McSwain Scores First OFAA Win
North Star Dragway - Denton, TX
July 4th, 2009
Event #4 of 8
Report & Photos: Chris Graves
Independence day is a time to celebrate freedoms and honor those who have and are serving to protect them. It's a time to enjoy with friends and family, to be grateful for what you've got, and oh yah, burn nitro!
The Royal Purple Outlaw Fuel Altereds headlined the two day celebration at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. Fifteen fuel altereds were on hand along with the Outlaw Top Gas Motorcycle Series, Texas True Ten Five, Dave Gallegos' "Nitro Clown" fuel funny car, John Hale's 1969 Nostalgia Funny Car, Kebin Kinsley's NHRA Division 4 Top Alcohol Funny car and Gene Snow"s NHRA A/Fuel Dragster wheeled by Chase Copeland. Needless to say, there was plenty of nitro to go around in the pits this weekend. Documenting it all on film, Speed Scene Live's Scott Hudson and Diana Mite were in the house covering the event for their weekly online drag racing show, broadcasted every Tuesday evening at www.speedsceneracing.com. With only a few spots left in the OFAA 3 Second Club and the season reaching it’s halfway point, the heat was on as teams set up to battle for those precious points under a steamy summer afternoon in North Texas.
Brad Rigler made his first appearance of the season in the always strong "Toxic" machine after having issues in testing but bounced back in fine style during Friday night's “Low ET Bonus Round” put on by North Star Dragway. This was an optional exhibition with a $500 bounty on the quickest elapsed time of the round and Brad Rigler took it home with a stout 4.06 pass. Mary Reep clicked off a 4.03 on Friday night but took out the top end cones in a wild ride that had the crowd on their feet. Jim Pruett would have been proud of Mary on this one! Also on Friday, Tim Hay went 4.24 from centerline to guardrail in the "High Voltage Hayride" and David Purifoy clicked off a few strong laps along with Terry Anglin.
(Tim Hay)
(Brad Rigler)
Bobby Marriott has advanced to the first three straight finals of the season claiming two wins and currently leads the points over Nick Poloson and Donny McSwain. Denton has provided some huge numbers from numerous teams in the past but with unfavorable weather conditions via a 4,000 foot corrected altitude reading and a 103 degree air temperature prior to the first qualifying session, tonight appeared to no one’s advantage with regard to tuning conditions.
Terry Anglin in the "Psychotic Express" fiat and Mary Reep in the "Grim Reeper" got the action started in the first qualifying session. Anglin clicked off a nice 4.28 at 165 mph and Reep wrestled her way through tire smoke to a 7.10 at 64 mph. Nick Poloson marched out next and laid down a strong 4.17 at 163 mph along side Brad Rigler's 4.28 at 169 mph. Donnie McSwain of Rockwall, Texas blasted to a blistering 4.04 at 177 mph to go low for the session. Bobby Marriott slid the "Shockwave" smoothly down to a 4.14 at 171 mph to claim the second spot early. Howard and Melody Knowles towed from Carthage, Missouri for the event and then laid down a 4.31 at 163 mph in "Cheaper Than Therapy". David Purifoy and team "Thrill Factor" went 4.29 at 167 mph and Chris Trussell put together a nice 4.31 at 165 mph to close out the session. The first session unfortunately claimed two victims in Jack Hodgson and Tim Hay, who suffered mechanical problems severe enough to end their racing for the evening.
(David Purifoy)
(Howard Knowles)
John Broussard and Nick Poloson were the first pair to start the second qualifying session. Broussard had issues in first round and never got out of reverse so he had one shot to bump in the show, with the bump held at the time by Rich Howell's 4.51. Broussard got it down through there to a 4.36 at 168 mph to bump in with Howell waiting in the lanes. DoDad Burton was up next and had his hands full as the car headed skyward, a few pedal jobs later Burton finally gave up and would miss the cut tonight in Denton, but the team's fun meter was still pegged don't you worry. Donnie Massey could only best a 4.97 at 120 mph and also disappointingly missed the cut in the "Showtime" machine.
Donny McSwain clicked off a "perfect" 4.000 at 177 mph to secure his spot as the number one qualifier, his second of the season. McSwain claimed the bragging rights of low elapsed time of each session and was the hot ticket bet after two rounds. Rich Howell was outside looking in as the call went to fire the next pair. Howell's "Power Play" fuel burner tuned by Allen Meyer clicked off a 4.23 at 163 mph to get solidly in the field. In the other lane, Terry Anglin clicked off another nice run with a 4.30 at 157 mph and would start from the seventh position. Bobby Marriott came out next along side Mary Reep. Marriott clicked off a 4.16 at 172 mph in his "Shockwave" and Reep was hoping to run quicker than Broussard's 4.36 to get her in the show. A nice 4.23 at 170 mph sent her up to the six spot and bumped Broussard. Brad Rigler clicked off a strong 4.11 at 173 mph and Chris Trussell put down another 4.31 and qualified for his first OFAA event in the "Assassin" machine to end qualifying.
(Terry Anglin)
(John Broussard)
(Chris Trussell)
David Purifoy was the next to fall to the mechanical gods in Herb Whisnant's "Thrill Factor" ride and the team was forced to sit out eliminations. Broussard got lucky and was installed as the first alternate which drew him a date with Bobby Marriott in first round. Purifoy laid down solid runs in Friday's testing and would have qualified eighth with his run from the first session. Purifoy has been holding down a spot in the Royal Purple Top 5 since the first event of the season and will look to bounce back at the next outing August 15th here at North Star Dragway.
