Seacrest's "Crazy Train" Claims Tulsa Nitro Nationals
Nitro Nationals - Tulsa Raceway Park - Sept 22nd, 2012
Event #7 of 8
The Texas Blown Fuel Association took a trip north of the Red River to Tulsa Raceway Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma to co-headline the Nitro Nationals with the D.R.O. Nitro Funny Car Series and Southwest Junior Fuel Association on Saturday, September 22nd. This event in highly anticipated by the racers each season and gives the T.B.F.A. teams a chance to showcase their talents on a quarter mile. Tulsa Raceway Park is one of the premier facilities in the region and again this year Todd Martin and company packed the house with nitro burning funny cars, blown and injected dragsters, altereds and much more. The staff and management at TRP held a flawless event and the track was in supreme condition resulting in some outstanding performances in all the classes during qualifying.
(Dustin & Gary Johnson warm up "Fair Warning")
(Steve Matthews)
(Meador & Stouffer)
Qualifying Highlights:
In the first qualifying session, David Seacrest made the tow from Rogers, Arkansas to run with the T.B.F.A. and laid down a clean 7.67 at 158 mph in his "Crazy Train" blown front engine dragster. Ted McCord posted a solid 7.63 at 163 mph in the "Senior Moment" slingshot and points leader Chris Stouffer laid down a 7.64 at 174 mph in the "Defiant" dragster. Fresh off his impressive win in Friday night's gamblers race, Dustin Johnson clocked a strong 7.62 at 175 mph to put his "Fair Warning" blown altered in the top half of the field. Steve Dunkin made the pass of the session with a "perfect" 7.60 at 169 mph in his "Foolish Pleasure II" dragster to lead the field into the final qualifying session.
(Ted McCord)
(Steve Dunkin All Smiles After His 7.60)
(David Seacrest)
In the final session, David Seacrest stepped up to an impressive 7.614 at 168 mph to qualify number two. Chris Stouffer also stepped up to a 7.618 at 173 mph to take the number three spot. Number two in points, Steve Matthews, went under the 7.60 index on both his qualifying attempts putting him at the bottom of the qualifying list. Arvil Lewis made his T.B.F.A. debut in his white flamed blown front engine dragster and qualified seventh with a 8.55 at 158 mph joined by Kenny Stroud also making his debut qualifying sixth with a 7.91 at 165 mph in his Ford powered blown dragster. Steve Dunkin's 7.60 held on for the top qualifying position earning him the AMS Racing Engines "Top Qualifier" Bonus and bragging rights heading into eliminations. Rick Grindstaff made a test lap Friday night that hurt the engine in his "Quarterflash II" sidelining his efforts on Saturday, but team Grindstaff was still all smiles as they cheered on their fellow competitors.
(Chris Stouffer)
(Matt Grindstaff)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Steve Dunkin (Aledo, Texas) - 7.60 @ 169
2) David Seacrest (Rogers, Arkansas) - 7.614 @ 168
3) Chris Stouffer (Cleburne, Texas) - 7.618 @ 173
4) Dustin Johnson (Davis, Oklahoma) - 7.62 @ 175
5) Ted McCord (Claremore, Oklahoma) - 7.63 @ 163
6) Kenny Stroud (Owasso, Oklahoma) - 7.91 @ 165
7) Arvil Lewis (Tulsa, Oklahoma) - 8.55 @ 158
8) Steve Matthews (Ardmore, Oklahoma) - 7.53 @ 155
9) Rick Grindstaff (Dickinson, Texas) - No Time
The opening round of eliminations got started with Dustin Johnson taking on Steve Matthews. Matthews had the advantage off the starting line and took the win light with a 7.95 at 145 mph to Johnson's off pace 10.01. Matthews earned the Good Vibrations "Quick Reaction Time" bonus with his great reaction time in round one.
(Dustin Johnson)
Ted McCord was out next paired with the Lewis family dragster, this round being driven by Brandon Lewis, looking to help shake down the car in preparation for more racing efforts with T.B.F.A. next season. Lewis took his time off the starting line while McCord was out of the groove and pedaling his dragster several times. At the stripe it was closer than expected, McCord taking a narrow win with an 8.77 at 110 mph to Lewis' 7.88 at 170 mph.
