The Painless Performance Outlaw Fuel Altered Series landed at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas on October 15th for their sixth of seven events this season. The OFAA headlined the exhibition portion of the Super Chevy Show and with great weather for racing and thousands of spectators ready for action, eighteen fuel altereds came to entertain and battle for precious Painless Performance points.

Atop the standings, Jimmy Jones and Terry Brian were eight points apart, Jones holding the top spot over the rookie, both searching for their first OFAA series Championship. Bobby Marriott had moved into third place with his win in the last event at Tulsa Raceway Park and now was right in the hunt for the title, but there were plenty of teams ready to play spoiler for those in contention as the call went out for the first session of qualifying.

(Mary Reep)

(John Broussard)

With favorable weather conditions and a NHRA National Event surface to race on, the fuel altereds put down big numbers right off the trailer in Houston. Brad Rigler and team “Toxic” blasted down the eighth mile to career best numbers, a blistering 3.87 at 186 mph. Mary Reep also clicked off career best numbers with a stout 3.91 at 186 mph in the “Grim Reeper” machine out of Austin, Texas. World Fuel Altered Nationals Runner-Up John Broussard tripped the clocks with a 3.95 at 181 mph in the “Purple Haze” machine out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bobby Marriott also wheeled his “Shockwave” to a sub-four second pass with a 3.97 at 187 mph.

(Bobby Marriott)

Nick Poloson posted a 4.05 at 162 mph in the San Antonio based “Sundown” entry and Aaron Leyda clicked off a 4.16 172 mph in the “Hemi Hunter” to round out the top half of the field after session number one.

(Aaron Leyda)

After some tuning adjustments and routine between round maintenance, the teams returned to the staging lanes for the final qualifying session, ready to battle for one of the top twelve positions and a spot in eliminations. Championship contender Terry Brian needed to secure his spot in the field after an off pace 4.56 in the opening session and he did just that. Brian and team “II N’Tense” posted a 3.98 at 178 mph to secure their spot in the show.

(Terry Brian)

Jimmy Jones’ 4.33 from the opening session was not safe with the numbers his competition was posting and Jones too needed to improve to ensure his spot in the show. The “Tremor” machine launched hard out of the gate and Jones posted a 4.16 at 139 mph to qualify ninth, whew. Nick Poloson improved to a solid 4.03 to hold his number six qualifying position.

Donnie Massey and the “Showtime” nitro burner slid into the field with a 4.12 at 180 mph to qualify seventh. Terry Anglin and the “Psychotic Express” Fiat bodied entry posted a 4.21 at 159 mph to secure the number ten spot. DoDad Burton and team “Free Spirit” clicked off a 4.23 at 168 mph to get in the show and Raymond Dawson’s “High Octane” laid down a career best 4.29 at 165 mph to nab the twelfth and final qualifying position.

(DoDad Burton)

(Chris Trussell)

Chris Trussell’s gremlins continued in the “Assassin” machine, fighting an electrical bug which kept them from qualifying at Houston. Defending series Champion David Purifoy and team “Thrill Factor” battled tire shake through both rounds of qualifying and also missed the cut, their first DNQ since Mo-Kan 2009, which earned them the bittersweet Lenco Transmissions “Outside Looking In” bonus. Mike Wheeler’s best of a 4.54 came up short as did Jim Overly’s best of a 4.98. Although, give credit to Overly as he clicked off career best numbers in a post first round test pass with a 4.18 at 178 mph in the “Fuelish Habit” nitro burner. With the worst luck of them all, Mark Bowman and the “Blown Income” team out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma discovered a broken frame rail upon arrival to Houston which sidelined their effort.

(David Purifoy)

(Mike Wheeler)

(Jim Overly)

Final Qualifying Order:

1) Terry Brian (New London, Texas) – 4.015 (3.987) @ 178
2) Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) – 4.025 (3.975) @ 187
3) Mary Reep (Austin, Texas) – 4.031 @ 186
4) John Broussard (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 4.031 (3.969) @ 181
5) Brad Rigler (Heath, Texas) – 4.032 @ 161
6) Nick Poloson (San Antonio, Texas) - 4.036 @ 174
7) Donnie Massey (Little Elm, Texas) – 4.12 @ 180
8) Aaron Leyda (Bartlesville, Oklahoma) – 4.168 @ 172
9) Jimmy Jones (Dallas, Texas) – 4.169 @ 139
10) Terry Anglin (Terrell, Texas) - 4.21 @ 169
11) DoDad Burton (Tyler, Texas) – 4.23 @ 168
12) Raymond Dawson (Nevada, Texas) – 4.29 @ 165
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13) David Purifoy (Texarkana, Texas) – 4.49 @ 173
14) Mike Wheeler (Paradise, Texas) – 4.54 @ 141
15) Jim Overly (Oyster Creek, Texas) - 4.98 @ 118
16) Chris Trussell (Canton, Texas) – 11.96 @ 44
17) Mark Bowman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) – No Time

The first pair in the opening round of eliminations lined up Donnie Massey with Terry Brian. Brian needed a win here to help his effort in the Championship hunt. Massey took out Brian in the first round at the last event at Tulsa and repeated that performance by clicking off a career best and low elapsed time of the entire season with a stellar 3.79 at 192 mph to take out Brian’s 3.96 at 180 mph.

