Stouffer Scores Second Straight Win
At Texas Raceway’s B.H.R.A. Nationals
Event #5 – Texas Raceway – Kennedale, Texas – August 5th, 2011
Report: Chris Graves - Photos: Max Cackle Photography

For the second year in a row, the Texas Blown Fuel Association rolled into Texas Raceway in Kennedale, Texas to be a part of their biggest event of the year, the annual B.H.R.A. Nationals. The series was joined by headlining exhibitions by Outlaw Pro Mods, Fuel Altereds, Jet Cars, Junior Fuel Dragsters and much more. An action packed single night event, the B.H.R.A. Nationals brought thousands of fans to battle the intense heat with air temperatures over 110 degrees, to witness in person the truly unique and memorable event honoring the late Bill Heilcher.

Chris Stouffer notched his first series win at the last outing at North Star Dragway which catapulted him and team “Defiant” into the points leading coming into Texas Raceway, the fifth event of an eight race season. As the sun began to duck behind the Texas skyline, teams made their final preparations and headed to the staging lanes to line up for the pre-race parade which showcases each car individually before they are unleashed on the eighth mile strip.

(Dustin Johnson)

(Rick Grindstaff)

(Mike Wheeler)

Thankfully the track temperatures had decreased to just less than 120 degrees as the TBFA teams started off the show with outstanding side by side 4.75 opening laps from Chris Stouffer “Defiant” blown slingshot and Leonard Ament’s “Black Magic” blown Fiat. Rick Grindstaff laid down a solid opening lap in the yellow “Quarterflash” blown dragster with a 4.80 at 147 mph.

(Leonard Ament)

(Chris Stouffer)

Several teams stepped up in second session including Chris Stouffer, who’s 4.66 at 148 mph held on for his series leading third number one qualifying effort, earning team “Defiant” the Competition Sales of Dallas and JamWorks Chassis bonus. Leonard Ament stepped up in “Black Magic” to a 4.69 at 145 mph which put him solidly in second place and Eddie Taylor jumped up to fourth in the “Faded Memories” blown front engine dragster, his best start of the season.

(Eddie Taylor)

Dustin Johnson returned to action after missing the last race and bested a 5.00 at 125 mph in the “Fair Warning” blown altered of Davis, Oklahoma and hoped to make up ground in the points chase by earning some round wins at Texas Raceway. Mike Wheeler was off the pace in the “Rapture” blown altered in time trials, but with two straight semi-final appearances could not be taken lightly in the upcoming first round. Cole Johnson and team “Blown Bee” were still shaking the bugs off in just their third outing with the series as the teams made their final preparations and headed to the staging lanes for elimination round number one.

Final Qualifying Order:

1. Chris Stouffer (Cleburne, Texas) – 4.66 @ 148
2. Leonard Ament (Denton, Texas) – 4.69 @ 145
3. Rick Grindstaff (Dickinson, Texas) – 4.80 @ 147
4. Eddie Taylor (Arlington, Texas) – 4.87 @ 139
5. Dustin Johnson (Davis, Oklahoma – 5.00 @ 125
6. Mike Wheeler (Paradise, Texas) – 5.24 @ 142
7. Cole Johnson (Houston, Texas) – No Time

Action kicked off with the closest race of the round between Leonard Ament and Eddie Taylor. Taylor had been improving by almost a tenth on each pass during qualifying while Ament also found improvement throughout the event after returning to his 2010 combination, which won him the series Championship. Ament left the line first by over a tenth of a second and he needed every inch as his 4.71 at 136 mph took out Taylor’s quicker but loosing 4.66 at 146 mph. Taylor clicked off his best pass of the season but got caught snoozing on the tree as Ament moved to the semi-finals.

Dustin Johnson rolled out next along side Cole Johnson. Though of no relation, the Johnsons are the two youngest drivers in the series and equally hungry for round wins. D. Johnson was off the line first with the wheels in the air and clicked off a winning 4.92 at 139 mph while C. Johnson had troubles at the hit and idled to a 13.22.

(Cole Johnson)

Mike Wheeler and Rick Grindstaff laid down side by side burnouts in the next pair as the smoke cleared and the crews brought the drivers into the beams. Wheeler was off the line first by a large margin and needed it at the stripe, taking the win light with a 5.11 at 107 mph to Grindstaff’s quicker but loosing 5.08 at 140 mph. This advanced Wheeler to his third straight semi-final while Grindstaff had to swallow a holeshot loss and hope for revenge at the next event.

(Rick Grindstaff)

Closing the session was points leader Chris Stouffer who drew the lucky bye run in an odd number of cars. Stouffer took the green and clicked off a solid 4.72 at 146 mph to advance to the semi-finals where he would draw a match-up with Dustin Johnson.

