Bobby Marriott’s “Shockwave” lined up with David Purifoy in the “Thrill Factor” ride with Marriott clicking off a 4.10 at 183 mph to Purifoy’s solid 4.23 at 167 mph. Chris Trussell in the “Assassin” and newcomer Aaron Leyda closed out the session. Leyda was making his OFAA debut behind the wheel of the “Hemi Hunter” machine owned by OFAA veteran driver and tuner Dale “Lurch” Wilkens. Trussell clicked off a 4.37 at 148 mph and Leyda went 4.72 at 118 mph in only his third pass in the car.

After another round of qualifying, Mary Reep held on to claim her second pole position in her rookie season, but back in the pits a few heavy hitting teams discovered some bad news. The “Grim Reeper” team found a heavy amount of silver flakes in the oil filter after the second qualifying session and opted to sit out eliminations to prevent any further damage to their hot rod as there are three more points races in the next month and a half. For Reep, it was another impressive qualifying effort with not much luck there after, but expect to see your first OFAA female winner sooner than later, it’s simply a matter of time.

In the second qualifying round Marriott completely lost vision as oil escaped the motor and coated the cockpit of the “Shockwave” machine.  Unable to see and still getting a face full of oil and nitro, Marriott blindly fought to keep his car from getting in the wall, but in doing so actually drifted into the right lane and lightly tagged the guardrail in the shutdown area. The most damage to the “Shockwave” car came from the guardrail catching and destroying one of the parachutes, not a bad report card after a wild set of circumstances. 

Final Qualifying Order:

1) Mary Reep (Austin, Texas) – 4.02 at 178
2) Donny McSwain (Rockwall, Texas) 4.03 at 175
3) Brad Rigler (Heath, Texas) – 4.04 at 177
4) Bobby Marriott (Pilot Point, Texas) – 4.10 at 183
5) Rich Howell (Yorba Linda, California) – 4.15 at 184
6) Terry Anglin (Terrell, Texas) – 4.22 at 169
7) David Purifoy (Texarkana, Texas) – 4.23 at 167
8) DoDad Burton (Tyler, Texas) – 4.25 at 163
9) John Broussard (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 4.26 at 169
10) Aaron Leyda (Independence, Kansas) – 4.33 at 164
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11) Chris Trussell (Canton, Texas) – 4.37 at 148
12) Nick Poloson (San Antonio, Texas) – 4.42 at 147
13) Jim Overly (Houston, Texas) – No Time

Bobby Marriott and team “Shockwave” also opted to skip eliminations after oil issues in Q2. With Reep, Marriott and Rigler out of competition, Chris Trussell and Nick Poloson were brought in as alternates and first round was called to the lanes.