All Texas Blown Fuel Final
In Ardmore Hot Rod Reunion’s
Pro Comp Class
Ardmore Dragway - Ardmore, Oklahoma - Sept 4th, 2010
Report - Chris Graves, Photos - MaxCacklePhotos.com

The 5th Annual Ardmore Hot Rod Reunion brought back the vibe of the good ol’ days as dozens of front engine dragsters, blown and injected altereds, funny cars, gassers and cacklefest dragsters put on a spectacular show Sept 4th at Oklahoma’s Ardmore Dragway. A majority of the Pro Comp class was comprised of Texas Blown Fuel Association cars and the TBFA represented very well in one of the biggest and most successful events of the season.

The call went out for Pro Comp to close the first round of time trials for each class and the sound and smell of two blown nostalgia racecars soon filled the air. The staging lanes were full of eager racers and the stands were packed to capacity on both sides of the strip. The weather man has plagued the opening season for TBFA with numerous rain-outs but in Ardmore you couldn’t have asked for better weather, with high temps in the high 80’s for the first time since the month of May. Now, let’s go racing!

(Mike Wheeler's "Rapture" altered)

In a 4.70 index class set-up by Ardmore Dragway, Mike Wheeler wheeled his “Rapture” altered to a 4.71 at 151 mph pass to open the first session of qualifying with authority. Dustin Johnson clicked off a 4.86 at 144 mph in the “Fair Warning” altered. Rich Witko piloted his blown funny car to a 4.72 at 149 mph and Paul Harris lit the boards with a 4.71 at 146 mph in the “Bockman Racing” altered. Rick Grindstaff clicked off a 4.85 at 145 mph in the “Quarterflash” front engine dragster and Chris Stouffer went 4.82 at 147 mph in the “Defiant” dragster. Eddie Taylor made his comeback at Ardmore and went 5.88 at 114 in his opening lap in his “Faded Memories” dragster.

(Paul Harris - "Bockman Racing")

(Chris Stouffer in "Defiant" slingshot)

(Rich Witko's blown Trans Am funny car)

In the second qualifying session, Paul Harris put down another solid pass with a 4.73 at 146 mph. TBFA points leader, Leonard Ament, came into the session in the bottom half of the ladder but quickly changed that with a “perfect” 4.70 elapsed time at 149 mph in the “Black Magic” blown fiat. Wes Breiton improved to a 5.03 at 149 mph in the “Bad O-Man” blown altered to qualify 12th and L.H. Newlin qualified 11th with a 4.99 at 147 mph. Rick Grindstaff stepped up to a 4.79 at 149 mph while Chris Stouffer went just two hundredths under with a nice 4.68 at 149 mph.

(Leonard Ament's "Black Magic" Fiat)

(Rick Grindstaff in "Quarterflash")

(Dustin Johnson's "Fair Warning" altered)

Final Qualifying Order:

1) Leonard Ament – 4.70 @ 149
2) Mike Wheeler – 4.710 @ 151
3) Paul Harris – 4.712 @ 146
5) Rich Witko – 4.72 @ 149
6) Glen Powell – 4.74 @ 146
7) Rick Grindstaff – 4.79 @ 149
8) D. Morris – 4.821 @ 147
9) Chris Stouffer – 4.822 @ 147
10) Dustin Johnson – 4.86 @ 144
11) L.H. Newlin – 4.99 @ 147
12) Wes Breiton – 5.03 @ 149
13) Car #445 – 5.19 @ 140
14) Eddie Taylor – 5.88 @ 114

Ten cars answered the call for first round, nine of those being TBFA cars. In the opening pair, Dustin Johnson got off the line first against Mike Wheeler, but Wheeler’s 4.73 at 152 mph was enough to narrowly drive around Johnson’s 4.83 at 144 mph. Wes Breiton cut a .041 reaction time for a big starting line advantage, but ran into troubles in the opening round against Rich Witko who took the win with a 4.84 at 119 mph. Chris Stouffer and Rick Grindstaff lined up in a pair of beautiful blown front engine dragsters. Both had their issues as Stouffer prevailed with a 5.04 at 109 mph to Grindstaff’s 5.61 at 89 mph. Paul Harris ripped off the line with a .013 light and his 4.79 at 134 mph took out L.H. Newlin’s 5.05 at 146 mph. In the final pair, number one qualifier Leonard Ament carried the front wheels two feet in the air past the sixth foot cone before clicking off a 4.82 at 147 mph, but unexpectedly went red on the starting line, giving the win to D. Morris.

