Stouffer Scores First TBFA Win &
Points Lead at North Star Dragway
Event #4 – North Star Dragway – Denton, Texas – July 2nd, 2011
Report: Chris Graves - Photos: Max Cackle Photography

The Texas Blown Fuel Association held it’s fourth event of the 2011 racing season at the 5th Annual “Witko Nationals” Anniversary Race at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas on Saturday July 2nd. With temperatures over 100 degrees and a track temperature of 149 at six o’clock the teams and track officials elected to delay the start of the event one hour to give the track a chance to cool down. The staff at North Star Dragway did a great job preparing the racing surface throughout the event and that resulted in some outstanding performances under the lights in North Texas.

(Frances & L.H. Newlin warming up the "Cantankerous")

(Rich Witko with crew member David, warming up the "Terminator")

Willie Brainerd came into the event as the points leader after three consecutive final round appearances in the “Black Gold” front engine dragster with Chris Stouffer and team “Defiant” nipping at his heels in second place. Brainerd almost missed the show with unexpected motor troubles the week before the event and literally fixed the motor the morning of and hit the road from Mounds, Oklahoma to make the show. Thirteen TBFA teams were on hand to entertain the big crowd at North Star Dragway along with a twenty car field of Southwest Junior Fuelers, Pro Mod Motorcycles, Beat The Heat and more. It was going to be a full night of heads-up drag racing as NSD announcer Nick Duty called the cars to the lanes for the first qualifying session.

Qualifying Highlights:

(Willie Brainerd & Rick Grindstaff started the action at NSD)

The session kicked off with a pair of blown front engine machines in Rick Grindstaff’s “Quarterflash” and Willie Brainerd’s “Black Gold” slingshot. Brainerd laid down a 5.10 at 137 mph in his first pass with a new head combination and Grindstaff clicked off a pedaling 5.39 at 130 mph. Friendly rivals Rich Witko in the “Terminator” blown funny car and defending series Champion Leonard Ament in the “Black Magic” blown Fiat lined up next as Witko went low for the session with a 4.79 at 148 mph after a full eighth mile burnout, with Ament right along side with a nice 4.83 at 143 mph.

(Rich Witko blazing the hides in the opening qualifying session)

(Chris Stouffer & Steve Matthews in Q1 action)

Next out was the most recent TBFA winner Steve Matthews who was fresh off his Super Chevy win at the Texas Motorplex and Chris Stouffer in the “Defiant” dragster who was looking to make up ground in the points chase. Stouffer and Matthews went side by side through the traps and Stouffer’s 4.87 at 142 mph trailed Matthew’s quicker 4.85 at 148 mph. Mike Wheeler’s “Rapture” blown altered put down a nice 4.84 at 144 mph pass to take the third spot after first session and Don Holley’s “Rattlebone” slingshot claimed a spot in the top half of the field with a 4.91 at 144 mph.

(Mike Wheeler's "Rapture" qualified third after Q1)

The second qualifying session kicked off with Mike Wheeler’s “Rapture” stepping up to a 4.82 at 145 mph with Leonard Ament along side with a 4.83 at 143 mph in a nice side by side opening pair. Rich Witko blasted to the top spot with a strong 4.70 at 148 mph in the “Terminator” funny car which earned him the JamWorks Chassis and Competition Sales of Dallas “#1 Qualifier” bonuses and his first pole of the season. Willie Brainerd was out next and improved to a 4.94 at 142 mph to get him solidly in the field with L.H. Newlin’s “Cantankerous” blown altered in the other lane who would use his 5.11 at 142 mph from first session to qualify in the eleventh spot.

(Leonard Ament during his burnout in the "Black Magic" blown Fiat)

Chris Stouffer blasted to a solid 4.76 at 148 mph to improve and qualify fourth while Bobby Bebout, who missed the first session, got in the show with a 6.51 at 99 mph in the Steve Tryon owned “Bad Company” blown altered. Steve Matthews picked up a tenth and clicked off a nice 4.75 at 148 mph to nab the third qualifying position along side Eddie Taylor’s “Faded Memories” blown dragster which qualified tenth with a 4.96 at 143 mph.

