Austin Aces Xtreme Raceway Park
The second stop on the 2019 Good Vibrations Motorsports / Lone Star Forklift Outlaw Fuel Altered Championship tour welcomed the series through the gates of Xtreme Raceway Park in Ferris, Texas for the first time, Saturday May 4th. This new facility located just south of Dallas on I-45 is state of the art and the altered teams were eager to strut their stuff at the new track. This was the first event in the tracks two year history that featured nitro cars, so fans were ready for action as qualifying got underway on a pleasant Saturday night in North Texas.
After two qualifying sessions the top eight were separated by .08 of a second led by Mary Reep's 4.00 at 153 mph in the "Grim Reeper" out of Austin. Mark Billington's 4.01 @ 142 earned the number two qualifying position and Jimmy Jones, Jody Austin and John Broussard rounded out the top five all packing 4.04's. Wade Pennington made his OFAA debut but ran into rear end issues and was sidelined prior to eliminations along with Donnie Massey and Mark Hunter due to parts failure.
After two qualifying sessions the top eight were separated by .08 of a second led by Mary Reep's 4.00 at 153 mph in the "Grim Reeper" out of Austin. Mark Billington's 4.01 @ 142 earned the number two qualifying position and Jimmy Jones, Jody Austin and John Broussard rounded out the top five all packing 4.04's. Wade Pennington made his OFAA debut but ran into rear end issues and was sidelined prior to eliminations along with Donnie Massey and Mark Hunter due to parts failure.
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FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER:
1. Mary Reep - 4.00 @ 153 2. Mark Billington - 4.01 (3.985) @ 142 3. Jimmy Jones - 4.043 (3.956) @ 168 4. Jody Austin - 4.044 @ 145 5. John Broussard - 4.044 (3.955) @ 178 6. Mark Hunter - 4.05 @ 153 7. Bobby Marriott - 4.055 (3.944) @ 191 8. Clint Cross - 4.08 @ 139 9. Aaron Morrow - 4.15 (3.842) @ 194 10. Kenny Trumble - 5.47 @ 91 11. Wade Pennington - 8.49 @ 89 12. Donnie Massey - No Time |
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With match-ups set for the first round the teams returned to the staging lanes ready to play for keeps. Number one qualifier Mary Reep pulled to the line against Jimmy Jones in a powerhouse alcohol battle and Reep took the win light with a nice 3.95 at 188 mph to Jones' off pace 6.61. Aaron Morrow post a runner up finish to start the season and tallied another round win with a 3.86 at 192 mph to defeat Clint Cross' close 3.94 at 167 mph. John Broussard's "Purple Haze" laid down a strong 3.91 at 176 to defeat Kenny Trumble who was sub-driving for Donny McSwain. As eliminations continued, Mark Billington's 3.93 at 146 mph held off a wild 5.14 pass by most recent event winner Bobby Marriott. With a competition single, Jody Austin rolled out next in "BushWhacker" and needed to better John Broussard's 3.91 to earn a spot in the final with Aaron Morrow. Not a problem! Austin blasted to a header flaming 3.90 at 145 mph to advance himself into the finals at Xtreme Raceway Park.
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FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Mary Reep (.111 rt) 3.95 @ 188 mph -vs- (L) Jimmy Jones (.096 rt) 6.61 @ 68 mph
(W) Aaron Morrow (.175 rt) 3.86 @ 192 -vs- (L) Clint Cross (.151 rt) 3.94 @ 167 mph
(W) John Broussard (.044 rt) 3.91 @ 176 -vs- (L) Kenny Trumble (.323 rt) 6.61 @ 69 mph
(W) Mark Billington (.124 rt) 3.93 @ 146 -vs- (L) Bobby Marriott (.080 rt) 5.14 @ 89 mph
(W) Jody Austin (.219 rt) 3.90 @ 145 -vs- (L) Competition Bye
(W) Mary Reep (.111 rt) 3.95 @ 188 mph -vs- (L) Jimmy Jones (.096 rt) 6.61 @ 68 mph
(W) Aaron Morrow (.175 rt) 3.86 @ 192 -vs- (L) Clint Cross (.151 rt) 3.94 @ 167 mph
(W) John Broussard (.044 rt) 3.91 @ 176 -vs- (L) Kenny Trumble (.323 rt) 6.61 @ 69 mph
(W) Mark Billington (.124 rt) 3.93 @ 146 -vs- (L) Bobby Marriott (.080 rt) 5.14 @ 89 mph
(W) Jody Austin (.219 rt) 3.90 @ 145 -vs- (L) Competition Bye
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Aaron Morrow was in his second consecutive final to start the season and looking to put Terry Darby's "Nitro Relapse" in the winners circle against a hungry Jody Austin who was hoping to secure his first career win with the OFAA series. This wicked pair of fuel burners came to life and after the burnouts, were guided into the beams. Staged and ready, the ambers dropped with Austin taking a healthy starting line advantage with a .060 rt to Morrow's .148 rt. Flames up high, Austin's "BushWhacker" never trailed and clicked off a 3.86 at 149 mph to hold off the top end charge from Morrow with a 3.90 at 191 mph. Back to back runner-ups for Morrow to start the season prove their talents, but for Austin it was a unforgettable weekend earning his first Outlaw Fuel Altered series win. Congratulations to both teams on a great start to the year. Teams will do their between race maintenance and hit the road for Evadale Raceway which is the next stop, Saturday May 25th. We'll see you there!
FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Jody Austin (.060 rt) 3.86 @ 149 mph -vs- (L) Aaron Morrow (.148 rt) 3.90 @ 191 mp
(W) Jody Austin (.060 rt) 3.86 @ 149 mph -vs- (L) Aaron Morrow (.148 rt) 3.90 @ 191 mp
