What a month we’ve had in the OFAA. Our last two races went down in October with tons of excitement in all areas. We started off in September needing a new set of heads due to the damage sustained at Mokan. I was fortunate enough to get a great deal from Bobby Marriott on a set of Walt Austin heads that should really help our performance.
We started out with the new 7th race at Ben Bruce Raceway in Evadale, Texas on October 4th. Well Evadale is an old runway turned into a drag strip. The unique feature of this track is the big grandstand that runs across the track behind the water box. This gives the fans a great seat to see all the action from. It also happens to be only 35 feet above sea level so the air is usually pretty good. Well the new heads required us to put a lot more fuel in the motor so we figure the car might be a little sluggish on the first pass. I was in the first pair of cars on the track. After a very long smoky burnout, I stopped the car at the finish line, I blasted off the starting line like usual. However around 100 feet down track the car really started haulin’ the mail. Then with 100 feet of track to go the car died and I was looking at the transmission going through the lights! I was a little upset and when I raised my head I saw the 4.02 on the board. Wow if she would’ve held together. That should have been my first 3 second pass. At the top end I saw the problem. We lost the bottom blower pulley. Well we caught a break from an oil down between rounds and was able to fix the car for second round of qualifying. Well JT hasn’t made mistakes this year, and it caught up with me as I forgot to pull the car into low gear after the burnout. I ran a high gear only 4.43 and wasted a perfectly good opportunity to run in the 3’s. Well my 4.02 held out for #2 qualifier and I had to run Jack Hodgson in 1st round. We set a new record bump spot with a 4.1547 taking the #10 spot, and the 1st alternate ran 4.1548. Jack and I decided that since we probably weren’t going to be the fastest cars tonight that we were going to be the most spectacular. We did side-by-side burnouts to the finish line. Well I got a slight jump at the line and was able to hold Jack off with a 4.15 to his 4.18. What a show on this night!
Well fast forward two weeks and we arrive at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas for the OFAA Finals. After the excitement of the last two races and record fields we were expecting a huge night of excitement for the OFAA. Well it was exciting, just not how we thought it would go. It was a cool day and a cold night. That made for tricky conditions to get these machines down the race track in. The call went out to bring the Fuel Altereds to the lanes for first round of qualifying. As I was in the back of the line I heard a lot of on the throttle off the throttle going on. I figured it might get better at the back of the pack. Wrong answer! Jack Hodgson and I paired up for this run and did our full track burnouts again. This time we stopped them past the finish line. Well the burnout paid off as I was awarded the MaxCacklePhotos.com Best Burnout for the second time this year. Trust me when I tell you the burnout didn’t help the run at all. The car launched with the front wheels in the air and carried them for about 150 feet. That is where the car made a hard right hand turn for the centerline and I had to lift. Well I got the 330 foot cone with the header and idled on off the track. The good thing is that Jack was shaking the tires so hard in the other lane that he couldn’t see me coming. Back in the pits we decide to back off on the car a little and add all the weight we have to the front end in an effort to keep the tires on the ground. You can’t steer one of these monsters if the tires are in the air. Well 2nd round came around and this time I get to run Nick Poloson. Now this was the most fun I have had all year in the car. Nick got the holeshot by .010 and we swapped the lead 4-5 going down the track. He got the win light by .031 and most of the fans thought it was the best race they saw all night. Well my 4.13 on this run was good enough for the #7 spot going into eliminations. Now I have to run the Grim Reeper and he just ran a personal best 3.99 in qualifying. Larry stuck me in the left lane again and the result was much the same as before. I red-lighted and then around 150 feet the car made a right turn for the centerline again. This time I was able to reel it back without crossing the line as the front wheels were on the ground. Well Larry went on to run another 3.99 with a great .042 light. It would have been tough to beat him on his magical night that saw one of drag racings biggest legend retire. Congratulations Larry on a stellar career that most of us can barely even dream about having.
Well the after party was one that you just had to be at as I can’t talk about what happened here. It went until just before sunrise, and we all had a great time. Now we have a long off season to fix up our hotrods and get ready for the banquet. I want to send out a huge congratulation to everyone in the OFAA. You guys and gals are a classy group of racers and I am proud to call you my racing family. I had a blast in my rookie year and look forward to more of the same if not better next year. To the IDR staff thanks for being there this year to let the world see what great racing we have in the OFAA. Most of all I want to thank Mom and Dad for giving me the opportunity to drive The Punisher. I hope I didn’t let you down this year. Thank you Terry Darby for all the help at the races and in the shop. You definitely made this year easier for me. To my girlfriend Julie, thanks for all the support this year. Hopefully next year you can be at more races. I want to thank Mickey Thompson Tires for helping us out with a great set of tires. Dennis Peranio gave us a great tune up and lots of advice throughout the year. Thanks for all the help Dennis. Shannon Tigue and the Royal Purple gang…what can I say? You guys are awesome to have at the races. Shannon you saved my year and I can never thank you enough for that. Until we meet again at the banquet keep the shiny side up and don’t forget to SMELL THE NITRO!
