McSwain Marches to Victory at Thunder Valley
Event 3 of 8 – Thunder Valley Raceway – Noble, OK – June 21st, 2014

The Painless Performance Products Outlaw Fuel Altered Association marched into Thunder Valley Raceway in Noble, Oklahoma on Saturday, June 21st with a fourteen car field ready to do battle. Defending series Champion Jimmy Jones came into the event in the points lead followed closely by Mark Bowman and John Broussard. The OFAA welcomed the return of team "Mighty Mouse" with driver Anthony Whitfield from Elk City, Kansas and team "Nitro Madness" from Des Moines, Iowa now driven by Roger Lechtenberg. As the sun began to set, the call went out for the first of two qualifying sessions to begin and the fans found their seats ready for some fuel altered action on a Saturday night in Oklahoma.

(Anthony Whitfield)

Qualifying Highlights:

Upon the completion of qualifying, Nick Poloson and team "Sundown" sat atop the pack with a 4.011 at 174 mph with Jimmy Jones hot on their trail with a 4.017 at 170 mph. Roger Lechtenburg clicked off a nice 4.02 at 186 mph and Donny McSwain qualified fourth with a 4.05 at 177 mph in the "Wild One" blown alcohol entry. Bobby Marriott and John Broussard rounded out the top half of the field with DoDad Burton on the bump with a 4.23 at 166 mph. Doyle Smith's "Chemical Reaction" and Terry Brian's "II N'Tense" nitro burners both came up short of making the quick twelve as the teams returned to the pit area to prepare for the all important first round of eliminations.

(Dolye Smith)

(Terry Brian)

(Nick Poloson & Ken Singleton)

Final Qualifying Order:

1. Nick Poloson (San Antonio, TX) - 4.011 @ 174
2. Jimmy Jones (Cleburne, TX) - 4.017 @ 170
3. Roger Lechtenberg (Cedar Rapids, IA) - 4.02 @ 186
4. Donny McSwain (Rockwall, TX) - 4.05 @ 177
5. Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, TX) - 4.06 @ 178
6. John Broussard (Lake Charles, LA) - 4.070 @ 174
7. Mary Reep (Austin, TX) - 4.077 @ 150
8. Ken Singleton (Chicasaw, OK) - 4.13 @ 162
9. Mark Bowman (Oklahoma City, OK) - 4.16 @ 172
10. Raymond Dawson (Nevada, TX) - 4.17 @ 170
11. Anthony Whitfield (Elk City, KS) - 4.231 @ 169
12. DoDad Burton (Tyler, TX) - 4.235 @ 166
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13. Terry Brian (New London, TX) - 4.79 @ 150
14. Doyle Smith (Paris, TX) - 5.22 @ 95

Eliminations:

(Raymond Dawson)

Donny McSwain and Raymond Dawson opened up the first round of eliminations, where the quickest two winners would advance to the final round of this Chicago style race. Dawson's "High Octane" team had issues getting the car to fire and weren't able to make the call as McSwain soloed to stellar 3.94 at 181 mph. John Broussard was hoping to keep his hot streak alive after posting a runner-up finish at the last event in Ardmore, OK. Broussard came to the line against the upset minded Dodad Burton in the "Free Spirit" entry. At the flash of amber, Broussard was off the line first and never trailed as his 4.07 at 176 mph defeated Burton's 4.26 at 164 mph. Anthony Whitfield and Bobby Marriott were out next. They left the line together but Marriott quickly faded as Whitfield took the round win with a 4.19 at 167 mph to Marriott's 4.65 at 174 mph.

(DoDad Burton)

(Donny McSwain)

As eliminations continued, Jimmy Jones and Ken Singleton wheeled their heavy hitting blown alcohol cars to the stage beams. Both had good reaction times but this was settled early as Singleton had issues, while Jones posted a strong 4.02 at 176 mph to take the win. Roger Lechtenburg and Mark Bowman brought their machines to life as two pairs remained in the opening round. Bowman took a slight starting line advantage but the "Nitro Madness" machine quickly closed the gap and drove around for the win with a 4.05 at 179 mph to Bowman's 4.51 at 144 mph. In the final pair, Mary Reep and number one qualifier Nick Poloson came to the line. The winner here would have to run quicker than Jimmy Jones' 4.02 to advance to the finals to square off with McSwain. In what might have been the best pair of the round, this one was decided early as Poloson jumped the tree with a -.022 reaction time, while Reep blasted to a solid 3.98 at 175 mph earning the "Grim Reeper" team a spot in the finals.

First Round Results:

(W) Donny McSwain (.171 rt) 3.94 @ 181 vs. (L) Raymond Dawson (No Time - Broke)
(W) John Broussard (.089 rt) 4.07 @ 176 vs. (L) Dodad Burton (.172 rt) 4.26 @ 164
(W) Anthony Whitfield (.140 rt) 4.19 @ 167 vs. (L) Bobby Marriott (.133 rt) 4.65 @ 164
(W) Jimmy Jones (.066 rt) 4.02 @ 176 vs. (L) Ken Singleton (.082 rt) 5.53 @ 101
(W) Roger Lechtenburg (.104 rt) 4.05 @ 179 vs. (L) Mark Bowman (.088 rt) 4.51 @ 144
(W) Mary Reep (.132 rt) 3.98 @ 175 vs. (L) Nick Poloson (-.022 rt) 4.50 @ 124

(Mark Bowman)

(Bobby Marriott)

(Jimmy Jones)

(Mary Reep)

Donny McSwain was entering his first OFAA final round since the summer of 2010, while Mary Reep was hoping she would keep her winning streak alive in Noble, Oklahoma after winning this very event last season. After side by side burnouts, crew chiefs Kenny Trumble and Larry Reep made their final adjustments before sending their drivers into the stage beams. The rpms screamed as the drivers bumped into the final beam and they were off with McSwain taking the starting line advantage. Side by side they thundered down the eighth mile and at the stripe McSwain's 4.02 at 177 mph took out Reep's 4.01 at 175 on a holeshot victory for McSwain and company.

Final Round Results:

(W) Donny McSwain (.130 rt) 4.02 @ 177 vs. (L) Mary Reep (.252 rt) 4.01 @ 175

(Team "WILD ONE" - Noble Winners)

It was a well-earned trip back to the winners circle for the entire "Wild One" team who have campaigned a tough running car for two seasons, but seemed to come up just short, until today. Reep posted her first runner-up finish of the season after three final round appearances last season. Both teams held their heads high as the event came to an end. The OFAA series has a weekend off before returning to North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas to the most prestigious event of the season, the Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered Showdown, where the fuel altered teams go head to head against their friendly rivals of the Texas Outlaw Pro Mod series in a two day event, July 4-5th.

The OFAA would like to thank Painless Performance Products, Good Vibrations Motorsports, Competition Sales of Dallas, Napa Auto Parts of North Texas and Wizard's Warehouse for their continued support of the 2014 racing season.

Thunder Valley Bonus Winners:

Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time - Jimmy Jones (.066)

Napa Auto Parts "We Got There Fast!" Top MPH Bonus
Roger Luchtenburg - 186 MPH

Competition Sales of Dallas / Brad Penn
"Luck of the Draw" - Donny McSwain

Competition Sales of Dallas / Sunoco Race Fuels
"Luck of the Draw" - Jimmy Jones