Ament & Grindstaff Share BHRA Victory
Texas Raceway - Kennedale, TX
August 6th, 2010
Report - Chris Graves
Photos - Carl Oberman & Toyse Woody

The BHRA Nationals hosted by Texas Raceway is historically one of the most nostalgic and anticipated events of the season, which honors the memory of long time Green Valley Raceway track manager and long time racer “Mr. Bardahl” Bill Hielscher. Despite triple digit heat and an undeniable chance for showers, the Texas Blown Fuel came into Texas Raceway and put on a great show at the 8th Annual BHRA Nationals.

The TBFA welcomed a new member, Mike Wheeler and the “Rapture” blown altered, to the action as the nine car TBFA field pulled into the staging lanes for qualifying after the traditional pre-race parade.

Rich Witko put down a strong pass with a 4.72 at 150 mph to claim the top spot after the first session in his blown funny car. Leonard Ament wheeled the “Black Magic” blown Fiat to a 4.75 at 135 mph to slide in behind Witko. Paul Harris tripped the clocks with a 5.02 at 104 mph in the “Bockman Racing” entry, good for third. Mike Wheeler got everyone’s attention as he fought to keep the “Rapture” altered in the groove and got up on three wheels going through the lights with a 5.08 at 112 mph. In the other lane, Dustin Johnson’s “Fair Warning” altered laid down a 5.12 at 126 mph.

Wes Breiton drove the “Bad O-Man” blown altered to a 5.97 at 93 mph and L.H. Newlin earned a spot in the field with an early shut-off 9.73 in “Cantankerous”. TBFA points leader Chris Stouffer’s “Defiant” dragster encountered unlucky problems with the tree on his first pass and didn’t get a time, while Rick Grindstaff had to shut-off in the other lane with a technical issue in the “Quarterflash” dragster.

Soon after first session of qualifying, showers set in at Texas Raceway. By the time the rain stopped and the track was back in racing condition, the TBFA agreed to proceed straight to first round of eliminations, in an attempt to complete the event before the track curfew ended everyone’s fun for the night.

Rich Witko claimed his first number one qualifying position, but wouldn’t make the call for first round as he elected to pack up and head home, along with Mike Wheeler and Dustin Johnson, when the rain set in. The remaining six teams drew cards and lined up for the first round of eliminations!

FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER:

1) Rich Witko (Denton, Texas) – 4.72 @ 150
2) Leonard Ament (Denton, Texas) – 4.75 @ 135
3) Paul Harris (Lewisville, Texas) – 5.02 @ 104
4) Mike Wheeler (Paradise, Texas) – 5.08 @ 112
5) Dustin Johnson (Davis, Oklahoma) – 5.12 @ 126
6) Wes Breiton (Greenville, Texas) – 5.97 @ 93
7) L.H. Newlin (Tolar, Texas) – 9.73 @ 40
8) Chris Stouffer (Stephenville, Texas) – No Time
9) Rick Grindstaff (Dickinson, Texas) – No Time

Friendly rivals L.H. Newlin and Leonard Ament paired up and started eliminations with a great drag race. Ament left first and took the win with a nice 4.71 at 145 mph to Newlin’s 5.15 at 118 mph. In the next pair, Paul Harris lined up with Chris Stouffer. Harris was out first with the best reaction time of the round (.029) but Stouffer quickly made up ground and clicked off a 4.64 at 137 mph, breaking out by one thousandth of a second, which gave Harris the win with a 5.71 at 83 mph. In the final pair of first round, Rick Grindstaff and Wes Breiton laid down the closest race of the session. Breiton got a slight advantage off the line and clicked off a 4.97 at 138, but couldn’t hold off Grindstaff’s quicker 4.93 at 143 mph.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS:

(W) Leonard Ament (.193 rt) 4.71 @ 145 mph vs. (L) L.H. Newlin (.435 rt) 5.15 @ 118 mph
(W) Paul Harris (.029 rt) 5.71 @ 83 mph vs. (L) Chris Stouffer (.151 rt) 4.64 @ 137 mph
(W) Rick Grindstaff (.304 rt) 4.93 @ 143 mph vs. (L) Wes Breiton (.274 rt) 4.97 @ 138 mph

With an odd number of winners in round one, the quickest two winners advanced to the final round which put Grindstaff against Ament. Unfortunately for the finalists, the track curfew ended the racing action at the 8th Annual BHRA Nationals. The finalists agreed to split the winner’s purse and points. The final round bound “Black Magic” team of Leonard Ament moved into the points lead by just four points over Chris Stouffer.

The TBFA series will hold their next event at the Ardmore Dragway Hot Rod Reunion in Ardmore, Oklahoma on September 4th. This event is a track managed race, but all TBFA participants will earn points in the 2010 TBFA points series. The teams will then head to Ben Bruce Raceway in Evadale, Texas for the next scheduled event on September 18th along with the Outlaw Fuel Altered series.

Click Here to see photos by Carl Oberman

Click Here to see photos by Toyse Woody