Trussell Takes First OFAA Win at NSD
North Star Dragway - Denton, TX - October 2nd, 2010
Event #7 of 8
Report & Photos: Chris Graves, Max Cackle Photos
The Outlaw Fuel Altered Association packed the house at North Star Dragway on October 2nd with nineteen blown altereds in a very special event for the series and it’s members. Not only considering that four teams came into Denton in contention for the points championship that is quickly winding down, or the fact that Nick Poloson and David Purifoy were tied for the number one spot, but this event also served as the Tim Hay Memorial Race, honoring the life and accomplishments of OFAA favorite Tim Hay, who lost his life at the World Fuel Altered Nationals in Eddyville, Iowa in August.
Not only was a tribute pass by Donnie Massey in the plans for first qualifying session, but the OFAA also organized a silent auction and tribute merchandise booth with limited edition posters, shirts and stickers for sale, all benefitting the Tim Hay Memorial Fund. Needless to say, a nice chunk of change was raised for the family and everyone had a chance to get their hands on some very special merchandise to remember Tim. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who donated and bid on items in the silent auction.
With such a huge crowd of OFAA teams, friends and the entire Hay family in attendance, it was the perfect time to pay tribute to Tim with the best weather conditions North Texas has seen in many months. After a verbal tribute by OFAA announcer Kay Wright over the track intercom and the playing of “For Those About To Rock” by AC/DC, Tim’s favorite song, Donnie Massey fired up the “Showtime” nitro burner and laid down a massive burnout as the rest of the OFAA family gathered in the opposing lane during this very special tribute pass as the sun set behind the Texas skyline.
Massey had been plagued by problems in the past events this year but on this pass he must have had a special hand from above as Massey clicked off his best pass since the season opener, a 4.10 at 175 mph and the crowd erupted with celebration, as a few tears hit the pavement in this very emotional tribute.
(Danny Wright, Brad Rigler and Larry Reep were in the house!)
(Tom Wood & Nick Poloson still having fun with the pressure on!)
The teams returned to their cars and the drivers got strapped in as qualifying in first session resumed. I want to stop for a second and ask you to fasten your seatbelt and strap on your helmet, because the OFAA rocked the house at NSD under the lights and you’ll be blown out of your seat if your not ready for this! Tom and Phyllis Butherus made the tow from Goddard, Kansas in the “Rude Rat Too” blown Chevy and clicked off a 4.51 at 156 mph to open the action. Next up, Jack Hodgson and Terry Anglin rolled out with side by side burnouts. Both left hard and started mixing up cylinders nearing the finish line. Anglin’s car went through the traps at 4.29 at 142 mph then let fly a huge cloud of white smoke at the top end, the unfortunate result of several rods hanging out of the oil pan in the “Psychotic Express” machine. Hodgson’s throttle hung as the car continued to accelerate through the shutdown area. Hodgson did everything he could to get the car shut off and slowed down, making the corner then having a small fire as a fuel line let go during the process and momentarily ignited. Thankfully Hodgson climbed out safely after a great driving job and went back to the pits to prepare for the next session.
(Tom Butherus)
(Terry Anglin)
(Jack Hodgson)
Todd Simpson and Aaron Leyda were out next as Simpson hiked the front end and lifted as he neared the centerline while Leyda clicked off a nice 4.16 at 175 mph. Donnie McSwain rolled out in the “II N’Tense” machine and went a strong 3.97 at 176 mph along side Jimmy Jones, who pedaled it and still clicked off a 4.02 at 182 mph in the “Texas Tremor” ride. Next up Howard Farris’ “War Wagon” nitro Fiat shook and coasted to a 5.01 at 118 mph while Chris Trussell had his hands full in the other lane. Trussell’s “Assassin” machine hiked the front end and carried a four foot wheelstand almost to the 330’ cone before he finally aborted the run as the crowd went wild. Bobby Marriott was out next in the “Shockwave” and ripped off a picture perfect 3.93 at 189 mph to go low for the round.
