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Brainerd Wins Back to Back in "Black Gold"
Text by Chris Graves ~ Photos by MaxCacklePhotos.com
The second stop on the 2011 Texas Blown Fuel tour brought the series to North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas, for a night of heads up, all blown nostalgia drag racing under clear skies and with excellent weather conditions. The TBFA brought it's largest field to date with twelve blown machines on the property, a feat in itself given the tough economy and declining car counts across the board in the sport of drag racing this year.
Joining the TBFA for the first time were Steve Matthews and Bobby Bebout. Matthews, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, races an original 1970 Woody Gilmore Top Fuel chassis with a blown alcohol small block Chevy. Bebout is wheeling the "Bad Company" blown fuel altered owned by veteran fuel racer Steve Tryon of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Bebout spends his time away from the racetrack in the ultimate fighting cage and brings a new level of security to the TBFA pits to say the least!
Willie and Kat Brainerd were hot off their season opening win at Shreveport and hoped for a repeat performance in the "Black Gold" blown slingshot. The TBFA series welcomed back some familiar faces in Eddie Taylor's "Faded Memories" blown dragster, Rich Witko's "Terminator" blown funny car and Mike Wheeler's "Rapture" blown altered.
2010 TBFA Champion Leonard Ament and the "Black Magic" team were in full force and ready for a strong showing at their home track after mechanical issues put them out early in Shreveport. The "Defiant" blown front engine dragster of Stouffer & Meador also came to Denton with high expectations after very positive pre-race testing results.
Wes Breiten rolled into North Star Dragway hot off his runner-up finish at Shreveport in the "Bad O-Man" blown altered sitting second in points and was joined by Dustin Johnson, Rick Grindstaff and Don Holley as the field of twelve prepared for two rounds of qualifying.
A pre-established grudge match started off the first time trial session as friendly rivals Leonard Ament and Rich Witko laid down ear drum shattering side by side burnouts. Ament got the jump off the line but the funny car had the ponies as Witko clicked off a nice 4.72 at 148 mph to Ament's 4.91 at 141 mph. Willie Brainerd came out and laid down a strong 4.71 at 145 mph to claim the top spot after session number one. Shreveport top qualifier, Dustin Johnson, had his hands full in the "Fair Warning" blown altered. In his first pass since changing rear end gears, the car launched into a huge wheelstand as Johnson pedaled it back down to Earth and then crossed the centerline as he neared the traps, a true wild ride, fuel altered style.
Chris Stouffer wheeled the "Defiant" machine to a nice 4.74 at 152 mph to claim a spot in the top half early and Steve Matthews clicked off a solid 4.79 at 139 mph. Mike Wheeler rounded out the top half after first session with a 4.87 at 139 mph in the "Rapture" as the teams returned to the pits for final qualifying preparations.
Ament and Witko lined up again to open the final session, this time the "Black Magic" altered took the win after Witko was forced to lift as he got out of shape at the hit of the throttle. Ament improved to a 4.87 at 141 mph to qualify in the top half of the field in sixth and was now 1-1 against Witko in their grudge series.
Steve Matthews clicked off another strong run improving to a 4.74 at 148 mph, impressively notching the number four qualifying position in his first outing with the TBFA series. In the other lane, Dustin Johnson bested a 7.06 at 117 mph to get in at number eleven and hoped to pick up the pace in eliminations.
Chris Stouffer blasted to the pole position with an outstanding 4.68 at 153 mph in the "Defiant" rail and Rick Grindstaff jumped into the field with a 5.10 in the "Quarterflash" dragster after missing the first time trial with an electrical issue. Eddie Taylor improved to a 5.09 at 128 mph in the "Faded Memories" machine to claim the number seven qualifying position and Wes Breiten's "Bad O-Man" took the number nine spot with a best of 6.70 at 141 mph. Bobby Bebout got no time in the first time trial due to a solenoid failure in the transmission and was forced to take the old school approach to backing up, send your entire crew plus a few spares out to push the car back after each burnout! Bebout took the number ten qualifying spot with a 6.78 in the "Bad Company" altered.
