Kinsley Clinches Third Straight OFAA Win
at Mo-Kan Dragway Labor Day Classic
Event 6 of 9 – Labor Day Classic -
The Painless Performance Outlaw Fuel Altered Association enjoyed a two month break from the heat of the southwest before holding its sixth of nine events this season, headlining the Mo-Kan Dragway Labor Day Classic in Asbury, Missouri. The most unique stop on the OFAA tour, Mo-Kan's Labor Day Classic is one of the only annual two day events on the tour and this marked the tenth consecutive season the series headlined this feature event. Fourteen cars came to battle down one of the oldest and trickiest drag strips in the country and provided wheel to wheel action and some very wild rides for the loyal crowd in Missouri, who look forward to this event each and every year.
Two time defending series Champion Jimmy Jones and his "Texas Tremor" team came into the event with a slim fourteen point lead over the red-hot Kebin Kinsley and team "Nitro Junkie". Kinsley had jumped into the Championship hunt with back to back wins in the previous two outings and hoped to continue his winning streak here in a brutal fight for those precious Painless Performance points. Jones and Kinsley had plenty of tough competition to stand in their way as several mid-west based teams looked to defend home turf while the boys and girls from the south had other plans in store. Howard Knowles and Anthony Whitfield were making their first OFAA appearances of the season here at Mo-Kan.
Two night time qualifying sessions were run under the lights on Saturday with some spectacular results. The most hair raising moment of the night occurred when Donny McSwain's "Wild One" blown alcohol machine made a hard move across the centerline, resulting in a stiff impact with Mary Reep's "Grim Reeper" entry as the cars passed half-track. In an unbelievable outcome, the rear wheel of McSwain's car lined up identically with Reep's rear wheel with both cars under full power, resulting in quite minimal damage to both entries and most importantly a safe exit from the racecars by both drivers.
(Donny McSwain)
Jimmy Jones blasted to a 4.00 at 161 mph to claim the number one spot for the second time this season and Nick Poloson's "Sundown" entry nabbed the number two position with a clean 4.03 at 175 mph. Donnie Massey's "Showtime" nitro burner also tripped the clocks with a 4.03 which qualified him third and Donny McSwain took a spot in the top half of the field with a nice 4.06 at 176 mph. The points hungry Kebin Kinsley claimed the number five qualifying position with a 4.17 at 182 mph with Mark Bowman and Aaron Leyda rounding out the top half of the field heading into Sunday's eliminations.
(Nick Poloson)
(Kebin Kinsley)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Jimmy Jones (Cleburne, Texas) - 4.00 @ 161
2) Nick Poloson (Bulverde, Texas) - 4.038 @ 175
3) Donnie Massey (Little Elm, Texas) - 4.039 @ 159
4) Donny McSwain (Rockwall, Texas) - 4.06 @ 176
5) Kebin Kinsley (Arlington, Texas) - 4.17 @ 182
6) Mark Bowman (Oklahoma City, Ok) - 4.182 @ 170
7) Aaron Leyda (Bartlesville, Ok) - 4.188 @ 172
8) Terry Brian (New London, Texas) - 4.21 @ 174
9) Mary Reep (Austin, Texas) - 4.23 @ 153
10) Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) - 4.30 @ 151
11) Doyle Smith (Paris, Texas) - 5.21 @ 97
12) Howard Knowles (Carthage, Mo) - 5.71 @ 100
13) Joe Farris (Eureka Springs, Ar) - 6.05 @ 114
14) Anthony Whitfield (Elk City, Ks) - 12.06 @ 37
Eliminations:
Due to mechanical parts failure, Howard Knowles, Mark Bowman and Donnie Massey were sidelined and could not make the call for the first round of eliminations, which left eleven cars ready to do battle as the call went out from Mo-Kan Dragway's one and only Carl Blanton, to bring em' to the lanes. This first round was very important to both Kebin Kinsley and Jimmy Jones as any mistake or an unexpected first round loss would prove critical in the hunt for the 2013 OFAA Championship.
The quickest four winners from this round would advance to the semi-finals and action was underway with Mary Reep clicking off a solid 4.06 at 182 mph to set the pace in a bye run. Bobby Marriott and Donny McSwain were out next and the "Wild One" of McSwain lived up to its name yet again. McSwain got the starting line advantage and started making a move to the centerline and from 150 feet to the finish line it was on and off the throttle, front wheels in the air as McSwain fought to keep the car in his lane. At the stripe, McSwain got the win in a wildly entertaining pass with a 4.17 at 161 mph to Marriott's off pace 7.43.
(Bobby Marriott vs. Donny McSwain)
A pair of nitro burning machines came to life in the next bout as Kinsley and Smith crept into the stage beams. Kinsley owned this one from start to finish as he left first and clicked off low elapsed time of the event so far with a 3.90 at 188 mph. Smith dropped a cylinder which drove him across the centerline and cones went flying on his 4.43 at 149 mph effort. Local favorite Aaron Leyda and the Dale "Lurch" Wilkens tuned machine rolled through the water box next alongside number one qualifier Jimmy Jones. Leyda took a slight advantage off the line but his 4.22 at 169 mph was no match for Jones' winning 4.01 at 180 mph.