(Howard Farris)
(Todd Simpson)
(Donny McSwain)
The OFAA points leaders rolled out next as Nick Poloson and David Purifoy laid down side by side burnouts. Poloson had been out the night before doing some testing and ran into serious transmission issues. Bright and early Saturday morning, car owner Tom Wood and Poloson made the drive to downtown Dallas and picked up spare parts supplied by fellow OFAA members Kenny Trumble and Donny McSwain. The “Sundown” team slapped their rebuilt B&J back in the car and could only muster a 4.46 at 165 mph in first qualifying session as Purifoy blasted to a 4.08 at 175 mph in the “Thrill Factor” machine. That left Poloson on the bump heading into the final session while Purifoy sat nicely in fifth position. Next out was the debut of the Jim West driven “Wild Wild West” full bodied 1948 Fiat with a BBC on nitro! This was West’s first pass in the car as it launched hard, West gave it a quick pedal job, then drove it through to a 4.83 at 110 mph. The session closed with Mark Bowman clicking off a solid 4.12 at 170 mph in the “Blown Income” altered.
(Jim West)
(Mark Bowman)
(Keith Anglin)
The second session started with Tom Butherus and Keith Anglin. Butherus pedaled his way to a 5.11 at 119 mph while Anglin continued to struggle with tire shake issues besting an 8.82 in the “Texas Gold Rush” machine. Donnie Massey stepped up to a 4.09 at 179 mph in the “Showtime” and Bobby Marriott blasted to a 4.01 at 166 mph to qualify number one in the 4.00 qualifying index. David Purifoy clicked off a career best 4.05 at 176 mph in the “Thrill Factor” and looked good heading into eliminations with the points lead on the line. Howard Ferris bested a 4.64 in the “War Wagon” and unfortunately fell short of qualifying in the quick ten. Nick Poloson was out next, currently on the bump spot in a do or die pass for team “Sundown”. Owner / tuner Tom Wood made his final adjustments and Poloson blasted off the line clicking off a career best 3.92 at 183 mph to secure a spot in the show as the crew picked Tom Wood’s jaw up off the starting line and headed down to the big end.
(Nick Poloson)
(Chris Trussell)
Chris Trussell was out next along side Mark Bowman. Bowman clicked off a solid 4.13 at 171 mph to secure his spot in the field while Trussell pulled away to an impressive career best 3.97 at 176 mph in the “Assassin” ride. A pair of former Division 4 Alcohol Funny Car Champions closed the final qualifying session as Todd Simpson and Jimmy Jones lined up in an old school battle. Simpson got in the show with a 4.26 at 148 mph as Jones clicked off a strong 3.97 at 163 mph in the “Texas Tremor” altered. Steve Tryon returned to NSD with the “Bad Company” altered with his nephew ?? behind the wheel for the first time, besting an 11.69. DoDad Burton and the “Free Spirit” team fought electrical issues all night and failed to make the show, but will be back in San Antonio for the OFAA season finale on October 23rd in San Antonio. Bobby Marriott would lead the field into eliminations for the third time this season as an extremely important first round of eliminations was to follow.