(Arvil Lewis)
As eliminations continued, Chris Stouffer took an unexpected bye run after Steve Dunkin was unable to fire in the waterbox with a dead battery. Stouffer clicked off a clean 7.73 at 144 mph to advance along with David Seacrest, who drew the lucky competition single after Kenny Stroud dropped out with engine troubles. Seacrest clicked off a 7.67 at 164 mph to advance to his first T.B.F.A. semi-final.
First Round Results:
(W) Steve Matthews (.023 rt) 7.95 @ 145 mph vs. (L) Dustin Johnson (.064 rt) 10.01 @ 84 mph
(W) Ted McCord (.174 rt) 8.77 @ 110 mph vs. (L) Brandon Lewis (1.30 rt) 7.88 @ 170 mph
(W) Chris Stouffer (.055 rt) 7.73 @ 144 mph vs. (L) Steve Dunkin (No Time - Broke)
(W) David Seacrest (.099 rt) 7.67 @ 164 mph vs. (L) Competition Bye Run
In the semi-final, Chris Stouffer squared off with David Seacrest to start the action. Stouffer is in a heated points battle with Steve Matthews as the remaining rounds of the 2012 racing season continue to dwindle, every round is crucial in their Championship efforts. Stouffer was off the line first and at the eighth mile the cars were side by side. As they crossed the finish line, Seacrest lit the win light with a stout 7.61 at 168 mph to Stouffer's close 7.64 at 174 mph in one of the closest races of the season. The margin of victory at the finish line was .003 of a second as David Seacrest advanced to his first career T.B.F.A. final round.
(Steve Matthews)
Steve Matthews and Ted McCord fired up to conclude the semi-final round, Matthews now with an opportunity to close the gap on Stouffer's narrow points lead. McCord had been running strong and came into Tulsa fresh off his runner-up finish last weekend at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. It was an even match on paper as Matthews took the advantage off the starting line. By halftrack, McCord had closed the gap and was pulling away and at the stripe McCord broke out with a 7.55 at 154 mph as Matthews took the win with an 8.01 at 159 mph.
Semi-Final Round Results:
(W) David Seacrest (.088 rt) 7.61 @ 168 mph vs. (L) Chris Stouffer (.066 rt) 7.64 @ 174 mph
(W) Steve Matthews (.013 rt) 8.01 @ 159 mph vs. (L) Ted McCord (.052 rt) 7.55 @ 154 mph
(David Seacrest)
The call went out to fire up the final round as David Seacrest and Steve Matthews rolled through the water and blazed the hides on their blown front engine dragsters for the final time of the night. Matthews had been stellar on the tree all day and Seacrest had been running strong numbers throughout eliminations. Matthews again took the advantage on the starting line with a.013 reaction time and the cars blasted down the quarter mile side by side. As they past half-track Seacrest started to pull ahead and at the stripe David Seacrest took the win light with a 7.74 at 142 mph to Matthews' 7.98 at 172 mph.
Final Round Results:
(W) David Seacrest (.080 rt) 7.74 @ 142 mph vs. (L) Steve Matthews (.013 rt) 7.98 @ 172 mph
(Final Round Video by Clipper Wallace)
Seacrest took home his first Texas Blown Fuel Association event win back to Arkansas with bragging rights of winning the Nitro Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park, no easy feat as the T.B.F.A. teams all posted stellar numbers and provided some great drag racing for the capacity crowd in Oklahoma. Steve Matthews earned just enough points to re-claim his lead by just one point over Chris Stouffer heading into the final T.B.F.A. points race of the season, October 13th at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas.
Ted McCord claimed the Monden Racecars "First Elimination Alternate" bonus at Tulsa while David Seacrest took home the Fuel Injection Enterprises "Closest to the Index" bonus. Steve Dunkin was the Competition Sales of Dallas "Luck of the Draw" winner as the T.B.F.A. series would like to thank all the people who support the 2012 racing season. The battle for the 2012 Texas Blown Fuel Association Championship will come down to the wire between Steve Matthews and Chris Stouffer so make your plans to attend this one, you won't want to miss it! For more information visit www.texasblownfuel.com.
Click Here to see photos from Tulsa
Good Vibrations Quick Reaction Time Bonus - Steve Matthews (.023)
AMS Racing Engines Top Qualifier Bonus - Steve Dunkin
Competition Sales of Dallas "Luck of the Draw" - Steve Dunkin
Fuel Injection Enterprises
"Closest to the Index" Bonus - David Seacrest
Joe Monden Racecars
First Elimination Alternate Bonus - Ted McCord