(Eddie Taylor' "Faded Memories" blown front engine dragster)

(Cole Johnson's "Blown Bee" put down great numbers to qualify 7th)

(Wes Breiten in the "Bad O'Man")

Cole Johnson was in his second TBFA outing with the family owned “Blown Bee” blown front engine machine and after hiking the front end at the hit, blasted right down broadway to a clean 4.85 at 147 mph to qualify seventh along side Wes Breiten who improved in the second session to a 4.95 at 143 mph in the “Bad O’Man” blown altered. The final pass of the session put Don Holley on a single in the “Rattlebone” dragster and Holley laid down a career best 4.71 at 146 mph to take the number two qualifying position, his best TBFA start to date. After some outstanding performances in qualifying the field was very tight heading into the all important first round of eliminations, where the quickest four winners would advance to the semi-final.

(Don Holley's 4.71 in the "Rattlebone" earned him the #2 qualifying position)

Final Qualifying Order:

1. Rich Witko (Denton, Texas) – 4.70 @ 148
2. Don Holley (Denton, Texas) – 4.71 @ 146
3. Steve Matthews (Ardmore, Oklahoma) – 4.75 @ 148
4. Chris Stouffer (Cleburne, Texas) – 4.76 @ 148
5. Leonard Ament (Denton, Texas) – 4.823 @ 143
6. Mike Wheeler (Paradise, Texas) – 4.826 @ 145
7. Cole Johnson (Houston, Texas) – 4.85 @ 147
8. Willie Brainerd (Mounds, Oklahoma) – 4.94 @ 142
9. Wes Breiten (Wolfe City, Texas) - 4.95 @ 143
10. Eddie Taylor (Arlington, Texas) – 4.96 @ 143
11. L.H. Newlin (Tolar, Texas) – 5.11 @ 142
12. Rick Grindstaff (Dickinson, Texas) – 5.39 @ 130
13. Bobby Bebout (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) – 6.51 @ 99

(Steve Matthews tripped the clocks with a 4.75 to qualify third)

The TBFA teams filled the lanes as the fireworks show wrapped up and the call went out to fire em’ up. Opening the first round action was points leader Willie Brainerd along side veteran L.H. Newlin. Newlin jumped the tree and went red giving Willie the automatic win with a 4.88 at 145 mph for team “Black Gold”. This was the fourth “opponent foul” to benefit Brainerd this season and he could only hope his 4.88 would be one of the quickest four winning passes of the round.

(Willie Brainerd in the "Black Gold" blown FED)

Rich Witko rolled through the water box next along side young gun Cole Johnson who hoped he could re-peat his career best 4.85 from qualifying in the “Blown Bee” slingshot. Johnson got a solid starting line advantage but had to lift as the front wheels reached for the sky again and that was all Witko needed as he blasted right down the groove to a winning 4.75 at 146 mph to advance his funny car.

(Rich Witko staging the "Terminator")

Mike Wheeler was out next along side Leonard Ament. Ament was hoping to put together a strong outing at his home track after a somewhat slow start to the season for the defending champ. Their cold streak would continue as Wheeler was out first and never looked back, clicking off a strong 4.71 at 146 mph to Ament’s 4.84 at 144 mph. Ament had put down a 4.82, 4.83 and 4.84 but with a new rear end gear combination just couldn’t get the job done. Needless to say, Ament and company will be out for revenge returning to their Championship combination at the next TBFA event to be held August 5th at Texas Raceway, an event Ament won last year.

(First Round - Ament "Near" vs. Wheeler "Far" Video by Jake Simmons)

Back on the line, Wes Breiten lined up with Eddie Taylor. In the closest race of the round, Breiten used a massive starting line advantage and a 5.09 at 144 mph to take out a quicker but loosing 5.01 at 135 mph. This was Breiten’s first round win since going to the finals at the season opener at Shreveport, but a 5.11 likely wouldn’t stand as one of the four quickest winners with three pair still to go, time would tell as the next pair fired up.

Steve Matthews and Don Holley rolled out in what paper indicated to be a great match-up, but Holley lost fire on the burnout and the crew immediately pushed him back to the line safely out of harms way, without having to shut Matthews off, who blasted to a 4.74 at 149 mph winning pass and with his .046 reaction time earned the Good Vibrations “Quick Reaction Time” Bonus.

