Broussard Breaks Records With First Win
Marriott Marches Into Points Lead
MoKan Dragway - Asbury, Missouri
Event #6 of 8
Report - Chris Graves
Photos - Chris Graves & Clipper Wallace
Labor Day Weekends provide a chance to forget about work, bills and worries and instead kick back and enjoy a long weekend of rest, relaxation and quiet. Or ground pounding, ear piercing and totally out of control Outlaw Fuel Altered drag racing, whatever your preference may be. Smokin’ Mo-Kan Dragway hosted their 43rd Annual Napa Labor Day Weekend Classic and for the sixth year in a row the Royal Purple Outlaw Fuel Altereds headlined the show. If you weren’t at this event you really missed out because when there are 16 fuel altereds on the ground at Mo-Kan your face better be in the place! It’s a two day nitro filled fuel altered spectacular with two sessions of qualifying on Saturday night and an eight car full elimination field on Sunday afternoon.
(Chris White signs autographs at the Labor Day Classic)
Let’s kick off qualifying with a side by side nitro burning first pair featuring Donnie Massey’s “Showtime” along side Bobby Marriott’s “Shockwave.” Will we see threes to start the show? You bet. Massey laid down a stout 3.96 at 178 mph with Marriott clicking off a nice 4.08 at 185 mph. Next up John Broussard laid down a career best 4.11 at 172 mph in the Lake Charles, Louisiana based “Purple Haze” ride. Although Hurricane Gustav had a lock on their hometown, the Broussard boys are drag racers, fuel altered drag racers, and drag racers race no matter what! A nice lap here by Broussard to start off the weekend. Larry Reep’s “Grim Reeper” went 4.18 at 172 mph with DoDad Burton’s “Free Spirit” machine clicking off a 4.33 at 165 mph. J.T. Heslink wheeled the “Punisher” to a solid 4.12 at 169 mph and Chris White debuted the new look “White Lightning” machine and set a career mark at 4.17 at 170 mph with Lurch power providing the ponies in his ride.
(John Broussard clicks off a career best 4.11)
Points leader Nick Poloson struggled in first session but got in the show with a 4.14 at 171 mph to start off the second session of qualifying. Sean Belt went 4.21 at 165 mph in the “Nitro Madness” Fiat which got him in at the moment. Bobby Marriott laid down low elapsed time with a 3.94 at 188 mph and Reep improved to a 4.15 at 171 mph. John Broussard re-set his career best with a very impressive 4.07 at 174 mph and David Purifoy tripped the clocks with a close but not close enough 4.27 at 166 mph in the “Thrill Factor.” Tim Hay qualified from the sixth spot with a 4.14 at 178 mph in the “High Voltage Hayride” and Anthony Whitfield stepped up to a 4.34 in the “Mighty Mouse” machine.
Howard Knowles won the “B” field at the 2008 World Fuel Altered Nationals in Eddyville, Iowa just a few weeks prior to Mo-Kan but a 4.29 best fell short of the Larry Reep held 4.15 bump spot which set an OFAA series record. World Fuel Altered Nationals “A” field winner Ted Elrod and his “Killin Time” crew laid down a great 3.95 at 182 mph to secure the number two spot. The OFAA was represented well at the World Fuel Altered Nationals with both class winners coming out of the series.
(Howard Knowles in "Cheaper Than Therapy")
Remarkably, every team on the property ran good enough to qualify for any event so far this season as the quickest bump of the year was formerly a 4.35. Anthony Whitfield ran a 4.34 to qualify in 15th place, an elapsed time that would have qualified him at any previous event. That also would have qualified him at last year’s event which ironically posted a 4.35 bump. Unreal. An impressive list of names sat outside the quick eight after qualifying. You have to jog back to Ben Bruce Raceway in June of 2004 to see the last time Brad Rigler did not qualify for an OFAA show. Rigler has three wins in the last four years at Mo-Kan and possibly his own street sign somewhere on the property after totally owning this event in the past.
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.
(David Purifoy behind the wheel of Herb Whisnant's "Thrill Factor")
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 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
(David Elrod qualified strong with the "Killin Time" machine)
(Bobby Marriott prepares the "Shockwave" AA/FA for first round)
Donnie Massey and Chris White lined up to start the first round of eliminations in front of the capacity crowd that always looks forward to the fuel altereds at Mo-Kan. Massey took the win with a 4.19 over White’s 4.72. Brad Rigler used a huge starting line advantage and clicked off a 4.19 at 168 mph to defeat the much quicker but loosing 4.05 at 174 mph by Ted Elrod. Bobby Marriott set low elapsed time of the round with a mighty 3.98 at 188.76 mph to knock out Nick Poloson’s 4.17 at 169 mph. Last but not least, Larry Reep laid down his best run of the weekend with a 4.10 at 175 mph but went red by -.215 and gave the win to John Broussard who went 13.31 with a broken throttle cable. So Broussard advanced to the semi-final where he would take on Brad Rigler. On the other side of the ladder, Bobby Marriott was set to take on Donnie Massey but parts damage to the “Showtime” machine ended their efforts and Reep was bumped in to take on Marriott and fight for a final round spot.
(Points leader heading into MoKan Nick Poloson talks with Inside Drag Racing TV host Bret Kepner)
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 Round 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
(John Broussard advancing to his first career final round)
(Brad Rigler ended up posting a respectable semi-final finish)
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. Will Broussard win his first career event and set the record for the youngest OFAA event winner at the age of 19 or will 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 click off a best ever pass of 4.062 at 174 mph to take the win over the quicker but loosing 3.98 at 188 mph. Marriott’s third straight 3.98 / 188 mph combo proved to be strong enough to out run 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 which is led by crew chief and father of John, Kevin Broussard, who also can whip up the best batch of Cajun gumbo in the world.
Final Round Results:
(W) John Broussard (.013 rt) 4.062 at 174.83 mph vs. (L) Bobby Marriott (.109 rt) 3.983 at 188.44 mph
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 more happy 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,” says 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. Although, Broussard marked the fifth different winner this year after six completed events as no single car has dominated by any means. 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!
Low Elapsed Time – Bobby Marriott (3.942)
Top Speed – Bobby Marriott (188.76 mph)
Bonus Winners:
Smiley’s Racing Products Progressive – Tim Hay
Get Rite Motorsports Luck of the Draw – J.T. Heslink
