David Purifoy

Purifoy made up more ground over Poloson in the points chase by winning first round and to Trussell came some interesting news, as he was inserted into the final against Jimmy Jones after Marriott and team “Shockwave” discovered a nibbled piston after first round. Instead of thrashing to repair the piston and possibly delaying the show that was set to conclude at the strike of midnight, Marriott withdrew putting Trussell in as the third quickest winner of first round. 

Just before midnight, the final round pair fired up for the last drag race of the night. Jones, in his third straight final, while Trussell and company were looking for icing on the cake after a career-best evening. Jones blazed the hides on the burnout and as he came to a stop the car lost fire, Jones accidently tripping the kill switch while putting the car into reverse. Jones climbed out and watched as Trussell staged and blew the tires off immediately, then got back in it and took the win with a 5.51 at 93 mph.

“Thanks to my crew Ken, Steve, Terry, Jose and Rebekah. Steve and Terry trashed on the car all week to get it ready. They tore the motor completely apart Wednesday night and rushing to get it back together on Friday night. Also thanks to Bobby Marriott and Ronny Young for the borrowed parts to get us to the races. Most of all I would like to thank all the fans and supporters of the Assassin team and the OFAA that got to watch not only our two three second runs but also our first OFAA win!” said Trussell. 

The points chase now comes down to two teams. Nick Poloson has to earn more than 36 points in the next race to catch up and pass David Purifoy. Poloson, along with Bobby Marriott and Aaron Leyda, dropped their points from Denton (each team is required to drop a race this season, required to be announced within 24 hours of an event; the top four in points coming into Denton had not yet dropped) and so Purifoy currently enjoys a 36-point lead. Purifoy cannot earn points in San Antonio as the team is forced to drop the event since they haven’t dropped one yet this season. For Purifoy and company, San Antonio will be a nail biter but the pressure is on Wood & Poloson who now know how many points they must earn (37) to pass Purifoy and win the 2010 OFAA Championship.

“We had Dennis Piranio helping us this weekend. Dennis and Tom felt the motor was ‘happy’ so they worked on the clutch setting, and we had our quickest pass ever in qualifying, a 3.92.  We just tried to repeat in eliminations, and we did with a 3.95, but we were on the racetrack at the same time Bobby Marriott decided to throw down his run of the year. I had a small reaction time advantage, but it wasn't quite enough.  So now it's on to the last race of the year to try and win the points championship!” said Poloson. 

The season will conclude at the Texas Timing State Championships, October 23, at San Antonio Raceway. Inside Drag Racing TV will be on hand filming the finale for a soon coming episode. The Texas Blown Fuel and Southwest Junior Fuel Associations will also be racing at the TTA Championships along with a Cacklefest and several nostalgia racing classes in action.

The Tim Hay Memorial Race was one that no one in attendance will ever forget and with the Championship on the line in two weeks, San Antonio will be one for the record books as well. All the teams in competition at the race donated $50 of their winnings to D.R.A.W. (Drag Racers Association of Women) to help injured racers in time of need, as D.R.A.W. did for the Hay family just weeks before. An $850 donation was made by the OFAA on behalf of Tim Hay to D.R.A.W.

The OFAA crowned its third straight first-time winner in Chris Trussell and left North Star Dragway with heads held high after one of the best races in history.     

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