(Doyle Smith vs. Kebin Kinsley)
Anthony Whitfield and Joe Farris were set to battle but in a strange set of circumstances neither car was able to make it to the starting line. Whitfield's car lost fire after the burnout and he quickly climbed out and over the wall, while Farris lost brake pressure trying to stop from his burnout and wisely elected to coast down the track and take the turnoff. As eliminations continued, the final pairing of the round came to life as Nick Poloson and Terry Brian laid down side by side burnouts. If either driver wanted to advance to the semis, the winner would have to run better than Donny McSwain's 4.17. Poloson took the starting line advantage and never trailed, clicking off a nice 3.99 at 176 mph to advance over Brian's close 4.15 at 170 mph.
(Terry Brian vs. Nick Poloson)
First Round Results:
(W) Mary Reep (.103 rt) 4.06 @ 182 mph vs. (L) Donnie Massey (No Time - Broke)
(W) Donny McSwain (.070 rt) 4.17 @ 161 mph vs. (L) Bobby Marriott (.138 rt) 7.43 @ 62 mph
(W) Kebin Kinsley (.067 rt) 3.90 @ 188 mph vs. (L) Doyle Smith (.244 rt) 4.43 @ 149 mph
(W) Jimmy Jones (.085 rt) 4.01 @ 180 mph vs. (L) Aaron Leyda (.068 rt) 4.22 @ 169 mph
(W) Nick Poloson (.084 rt) 3.99 @ 176 mph vs. (L) Terry Brian (.153 rt) 4.15 @ 170 mph
The semi-final featured two powerhouse match-ups that a gambling man would be scared to bet on. First out was Mary Reep ready to take on Nick Poloson. Reep came to play hard ball as she led this one from start to finish posting her best time of the event, a winning 3.96 at 176 mph to Poloson's very close 3.98 at 177 mph in a great side by side drag race. Reep would advance to her second final of the season to face the winner between the next pairing, Kebin Kinsley vs. Jimmy Jones.
(Mary Reep)
This race had huge points implications for Kinsley as he had the opportunity to knock out the points leader and gain ground in the Championship hunt. Jones blasted off the line with a slight reaction time advantage and at half-track the cars were side by side, but at the stripe Kinsley's nitro powered machine had the horsepower to drive around for the win, posting a 3.94 at 192 mph to Jones' 4.00 at 178 mph as Kinsley and car owner Roger Hennen were headed to their third straight OFAA final round.
(Jimmy Jones)
Semi-Final Round Results:
(W) Mary Reep (.022 rt) 3.96 @ 176 mph vs. (L) Nick Poloson (.051 rt) 3.98 @ 177 mph
(W) Kebin Kinsley (.057 rt) 3.94 @ 192 mph vs. (L) Jimmy Jones (.015 rt) 4.00 @ 178 mph
It was time to crown a champion at the Mo-Kan Dragway Labor Day Classic as the teams towed to the staging lanes for the final round between Reep and Kinsley. Both teams were hungry for this one as Kinsley was desperate for points while Reep was looking to show no mercy to the boys and cap off a wild weekend with the win light. The cars came to life and after the burnouts Reep's machine was idling at a very high rpm which made it nearly impossible to back up, but she got it back to the line with the brake rotors glowing orange and the crew went to work getting final adjustments made while Reep kept her cool in the cockpit. As they left the line Kinsley blasted header flames high right down the eighth mile while Reep fell back due to a brake issue, Kinsley clicking off a 3.93 at 174 mph to claim his third straight OFAA event win, a three peat that hasn't been done since Brad Rigler's three race winning streak in 2006.
(Kebin Kinsley vs. Mary Reep)
Final Round Results:
(W) Kebin Kinsley (.131 rt) 3.93 @ 174 mph vs. (L) Mary Reep (.205 rt) 5.66 @ 90 mph
"This win is huge for us in the points chase and racing with the OFAA is just the most fun you can possibly have at the drag strip. We have fun whether we win or lose and to win just makes it that much better. My crew has worked so hard, they deserve all the credit for the success we've had recently and Kebin is doing a great job driving the car. We'll get it back to Texas and service it and be ready for Baytown to do it all over again," said team owner Roger Hennen.
(Kebin Kinsley)
The "Nitro Junkie" team of Kinsley and Hennen made up nine points on Jimmy Jones and now trails the two time defending series Champion by just five points with three events remaining this season. The next stop on the OFAA tour takes the series to Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas on Saturday, September 29th as the headliners of the Super Chevy Show. The OFAA would like to thank Painless Performance Products for their support as the major series sponsor and to bonus program sponsors Good Vibrations Motorsports, North Texas Diesel, 3rd Coast Commissioning Services, Wizard's Warehouse and Competition Sales of Dallas.
Click Here to see photos from this event.
Low Elapsed Time - Kebin Kinsley (3.90)
Top Mile Per Hour - Kebin Kinsley (192 mph)
North Star Dragway Bonus Winners:
Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time - Jimmy Jones (.015)
Competition Sales of Dallas "Luck of the Draw" - Anthony Whitfield
Wizards Warehouse Finalists - Kinsley & Reep
3rd Coast Commissioning "Best Burnout" - Aaron Leyda
North Texas Diesel's "Quickest Non-Finalist" - Nick Poloson