This placed Brainerd (4.88), Witko (4.75), Wheeler (4.71) and Matthews (4.74) in the final at this point but backing up from his burnout was Chris Stouffer in the team “Defiant” blown rail in a crucial round for the team. The winner of this pair had to be quicker than Brainerd’s 4.88 to continue to the semi-final round. Stouffer was paired with the “Bad Company” altered of Tryon & Bebout. Bebout had to pedal his altered at the hit which gave Stouffer the advantage and eventual win light with a 4.83 at 135 mph to bump Brainerd from the semi’s.

(Bobby Bebout in the "Bad Company" blown altered)

Stouffer could breathe a little easier now but Rick Grindstaff could play the spoiler as he laid down his burnout on a competition bye run. Grindstaff already had the win bye drawing the bye in an odd numbered field, but would have to make his best pass of the season, quicker than Stouffer’s 4.83 to get to the next round.

(Rick Grindstaff's "Quarterflash" slingshot)

Grindstaff was still searching for his sweet spot combination in the “Quarterflash” slingshot and had to pedal the car off the line and clicked off a 5.40 at 118 mph which gave Stouffer the ticket to the semis and a big chance to make ground on Brainered, who for the first time of the season wouldn’t be advancing to the semi-final.

First Round Results:

(W) Willie Brainerd (4.88 @ 145 mph) vs. (L) Newlin (Red) (5.70 @ 89 mph)
(W) Rich Witko (.198 rt) 4.75 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Cole Johnson (.143 rt) 11.81 @ 35 mph
(W) Mike Wheeler (.116 rt) 4.71 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Leonard Ament (.122 rt) 4.84 @ 144 mph
(W) Wes Breiten (.159 rt) 5.09 @ 144 mph vs. (L) Eddie Taylor (.301 rt) 5.01 @ 135 mph
(W) Steve Matthews (.046 rt) 4.74 @ 149 mph vs. (L) Don Holley (No Time)
(W) Chris Stouffer (.090 rt) 4.83 @ 135 mph vs. (L) Bobby Bebout (.186 rt) 5.27 @ 130 mph
(W) Rick Grindstaff (.182 rt) 5.40 @ 118 mph vs. BYE RUN

As the teams returned to the lanes for the semi-final the pressure was on with all four quickest first round winners separated by just over a tenth of a second. The first pair out brought up a battle of heavy weights. Stouffer desperately seeking round wins to climb the points ladder while Witko was looking to go to his first final round of the season after qualifying number one. Stouffer was off the line first with a .061, the best of the round, to Witko’s sleepy .202 and that was the difference at the stripe. Stouffer took the win with a 4.82 at 145 mph to Witko’s quicker by a tenth, but loosing 4.72 @ 148 mph. Team “Defiant” got the win on the starting line and would move to the final round for the first time this season.

Mike Wheeler, making his second straight semi-final appearance would fire up next along side our most recent winner, Steve Matthews, who had lived in the 4.70 zone all night. Wheeler was the quickest winner from first round and had the advantage on paper but Matthews was off the line first and needed everything he could get to take the holeshot win with a 4.80 at 148 mph to Wheeler’s quicker but loosing 4.79 at 147 mph. The margin of victory, just twenty three hundredths of a second at the finish line, what a drag race! Both winning drivers in Stouffer and Matthews advanced to the final round on holeshots as Stouffer was looking for his first win with the TBFA series while Matthews could make it two in a row!

Semi-Final Results:

(W) Chris Stouffer (.061 rt) 4.82 @ 145 mph vs. (L) Rich Witko (.202 rt) 4.72 @ 148 mph
(W) Steve Matthews (.091 rt) 4.80 @ 148 mph vs. (L) Mike Wheeler (.125 rt) 4.79 @ 147 mph
*Exhibition Pass: (Willie Brainerd - 4.67)*

Side by side burnouts blistered the starting line for the final pass of the evening just after midnight with fans still in the stands and a large crowd forming at the starting line as the pair of silver blown slingshots were guided into position. They crept into the final stage beams and as the ambers dropped Stouffer was out first by a half a tenth on Matthews. Matthews was reeling him in as they neared the finish line but ran out of real estate as Stouffer put together his second holeshot win in a row, with a 4.77 at 145 mph win, to Matthews’ quicker but loosing 4.74 at 149 mph.