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Chris Stouffer (Cleburne, Texas) 4.68 @ 153 mph
2) Willie Brainerd (Mounds, Oklahoma) 4.71 @ 145 mph
3) Rich Witko (Denton, Texas) 4.72 @ 148 mph
4) Steve Matthews (Ardmore, Oklahoma) 4.74 @ 148 mph
5) Mike Wheeler (Paradise, Texas) 4.870 @ 139 mph
6) Leonard Ament (Denton, Texas) 4.872 @ 141 mph
7) Eddie Taylor (Arlington, Texas) 5.09 @ 128 mph
8) Rick Grindstaff (Dickinson, Texas) 5.10 @ 140 mph
9) Wes Breiten (Wolf City, Texas) 6.70 @ 141 mph
10) Bebout / Tryon (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) 6.78 @ 87 mph
11) Dustin Johnson (Davis, Oklahoma) 7.06 @ 117 mph
12) Don Holley (Denton, Texas) No Time
With a few bugs shaken out and two passes under their belts, the TBFA teams drew cards to establish first round pairings and made their final tuning adjustments before heading to the lanes for the opening round of eliminations.
North Star Dragway owner and the lone TBFA blown funny car driver, Rich Witko, rolled through the water in the "Terminator" with another huge burnout, then lined up with points leader Willie Brainerd and the "Black Gold" blown dragster. This was a big match-up as the number two and three qualifiers crept into the beams. Brainerd got a slight advantage off the line as the cars blasted down the eighth mile in a great side by side pairing. Witko's flopper went .001 under the index with a 4.649 at 149 mph giving the win to Brainerd who clicked off a nice 4.80 at 150 mph. Witko had a solid outing, qualifying third and running strong numbers but was a blink too quick at the stripe and he will be hoping for better luck at the next event.
Chris Stouffer lined up with Don Holley in the next pair as Holley's car lost fire after the burnout. Holley climbed out and safely exited the racetrack while Stouffer caught the news of his first round gift, a bye run! Stouffer hiked the front wheels and ran it through the traps lighting the boards with a 4.644 at 152 mph, .016 under the index, which put him in a bad spot despite the round win. If three of the remaining eight cars win their first round with legal elapsed time, Stouffer would be sidelined due to the index violation. With their fingers cross, team "Defiant" could do nothing but wait and watch as eliminations continued.
Dustin Johnson rolled out along side Eddie Taylor in an altered vs. dragster battle. Taylor got the starting line advantage and put down his best run of the night with a 5.01 at 141 mph but Johnson drove around him with a 4.92 at 143 mph in the closest race of the first round (mov: .09 of a second). Taylor made three consecutive low five second passes and had a strong first outing of the season, but Johnson was moving to the semis.
Wes Breiten and Bobby Bebout lined up their blown altereds as eliminations continued. This one was wild from the get go as both cars fought for traction early, the drivers pedaled their way down and Bebout earned his first TBFA round win in his debut event with a 6.31 at 126 mph to Breiten's 7.06 at 80 mph.
Steve Matthews had the luck of running the defending 2010 TBFA Champion Leonard Ament in his first elimination round with the series. Despite the name in the other lane, Matthews had a strong advantage over Ament on paper but, we don't drag race on paper. Matthews over anticipated the tree and went red by -.379 while Ament clicked off a 5.39 at 98 mph to advance to the semi-final. Ament's winning elapsed time also bumped Stouffer from a chance at competing in the semi-final due to his breakout.
In the final pair of the opening round, Rick Grindstaff and Mike Wheeler squared off as Grindstaff got a huge advantage off the line and never looked back, taking the nod with a 5.09 at 139 mph over Wheeler's 6.60 at 101 mph. The four quickset winners including Grindstaff, Brainerd, Johnson and Ament would head back to the pits and prepare for their semi-final round.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Willie Brainerd (.201 rt) 4.80 @ 150 mph vs. (L) Rich Witko (.265 rt) 4.649 @ 149 mph
(W) Chris Stouffer (.083 rt) 4.644 @ 152 mph vs. (L) Don Holley (No Time)
(W) Dustin Johnson (.191 rt) 4.92 @ 143 mph vs. (L) Eddie Taylor (.157 rt) 5.01 @ 141 mph
(W) Bobby Bebout (.240 rt) 6.31 @ 126 mph vs. (L) Wes Breiten (.288 rt) 7.06 @ 80 mph
(W) Leonard Ament (.073 rt) 5.39 @ 98 mph vs. (L) Steve Matthews (-.379 rt) 6.09 @ 73 mph
(W) Rick Grindstaff (.078 rt) 5.07 @ 139 mph vs. (L) Mike Wheeler (.328 rt) 6.60 @ 101 mph
Willie Brainerd again opened the semi-final round, this time along side Leonard Ament. Ament got the jump off the line then went sky high and toward the wall as it appeared three wheels were off the ground as he passed the tree in the 'Black Magic" fiat while Brainerd jumped ahead and took the win with a 5.14 at 116 mph to Ament's 5.86 at 113 mph. This sent Brainerd to back to back finals in as many starts with the TBFA and a chance to win the first two races of the season.