Final Qualifying Order:
1. Donny McSwain (Rockwall, Texas) - 4.000 at 177.51 mph
2. Brad Rigler (Heath, Texas) - 4.114 at 173.61 mph
3. Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) - 4.145 at 171.76 mph
4. Nick Poloson (San Antonio, Texas) - 4.177 at 163.76 mph
5. Rich Howell (Yorba Linda, California) - 4.236 at 163.64 mph
6. Mary Reep (Austin, Texas) - 4.237 at 170.39 mph
7. Terry Anglin (Terrell, Texas) - 4.287 at 165.62 mph
8. David Purifoy (Texarkana, Texas) - 4.291 at 167.47 mph
9. Chris Trussell (Canton, Texas) - 4.314 at 165.99 mph
10. Howard Knowles (Carthage, Missouri) - 4.316 at 163.70 mph
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11. John Broussard (Lake Charles, Louisiana) - 4.364 at 168.10 mph
12. Jack Hodgson (Waco, Texas) - 4.46 at 168 mph
13. DoDad Burton (Tyler, Texas) - 4.582 at 163.64 mph
14. Donnie Massey (Little Elm, Texas) - 4.979 at 120.29 mph
15. Tim Hay (Burleson, Texas) - 5.20 at 96.26 mph
A beautiful pair of cars got eliminations underway as Brad Rigler and Terry Anglin squared off in, with Rigler's stout 4.05 at 174 mph taking out Anglin's 4.27 at 166 mph. Donny McSwain and Mary Reep were up next in the quickest and closest side by side drag of the night as McSwain's 4.02 at 178 mph took down Reep's 4.03 at 176 mph.
"After runs including hitting my first cones, being on two wheels and being a little tardy on the chutes, I'd say I definitely experienced the unpredictability of these ill-handling cars all weekend. Only on the last run did the car react as we planned. But it was a blast and I wouldn't trade it for anything, even in 100+ degree heat!" said Reep.
(McSwain vs. Reep)
Bobby Marriott rolled out along side John Broussard as eliminations continued. Broussard beat Marriott when it counted most, in the final round at last year's event at Mo-Kan Dragway, to win his first OFAA event. Broussard plays hardball on the starting line, known for stellar reaction times, but left too early by -.004 as Marriott clicked off a 4.10 at 178 mph to take the win. Chris Trussell and Nick Poloson lined up next in Trussell's first OFAA start. The "Assassin" car took the upset win over Nick Poloson with a 4.32 at 164 mph, while Poloson ran into clutch issues in the "Sundown" ride and fell to a 7.00 at 88 mph. Howard Knowles and Rich Howell finished off the first round, with the winner looking to run quicker than Brad Rigler's 4.053 to advance to the final round. Knowles got out first and never looked back tripping the beams with a 4.28 at 165 mph defeating Howell's 4.40 at 162 mph.
(Howell vs. Knowles)
First Round Eliminations:
(W) Brad Rigler (.114 rt) 4.053 at 174.55 mph vs. (L) Terry Anglin (.077 rt) 4.276 at 166.11 mph
(W) Donny McSwain (.152 rt) 4.026 at 178.29 mph vs. (L) Mary Reep (.326 rt) 4.037 at 176.33 mph
(W) Bobby Marriott (.149 rt) 4.100 at 178.15 mph vs. (L) John Broussard (-.004 rt) 4.342 at 169.49 mph
(W) Chris Trussell (.114 rt) 4.321 at 164.35 mph vs. (L) Nick Poloson (.225 rt) 7.000 at 88.08 mph
(W) Howard Knowles (.040 rt) 4.287 at 165.14 mph vs. (L) Rich Howell (.124 rt) 4.401 at 162.34 mph
Rigler and McSwain advanced to the final as the two quickest winners. McSwain has been to four finals in his OFAA career but registered zero wins, a streak the team led by Kenny Trumble hoped to end tonight. Brad Rigler came out later than planned but brought the big performance you can expect from the Danny Wright tuned "Toxic" car and looked to double up after their Friday night "Low ET" $500 win.
Lightning strikes filled the distance to the North as thunderstorms from Oklahoma were heading for North Star Dragway as the final pair of altereds fired up for the last pass of the night. Rigler and McSwain crept into the beams and as the ambers dropped Rigler was off first as both cars launched hard and made it past half track almost dead even. McSwain drove around the hole shot with low elapsed time and top speed of the meet, a 3.981 at 181.67 mph to take his first OFAA event win!
(McSwain vs. Rigler)
Final Round Results:
(W) Donny McSwain (.152 rt) 3.981 at 181.67 mph vs. (L) Brad Rigler (.088 rt) 4.117 at 171.43 mph
(McSwain vs. Rigler)
"I want to first thank Kenny and my whole crew for all their hard work. We had a great car this weekend thanks to them and it earned me my first win, finally!" said McSwain.
Rigler and company posted an impressive runner-up finish and are clearly back in the game with the "Toxic" car. With fireworks, funny cars and heads up drag racing filling the rest of the show the action on the track never stopped. Congratulations to Donny McSwain and the "II N'Tense" team on their big win and Brad Rigler on his strong comeback. The next event for the Outlaw Fuel Altered series is Saturday, August 15th at North Star Dragway. To see photos from this event and find out more visit www.ofaa.net.
Click Here to see photos from this event.
Low Elapsed Time - Donny McSwain (3.982)
Top Mile Per Hour - Donny McSwain (181.67)
Bonus Winners:
$500 North Star Dragway Friday Low ET - Brad Rigler
Marriott's Progressive Qualifier - #4 Nick Poloson
Rigler's RSI Last Man Standing - Donny McSwain
Massey's Top Speed DNQ - Jack Hodgson
Lone Star Forklift Double Up - Donny McSwain
Max Cackle Photos Best Burnout - Howard Knowles