(Donnie Massey)

Out next was Bobby Marriott’s nitro burner along side the mighty Chevrolet of Aaron Leyda. Leyda got the starting line advantage but dropped off to a 4.80 while Marriott blasted to a 3.93 at 188 mph to take the win light. The first two winners of the first round had already set the bar at a 3.93 or better to advance to the final as the others sat strapped in, intently watching the scoreboards.

Jimmy Jones and Mary Reep were out next in a battle of big power blown alcohol Hemis. Jones was out of the gate first by a huge margin and never looked back, posting a 3.96 at 180 mph to earn the round win and secure his position atop the points standings over Terry Brian.

Terry Anglin and David Purifoy rolled out next as Purifoy was bumped into the field as the first alternate, taking the place of John Broussard who was out with transmission issues. Purifoy ran into problems after the burnout and had to shutoff while Anglin took a solo win with a nice 4.19 at 171 mph.

Brad Rigler rolled through the water box along side DoDad Burton as eliminations continued. Rigler was off the line first and blasted to a stout 3.89 at 182 mph to take the win over Burton’s 4.20 at 163 mph and bump Marriott from his spot in the final round with just one pair to go.

Nick Poloson had to post career best numbers to hope for a spot in the final, up against Raymond Dawson who was making his second first round appearance of the season. Poloson was off the line first and posted his best pass of the event with a 4.01 at 176 mph to take the win as Donnie Massey and Brad Rigler would advance to the final as the quickest two winners.

First Round Eliminations:

(W) Donnie Massey (.102 rt) 3.79 @ 192 mph vs. (L) Terry Brian (.019 rt) 3.96 @ 180 mph
(W) Bobby Marriott (.131 rt) 3.93 @ 188 mph vs. (L) Aaron Leyda (.105 rt) 4.80 @ 107 mph
(W) Jimmy Jones (.065 rt) 3.96 @ 180 mph vs. (L) Mary Reep (.475 rt) 4.79 @ 106 mph
(W) Terry Anglin (.032 rt) 4.19 @ 171 mph vs. (L) David Purifoy (No Time)
(W) Brad Rigler (.144 rt) 3.89 @ 182 mph vs. (L) DoDad Burton (.241 rt) 4.20 @ 163 mph
(W) Nick Poloson (.045 rt) 4.01 @ 176 mph vs. (L) Raymond Dawson (.147 rt) 4.58 @ 144 mph

As day became night the last dance was upon two teams making their first final round appearance of the season. It was already a successful weekend for both drivers as career best numbers brought them to the final round, it was now time to put icing on the cake.

After side by side burnouts the “Toxic” and “Showtime” machines crept into the beams. Rigler took a healthy starting line advantage and had the lead early as the cars blasted down the Royal Purple Raceway eighth mile. By half track they were dead even as Massey’s nitro powered ponies started to pull ahead and took the win light at the stripe with low elapsed time of the event, 3.78 at 192 mph to narrowly defeat Rigler’s career best 3.87 at 193 mph, the fastest side by side final in OFAA history!

Final Round Results:

(W) Donnie Massey (.120 rt) 3.78 @ 192 mph vs. (L) Brad Rigler (.054 rt) 3.87 @ 193 mph

This marked Donnie Massey’s first win since April of 2009 as team “Showtime” scores a big win at the Super Chevy Show in Houston. Rigler and team “Toxic” had nothing to hang their heads about posting back to back career best passes and a solid runner-up finish.

(Team "Showtime" - Houston Winners)

Congratulations to both finalists and to all who set career best numbers in Houston. Brad Rigler’s 193.21 mph blast earned him the DFW Napa Auto Parts “Top Speed” Bonus and Rigler also took home the Wizard’s Warehouse “Final Round Finisher” Bonus along with Donnie Massey. Terry Brian claimed the Good Vibrations “Quick Reaction Time” bonus and two extra points for his .019 in the first round of eliminations. With it all said and done, the points battle between Jimmy Jones and Terry Brian remained the same after Houston, just six points separating the two heading into the final event of the season, this Saturday (Oct 22) at the Texas State Championships at San Antonio Raceway.

Low Elapsed Time - Donnie Massey (3.78)
Top Mile Per Hour - Brad Rigler (193 mph)

Texas Raceway Bonus Winners:

Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time - Terry Brian (.019)

DFW Napa Auto Parts Top Speed - Brad Rigler (193)

DFW Napa Auto Parts #1 Qualifier - Brad Rigler (4.01)

Competition Sales of Dallas #1 Qualifier - Terry Brian

Lenco Transmissions Outside Looking In - David Purifoy

Wizards Warehouse Finalists - Donnie Massey & Brad Rigler