4.05 at 188 mph vs. (L) Larry Reep (.376 rt) 4.07 at 172 mph
(Bobby and Nancy Marriott's "Shockwave")
“The first race of the 2007 season got off to a great start with a stirring tribute to Bobby and the Marriott family with his solo qualifying pass with his father smiling down on him from above. Having seventeen cars for the first race was an indication that we will have a much more competitive season and better show for the fans. Congrats to Bobby and the team on the win. We are still working on our new combination, but I have all the faith in the world that Danny Wright (crew chief) will sort it out pretty quickly. We look forward to an exciting season for all, based on the good runs that most of the teams had for the first race,” says Brad Rigler looking back on the season opener.
This was a night that no Outlaw Fuel Altered member or fan will ever forget. It was the most meaningful win of Marriott’s thirty two year racing career and another great example of how the OFAA family comes together to help each other in times of need. A special DVD will be available on www.ofaa.net covering the event. Bobby obviously will have the points lead heading into the second event at Redline Raceway in Caddo Mills, Texas on May 12th and the circuit has added an event at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas on May 26th. A special thanks again to Candy Hay for her involvement in the B.O. Marriott tribute pass and to P&M Speed and Machine Shop, DallasMachineShop.com, Lone Star Forklift, Bobby and Nancy Marriott and Cen-Tech Scale Services for their involvement in the qualifying bonus programs this season. Until next time, let the wheels turn and the nitro burn!
Low Elapsed Time – Jack Hodgson (3.99)
Top Speed – Bobby Marriott (188 mph)