We started out with the new 7th race at Ben Bruce Raceway in Evadale, Texas on October 4th. Well Evadale is an old runway turned into a drag strip. The unique feature of this track is the big grandstand that runs across the track behind the water box. This gives the fans a great seat to see all the action from. It also happens to be only 35 feet above sea level so the air is usually pretty good. Well the new heads required us to put a lot more fuel in the motor so we figure the car might be a little sluggish on the first pass. I was in the first pair of cars on the track. After a very long smoky burnout, I stopped the car at the finish line, I blasted off the starting line like usual. However around 100 feet down track the car really started haulin’ the mail. Then with 100 feet of track to go the car died and I was looking at the transmission going through the lights! I was a little upset and when I raised my head I saw the 4.02 on the board. Wow if she would’ve held together. That should have been my first 3 second pass. At the top end I saw the problem. We lost the bottom blower pulley. Well we caught a break from an oil down between rounds and was able to fix the car for second round of qualifying. Well JT hasn’t made mistakes this year, and it caught up with me as I forgot to pull the car into low gear after the burnout. I ran a high gear only 4.43 and wasted a perfectly good opportunity to run in the 3’s. Well my 4.02 held out for #2 qualifier and I had to run Jack Hodgson in 1st round. We set a new record bump spot with a 4.1547 taking the #10 spot, and the 1st alternate ran 4.1548. Jack and I decided that since we probably weren’t going to be the fastest cars tonight that we were going to be the most spectacular. We did side-by-side burnouts to the finish line. Well I got a slight jump at the line and was able to hold Jack off with a 4.15 to his 4.18. What a show on this night!
Well fast forward two weeks and we arrive at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas for the OFAA Finals. After the excitement of the last two races and record fields we were expecting a huge night of excitement for the OFAA. Well it was exciting, just not how we thought it would go. It was a cool day and a cold night. That made for tricky conditions to get these machines down the race track in. The call went out to bring the Fuel Altereds to the lanes for first round of qualifying. As I was in the back of the line I heard a lot of on the throttle off the throttle going on. I figured it might get better at the back of the pack. Wrong answer! Jack Hodgson and I paired up for this run and did our full track burnouts again. This time we stopped them past the finish line. Well the burnout paid off as I was awarded the MaxCacklePhotos.com Best Burnout for the second time this year. Trust me when I tell you the burnout didn’t help the run at all. The car launched with the front wheels in the air and carried them for about 150 feet. That is where the car made a hard right hand turn for the centerline and I had to lift. Well I got the 330 foot cone with the header and idled on off the track. The good thing is that Jack was shaking the tires so hard in the other lane that he couldn’t see me coming. Back in the pits we decide to back off on the car a little and add all the weight we have to the front end in an effort to keep the tires on the ground. You can’t steer one of these monsters if the tires are in the air. Well 2nd round came around and this time I get to run Nick Poloson. Now this was the most fun I have had all year in the car. Nick got the holeshot by .010 and we swapped the lead 4-5 going down the track. He got the win light by .031 and most of the fans thought it was the best race they saw all night. Well my 4.13 on this run was good enough for the #7 spot going into eliminations. Now I have to run the Grim Reeper and he just ran a personal best 3.99 in qualifying. Larry stuck me in the left lane again and the result was much the same as before. I red-lighted and then around 150 feet the car made a right turn for the centerline again. This time I was able to reel it back without crossing the line as the front wheels were on the ground. Well Larry went on to run another 3.99 with a great .042 light. It would have been tough to beat him on his magical night that saw one of drag racings biggest legend retire. Congratulations Larry on a stellar career that most of us can barely even dream about having.
Well the after party was one that you just had to be at as I can’t talk about what happened here. It went until just before sunrise, and we all had a great time. Now we have a long off season to fix up our hotrods and get ready for the banquet. I want to send out a huge congratulation to everyone in the OFAA. You guys and gals are a classy group of racers and I am proud to call you my racing family. I had a blast in my rookie year and look forward to more of the same if not better next year. To the IDR staff thanks for being there this year to let the world see what great racing we have in the OFAA. Most of all I want to thank Mom and Dad for giving me the opportunity to drive The Punisher. I hope I didn’t let you down this year. Thank you Terry Darby for all the help at the races and in the shop. You definitely made this year easier for me. To my girlfriend Julie, thanks for all the support this year. Hopefully next year you can be at more races. I want to thank Mickey Thompson Tires for helping us out with a great set of tires. Dennis Peranio gave us a great tune up and lots of advice throughout the year. Thanks for all the help Dennis. Shannon Tigue and the Royal Purple gang…what can I say? You guys are awesome to have at the races. Shannon you saved my year and I can never thank you enough for that. Until we meet again at the banquet keep the shiny side up and don’t forget to SMELL THE NITRO!