Dustin Johnson and Rick Grindstaff rolled out next to see who would face Brainerd in the final. Grindstaff took a slight advantage off the line but immediately spun the tires as Johnson pulled ahead and pedaled to a 5.71 at 115 mph to take the nod and advance to his first TBFA final round.
In the bonus round, eligible only to the winners of first round who didn't advance to the semi-final, Chris Stouffer and Mike Wheeler lined up. Stouffer blasted to an outstanding 4.66 at 149 mph while Wheeler clicked off a 5.95 at 108 mph, both earning five bonus points for their efforts.
SEMI FINAL RESULTS:
(W) Willie Brainerd (.125 rt) 5.14 @ 116 mph vs. (L) Leonard Ament (.090 rt) 5.86 @ 113 mph
(W) Dustin Johnson (.161 rt) 5.71 @ 115 mph vs. (L) Rick Grindstaff (.146 rt) 7.60 @ 86 mph
Consolation Bonus Round: (Chris Stouffer 4.66 @ 149 mph) vs. Mike Wheeler (5.95 @ 108 mph)
As "Black Gold" and "Fair Warning" prepared to square off, Dustin Johnson was hoping for his first TBFA win while Brainerd looked to pad his points lead and be the first driver to win multiple TBFA events. The cars backed up from side by side burnouts and lit the stage bulbs. The ambers flashed and the butterflies were wide open! Brainerd took a slight advantage and ripped down the strip to a 4.76 at 146 mph which was enough to take the win over Johnson, who clicked off his best pass of the night with a 4.89 at 143 mph in a good final round drag race.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Willie Brainerd (.071 rt) 4.76 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Dustin Johnson (.105 rt) 4.89 @ 143 mph
What a win for Willie and Kat Brainerd as the "Black Gold" blown slingshot became the first repeat TBFA winner in series history and they remain undefeated in TBFA competition, congratulations!
"This is honestly unbelievable to me, I'm humbled by it all really, Kat and I never expected to end up winning any of the races much less the first two in a row. We have had more than our fair share of luck in all this and honestly, we haven't even been close to the index yet and still manage to get the win light. We got lucky in first round when Witko broke out by a thousandth then in the semi-final we got lucky when Grindstaff spun the tires. My hats off to Dustin and Gary Johnson, they have been doing really well this season and he gave me a great race in the final round I could hear him all the way. I'd like to thank Wes-Mar Racing Engines in Bixby, Oklahoma for keeping the "Black Gold" on the track after we hurt some things at Shreveport. I will have my rabbit foot in my fire suit and my lucky red underwear on at Kennedale next month believe me, we love this series and it's great to see new members continuing to join. The TBFA offers an affordable way to go fast and have fun and we're looking forward to the next one," said Brainerd.
The Texas Blown Fuel Association had a very successful second outing of the season and the series would like to thank Good Vibrations, JamWorks Chassis and Competition Sales of Dallas for their support in the 2011 season. Chris Stouffer took home the $50 "#1 Qualifier Bonus" from JamWorks Chassis and free case of Brad-Penn Oil from Competition Sales of Dallas, Leonard Ament took home the $100 bonus from Good Vibrations "Quick Reaction Time" bonus and the MaxCacklePhotos.com "Best Burnout" bonus as well.
Willie Brainerd now leads the TBFA points standings by twenty points over Chris Stouffer while Dustin Johnson jumped from fifth to third with his runner-up finish and finds himself right in the mix after two of eight rounds. The next stop for the Texas Blown Fuel Association will be Friday, May 20th at Texas Raceway in Kennedale, Texas!
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