(Meador vs. Grindstaff Rd 1)

(Rich Witko's blown Trans Am funny car)

(L.H. Newlin in "Cantankerous")

First Round Results:

(W) Mike Wheeler (.124 rt) 4.73 @ 152 mph vs. (L) Dustin Johnson (.056 rt) 4.83 @ 144 mph
(W) Rich Witko (.254 rt) 4.84 @ 119 mph vs. (L) Wes Breiton (.041 rt) 5.75 @ 93
(W) Chris Stouffer (.138 rt) 5.04 @ 109 mph vs. (L) Rick Grindstaff (.072 rt) 5.61 @ 89 mph
(W) Paul Harris (.013 rt) 4.79 @ 134 mph vs. (L) L.H. Newlin (.186 rt) 5.05 @ 146 mph
(W) D. Morris (-.074 rt) 5.86 @ 89 mph vs. (L) Leonard Ament (Foul) 4.82 @ 147 mph

Opening the semi-final was Rich Witko and Mike Wheeler. Wheeler left first and made a clean pass, unfortunately breaking out by three hundredths with a 4.67 at 152 mph as Witko’s 5.04 at 118 mph advanced, marking Witko’s first trip to a final round in his funny car. Paul Harris came out next along side Chris Stouffer. In an outstanding race, Harris’ .009 reaction time made the difference as his slower but winning 4.78 at 140 mph beat Stouffer’s “perfect” 4.70 at 145 mph. What a drag race!

Semi-Final Results:

(W) Rich Witko (.238 rt) 5.04 @ 118 mph vs. (L) Mike Wheeler (.167 rt) 4.67 @ 152 mph
(W) Paul Harris (.009 rt) 4.78 @ 140 mph vs. (L) Chris Stouffer (.090 rt) 4.70 @ 145 mph

(Rich Witko's blown Trans Am funny car)

Back in the pits, Witko and crew noticed a blown burst panel as they prepared to warm-up before the final round. Dustin Johnson heard the news and came to the rescue. Borrowing one of Johnson’s burst panels, along with the help of Leonard Ament, Jay Scoggin, Mike Wheeler, Lance Barton and Matt Grindstaff, the burst panel was replaced and Witko made the call for the final against Harris, who respectfully waited several minutes for Witko to make repairs.

Conditions were much different than earlier in the day, as the final round was run under the lights in an all Texas Blown Fuel final round. Paul Harris was off the line first and clicked off a nice 4.75 at 138 mph as Rich Witko ran him down but broke out with a 4.68 at 148 mph. Congratulations to both Harris and Witko on their great showing at Ardmore and to Harris who laid down five straight passes in the 4.70 zone and had the quickest reaction time of each elimination round.

(Pro Comp Winner Paul Harris)

Final Round Results:

(W) Paul Harris (.104 rt) 4.75 @ 138 mph vs. (L) Rich Witko (.225 rt) 4.68 @ 148 mph

“What a fun show! I enjoyed Ardmore very much and almost got my first win, but Paul (Harris) was the man to beat that day! Congrats to Paul and I want to thank you for waiting for me in the final round. I had several TBFA members helping me find and replace the burst panel and it was awesome to watch such a collective think tank at work and I want to thank everyone for their help,” said runner-up Rich Witko.

A big thanks goes out to the staff of Ardmore Dragway and Hot Rod Reunion mastermind Rob Ragland for putting on a great event. The next event for the Texas Blown Fuel series is September 18th along side the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association at Ben Bruce Raceway in Evadale, Texas.

Click Here to see photos from this event.