First Round Results:

(W) Leonard Ament (.122 rt) 4.71 @ 136 mph vs. (L) Eddie Taylor (.248 rt) 4.66 @ 146 mph
(W) Dustin Johnson (.124 rt) 4.92 @ 139 mph vs. (L) Cole Johnson (.168 rt) 13.22 @ 35 mph
(W) Mike Wheeler (.087 rt) 5.11 @ 107 mph vs. (L) Rick Grindstaff (.210 rt) 5.08 @ 140 mph
(W) Chris Stouffer (.082 rt) 4.72 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Bye Run

The first pair of the semi-final brought Stouffer and D. Johnson to the line as the “Fair Warning” blown altered looked to take out the points leader and get back in the chase. Stouffer was off the line hard but all eyes turned to the other lane as Johnson launched and immediately locked up and came to a stop, resulting from a broken rear end gear at the hit of the throttle. Stouffer meanwhile blasted to a stout 4.68 at 141 mph to advance to his second straight final round. Johnson was pulled off the starting line by fellow TBFA members and will hopefully be able to make simple repairs to come back strong at the next event, as the series returns to Texas Raceway on Friday, September 9th.

(Dustin Johnson)

(Chris Stouffer)

Leonard Ament and Mike Wheeler were out next to fight for a spot in the finals against Stouffer. The cars crept into the beams and Wheeler got a slight starting line advantage as the cars were side by side past the 330’ mark. At the stripe, Ament lit the scoreboards with a winning 4.68 at 146 mph to Wheeler’s loosing 5.00 at 147 mph. This put Ament in his first final round of the season, a place he sorely missed with a somewhat slow start to the season as he hoped to repeat his B.H.R.A. Nationals win from 2010. Wheeler posted another strong outing, winning first round for the third straight event, but yet again came up just short of a ticket to the finals.

(Mike Wheeler)

Semi-Final Results:

(W) Chris Stouffer (.075 rt) 4.68 @ 141 mph vs. (L) Dustin Johnson (No Time)
(W) Leonard Ament (.112 rt) 4.68 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Mike Wheeler (.085 rt) 5.00 @ 147 mph

(Leonard Ament)

In a true battle of heavyweights, the two quickest cars of the field and defending series Champion and runner-up, Leonard Ament and Chris Stouffer, towed to the lanes for the final race of the event, to close out the B.H.R.A. Nationals with many fans still in the stands. The cars fired up and laid down long smoky burnouts as the chiefs made their final adjustments and the cars crept into the pre-stage beams.

Stouffer was off the line first for the third round in a row, but Ament was not far behind as the cars charged off the line. The cars were locked side by side as they passed half track and at the stripe neither driver knew who got the nod but back on the starting line team “Defiant” erupted in celebration as their 4.68 at 148 mph narrowly took the win over Ament’s 4.69 at 144 mph, in the closest race of the night. This notched Stouffer and the team their second straight series win and padded their points lead with just three races remaining in the 2011 season.

Final Round Results:

(W) Chris Stouffer (.057 rt) 4.68 @ 148 mph vs. (L) Leonard Ament (.081 rt) 4.69 @ 144 mph

Both finalists were equally happy with their performance at the B.H.R.A. Nationals as Ament’s confidence returned with several strong passes in the high 4.60 zone and solid runner-up finish. Stouffer and company couldn’t ask for a better outing, posting consistent elapsed times with the veteran tuning of Carl Meador and the quickest reaction time of each elimination round from driver Chris Stouffer, a lethal combination.

(Team "Black Magic" - Runner Up)

(Team "Defiant" - Winner)

"When we reached our long awaited goal of standing in the winners circle at the previous TBFA event we had no idea that our happiness could get any better. We were wrong! We count our blessings and thank the good lord for receiving our second win in a row. One win is tough enough in the T.B.F.A., but two in a row is indescribable. Now it’s easy to see why Willie and Kat (Brainerd) have those smiles from ear to ear. The same ones we’ll be wearing for quite some time. It was an extreme heat day and I saw 110° on my Kestrel in the shade at one point after we got unloaded and set up. It’s very hard to do normal tasks in heat like this and racing is even harder. Congratulations to each and every person who chose to be at the B.H.R.A. race and we hope everyone went home safe. Personally, I want to say what a fantastic job the guys and gals on our crew did tonight. Outstanding! We want to give a shout to L.H. & Francis Newlin and say we miss you guys and hope you feel better soon. I also want to give credit to the staff at Texas Raceway for giving us a great track to compete on and for bringing in the huge crowd. It was really fun to see Chris (Stouffer) and Leonard (Ament) battle it out on a very close race to the stripe. Chris had another good .057 light and that helped make the difference. Great job to team “Black Magic” in a great side by side final. Thanks to all the T.B.F.A. sponsors who are supporting the hard work of Rick Grindstaff, Keith Breazeal and Chris Graves. We hope you are getting your moneys worth. We pray it will cool down and rain before our next go around at Kennedale on Sept. 9th. None the less, the action should be hot and the competition fierce so ya’ll load your friends and family and get yourselves out to the next race," said team “Defiant” owner and crew chief Carl Meador.

The Texas Blown Fuel Association would like to thank Good Vibrations, Competition Sales of Dallas, Max Cackle Photography, JamWorks Chassis and Brodix Cylinder Heads for their support of the 2011 bonus programs. Round six of the 2011 TBFA season brings the series back to Texas Raceway for a rain-out make-up race, scheduled for Friday, September 9th.

Click Here to see photos from this event!

Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time Bonus - Chris Stouffer (.082)

JamWorks Chassis Top Qualifier Bonus - Chris Stouffer

Max Cackle Photos.com Best Burnout - Rick Grindstaff

Comp. Sales of Dallas Top Qualifier Bonus - Chris Stouffer