(DoDad Burton)
(Jimmy Jones)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) – 4.01 @ 189
2) Jimmy Jones (Dallas, Texas) – 4.022 (3.973) @ 176
3) Donny McSwain (Rockwall, Texas) – 4.026 (3.974) @ 176
4) Chris Trussell (Canton, Texas) – 4.027 (3.973) @ 176
5) David Purifoy (Texarkana, Texas) – 4.05 @ 176
6) Nick Poloson (San Antonio, Texas) – 4.079 (3.920) @ 183
7) Donnie Massey (Little Elm, Texas) – 4.09 @ 179
8) Mark Bowman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) – 4.12 @ 170
9) Aaron Leyda (Independence, Kansas) – 4.16 @ 175
10) Todd Simpson (Ponder, Texas) – 4.26 @ 148
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11) Terry Anglin (Terrell, Texas) – 4.29 @ 142
12) Jack Hodgson (Waco, Texas) – 4.33 @ 141
13) Tom Butherus (Goddard, Kansas) – 4.51 @ 156
14) Howard Farris (Springtown, Texas) – 4.64 @ 134
15) Jim West (Addison, Texas) – 4.83 @ 110
16) Keith Anglin (Garland, Texas) – 8.82 @ 68
17) Steve Tryon (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) – 11.69 @ 31
18) DoDad Burton (Tyler, Texas) – No Time
19) Mike Wheeler (Greenville, Texas) – No Time
The call went out to bring em’ to the lanes as first round was set and the first pair out was none other than Nick Poloson against Bobby Marriott. Poloson was now one point behind David Purifoy after qualifying as the “Thrill Factor” team instantly became the biggest Bobby Marriott fans on the property as the cars crept into the beams. Poloson was out first and they were side by side and wide open through the traps. Marriott’s win light came on with his career best 3.83 at 194 mph to drive around Poloson’s strong 3.95 at 180 mph. What a drag race!
(Bobby Marriott)
“I saw him out front early and he was in the corner of my eye all the way though the finish line. We didn’t change anything in our combination but the air conditions improved and it came to our tune-up. We weren’t expecting to run near that fast but I knew it was on a pass when I saw more flame than usual from the pipes,” said Marriott.
Next up Donny McSwain and Mark Bowman lined up and McSwain was out first and took the win with a 4.01 at 180 mph to Bowman’s career best pass with a 4.10 at 171 mph. Bowman put down three straight solid passes in the “Blown Income” car and the team deserves credit for that while McSwain surely wanted a little more out of his first round pass as he knew it would take a three second win to advance to the final, but he got the round win none the less! David Purifoy came out next along side Tom Butherus, who was inserted as an alternate for Todd Simpson. Butherus knew he had to get a jump on the tree which is hard to do against Purifoy. Butherus went red but laid down a nice 4.53 at 163 mph to Purifoy’s winning 4.04 at 177 mph, a career best pass for Purifoy and the Herb Whisnant owned, Bill Burns tuned “Thrill Factor” team, who are now your 2010 OFAA points leaders with one event remaining in two weeks.
(David Purifoy)
As first round of eliminations continued, Jimmy Jones and Donnie Massey crept into the beams. Jones searching for his third consecutive final round in his first three races with the OFAA series while Massey hoped to lay down another trouble free pass after a summer of struggles. Jones got the jump and clicked off a career best 3.86 at 184 mph to take the win over Massey’s best pass of the night with a 3.96 at 184 mph, the second all three second pairing of the round.
(Donnie Massey)
(Jimmy Jones)
With one pair in the waterbox, Marriott and Jones looked to be guaranteed a spot in the final as Chris Trussell and Aaron Leyda would both have to run career bests by over a tenth to claim a final round spot. Leyda got a huge jump on the line with a .023 reaction time and laid down a career best 4.05 at 177 mph in the Dale Wilkens owned and tuned “Hemi Hunter” but lost to Chris Trussell’s career best 3.88 at 186 mph! A pair of career best passes to close the first round as Trussell blows away his previous best but amazingly still wasn’t one of the quickest two winners as Marriott and Jones were set to pair up in the final round.
A quick re-cap of first round sees that six of the ten cars in first round clicked off career best passes and Chris Trussell became the fourteenth member to join the OFAA 3-Second Club. David Purifoy made up more ground over Nick Poloson in the points chase by winning first round and to Chris Trussell came some interesting news, as he was inserted into the final against Jimmy Jones after Marriott and team “Shockwave” discovered a nibbled piston after first round. Instead of thrashing to repair the piston and possibly delaying the show which was set to conclude at the strike of midnight, Marriott withdrew putting Trussell in as the third quickest winner of first round.
