Final Qualifying Order:

1) Jack Hodgson – 3.93
2) Donnie Massey – 4.05
3) Bobby Marriott – 4.06
4) Brad Rigler – 4.15
5) John Broussard – 4.20
6) Nick Poloson – 4.26
7) Donny McSwain – 4.43
8) Anthony Whitfield – 4.51
9) Tim Hay – 4.55
10) David Purifoy – 4.681
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11) Roy Sanchez - 4.689
12) Sean Belt – 4.78
13) Larry Reep – 5.17
14) Clint Cross – 6.59
15) Howard Knowles – 6.92
16) Chris White – 7.37
17) J.T. Heslink – 9.46
18) DoDad Burton – NT
19) Dale Wilkens – NT

John Broussard

First Round Eliminations:

Bobby Marriott (.106 rt, 4.42 at 161 mph) defeats Anthony Whitfield (.209 rt, 4.58 at 149 mph)
Roy Sanchez (.351 rt, 5.30 at 101 mph) defeats John Broussard (.482 rt, 7.89 at 58 mph)
Donnie McSwain (.046 rt, 4.58 at 142 mph) defeats Donnie Massey (.307 rt, 4.32 at 170 mph)
Brad Rigler (.125 rt, 4.26 at 156 mph) defeats Sean Belt (.145 rt, 9.53 at 52 mph)
Nick Poloson (.029 rt, 4.14 at 177 mph) defeats David Purifoy (Broke)

The final was a crapshoot. Poloson had been running very well for the past six or seven events dating back to last year while Rigler is always a threat proven by his 2005 and 2006 series championships and lethal final round record of 7-3 in his past ten trips to the last dance. Poloson got the advantage off the line by two hundredths and the two battled side by side down the tricky track surface. At the stripe Poloson took the win, his second of the night, with a 4.28 at 167 mph to Rigler’s 4.31 at 164 mph. What a drag race!

“It was getting very chilly and the track just didn’t have enough heat for the fuel altereds,” said Poloson. “The runs were challenging. When we were downloading the data recorder after our runs, our car was shaking and spinning so bad that the drive shaft RPM graph looked like a row of shark’s teeth. We made it to the final and of course I left on Brad, (wink, wink!) but it was close.  I’ll bet we swapped the lead by a couple of feet four or five times as we shook and skated to the finish line. The “Sundown” car took the stripe first by inches (from the time slip, margin of victory 0.04 sec.) and then the party started! What a great Saturday night for Tom, Keith and I, we can’t wait for Shreveport.”

The Royal Purple Outlaw Fuel Altered Association is set to hold the second event of the season at Red River Raceway in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Saturday, May 3.