(Final Round - Stouffer "Near Lane" & Matthews "Far Lane")

Final Round Results:

(W) Chris Stouffer (.071 rt) 4.77 @ 145 mph vs. (L) Steve Matthews (.122 rt) 4.74 @ 149 mph

This notched Stouffer and team “Defiant” owned and tuned by veteran Carl Meador their first Texas Blown Fuel Association win and also put them atop the points standings for the first time this season, by six points over Brainerd who had led all season to this point. The crew erupted in celebration on the starting line as finally their efforts paid off with a win at North Star Dragway. Stouffer had been to every single event the TBFA has hosted since it’s debut and was the Championship runner-up in 2010 with no wins but several top qualifiers and semi-final finishes. It was a long overdue and well earned victory as Meador made the horsepower and Stouffer did an excellent job behind the wheel.

(Team "Defiant" in the Winners Circle - July 2nd @ North Star Dragway)

“We are truly blessed by the Good Lord for the opportunity to finally earn our first win. I also want to say thanks to my late dad, Claudie, for providing our family with the chassis that put Chris in the winners circle. I wish that my brother, Paul, could have been there to share this win with us but my sister, Rachel, was so it's still a great feeling. We were short a team member in Steve Hight who hopefully will make the next event. David Stouffer and I lost our fathers pretty close together and we dedicate this win in their honor,” said team owner Carl Meador.

(Chris Stouffer warming-up prior to qualifying at NSD)

“Wow! What an arduous evening. Thank goodness Chris was having a good night driving. He earned this win with some holeshot rounds and a great performance overall. My tune-up was off and I couldn't get it to go an upper .60 to save my rear. Between the hot air, terrible density altitude and the quick turn around time, it was a battle. We mounted new rears a couple of days before and they are so much stickier than the old ones it was tugging the motor down and I was fighting to put some motor back in it. Our consistent driver did everything I asked of him put the big smiles on our faces after the final run,” Meador continued.

“I want to say again what has been said from the beginning about this great group of racers. The TBFA, under the guidance of Rick, Chris and Keith, is maturing into a very cool place to race. More racers coming in all the time and more fun than you can shake a stick at. Competition is fierce and the pits are a blast. It reminds me of years ago running nostalgia top fuel. If a racer needs help someone in the group will jump in and lend a hand. Witko had torque converter problems and I think Dustin & Gary Johnson along with Ament and his guys jumped in and helped out before second round. We loaned parts and pieces to a lot of guys. What was cool was that each item made their hot rods improve. Willie said he went a .67 with my .105 main jet. Don Holley improved with the upper pulley he borrowed. Grindstaff is making enough power now with a timing change that he has a fun hot rod again. That's what is fun about this group! The next race will be a great one too so get your sun screen and ear plugs and we will see ya'll there,” Meador concluded.

Quietly lurking in the third points position coming into Denton was Dustin Johnson and the “Fair Warning” blown altered team. Unfortunately, at the last event in Ennis, Johnson had a frame rail break and the field was shocked to hear the news they couldn’t make the show at Denton, the same track Johnson posted a runner-up finish at this spring. Both Dustin and father Gary were on hand in support of the series. With the lost event, Johnson plummeted from third to ninth place in the standings, although currently third to tenth position in the standings are only separated by 47 points so it’s very tight for many teams. Johnson will be ready for a big time rebound in his blown “Fair Warning” altered at Texas Raceway next month.

(The Matthews team celebrating their second straight final round)

Steve Matthews and company have put together two consecutive final round appearances and jumped from seventh to third in the points standings following the event in Denton. Congratulations to them and the rest of the TBFA teams in attendance at the “Witko Nationals” as everyone ran very well, there were no oil downs or stoppages and the next outing for the Texas Blown Fuel series will be another showcase event, Friday August 5th at Texas Raceway’s Annual B.H.R.A. Nationals. The TBFA will entertain along with the SWJFA, Nostalgia Funny Cars, Jet Dragsters, a vintage Cacklefest and much more! Do not miss this one!

The Texas Blown Fuel Association would like to thank Good Vibrations, JamWorks Chassis, Competition Sales of Dallas, Max Cackle Photography and Brodix Cylinder Heads for their support of the 2011 bonus programs.

Click Here to see photos from this event!

Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time Bonus - Steve Matthews (.046)

JamWorks Chassis Top Qualifier Bonus - Rich Witko

Max Cackle Photos.com Best Burnout - L.H. Newlin

Comp. Sales of Dallas Top Qualifier Bonus - Rich Witko