(Aaron Leyda)
(Chris Trussell)
First Round Eliminations:
(W) Bobby Marriott (.100 rt) 3.83 @ 194 mph vs. (L) Nick Poloson (.068 rt) 3.95 @ 180 mph
(W) Donny McSwain (.055 rt) 4.01 @ 180 mph vs. (L) Mark Bowman (.099 rt) 4.10 @ 171 mph
(W) David Purifoy (.059 rt) 4.04 @ 177 mph vs. (L) Tom Butherus (-.179 rt) 4.53 @ 163 mph
(W) Jimmy Jones (.078 rt) 3.86 @ 184 mph vs. (L) Donnie Massey (.116 rt) 3.96 @ 184 mph
(W) Chris Trussell (.135 rt) 3.88 @ 186 mph vs. (L) Aaron Leyda (.023 rt) 4.05 @ 177 mph
Just before midnight, the final round pair fired up for the last drag race of the night. Jones, in his third straight final, while Trussell and company were looking for icing on the cake after a career best evening. Jones blazed the hides on the burnout and as he came to a stop the car lost fire, Jones accidently tripping the kill switch while putting the car into reverse. Jones climbed out and watched as Trussell staged and blew the tires off immediately, then got back in it and took the win with a 5.51 at 93 mph.
Final Round Results:
(W) Chris Trussell (.363 rt) 5.51 @ 93 mph vs. (L) Jimmy Jones (No Time)
(Chris Trussell)
“Thanks to my crew Ken, Steve, Terry, Jose and Rebekah. Steve and Terry trashed on the car all week to get it ready. They tore the motor completely apart Wednesday night and rushing to get it back together on Friday night. Also thanks to Bobby Marriott and Ronny Young for the borrowed parts to get us to the races. Most of all I would like to thank all the fans and supporters of the Assassin team and the OFAA that got to watch not only our two three second runs but also our first OFAA win!” said Trussell.
The points chase now comes down to two teams. Nick Poloson has to earn more than 36 points in San Antonio on October 23rd to catch-up and pass David Purifoy. Poloson, along with Bobby Marriott and Aaron Leyda, dropped their points from Denton (each team is required to drop race this season, required to be announced within twenty four hours of an event, the top four in points coming into Denton had not yet dropped) and so Purifoy currently enjoys a 36 point lead. Purifoy cannot earn points in San Antonio as the team is forced to drop the event since they haven’t dropped one yet this season. For Purifoy and company, San Antonio will be a nail biter but the pressure is on Wood & Poloson who now know how many points they must earn (37) to pass Purifoy and win the 2010 OFAA Championship.
“We had Dennis Piranio helping us this weekend. Dennis and Tom felt the motor was ‘happy’ so they worked on the clutch setting, and we had our quickest pass ever in qualifying, a 3.92. We just tried to repeat in eliminations, and we did with a 3.95, but we were on the racetrack at the same time Bobby Marriott decided to throw down his run of the year. I had a small reaction time advantage, but it wasn't quite enough. So now it's on to the last race of the year to try and win the points championship!” said Poloson.
The season will conclude at the Texas Timing State Championships, October 23rd, at San Antonio Raceway. Inside Drag Racing TV will be on hand filming the finale for a soon coming episode. The Texas Blown Fuel and Southwest Junior Fuel Associations will also be racing at the TTA Championships along with a Cacklefest and several nostalgia racing classes in action.
The Tim Hay Memorial Race was one that no one in attendance will ever forget and with the Championship on the line in two weeks, San Antonio will be one for the record books as well. All the teams in competition on October 2nd donated $50 of their winnings to D.R.A.W. (Drag Racers Association of Women) to help injured racers in time of need, as D.R.A.W. did for the Hay family just weeks before. An $850 donation was made by the OFAA on behalf of Tim Hay to the D.R.A.W. Foundation. The OFAA crowed it’s third straight first time winner in Chris Trussell and left North Star Dragway with heads held high after one of the best races in history.
Click Here to see photos from this event.
Low Elapsed Time - Bobby Marriott (3.83)
Top Mile Per Hour - Bobby Marriott (194.72 mph)
Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time - Aaron Leyda
