Jones Victorious at Thunder Valley!
The fourth event of the 2019 Good Vibrations / Lone Star Forklift Outlaw Fuel Altered Championship tour was held Saturday, June 15th at Thunder Valley Raceway in Noble, Oklahoma. With a tight points battle developing as we near the midway point of the season, precious points available in each round will prove critical for those in the hunt. Mary Reep came into the event with back to back number one qualifying efforts and the points lead. With nine cars on the property it was time to kick off qualifying as the program was in a bit of a rush with weather moving in.
With two rounds of qualifying complete, Aaron Morrow led the field with a 4.01 at 181 mph followed by Mark Billington’s 4.06 at 159 mph. Jimmy Jones, Jody Austin and Mark Hunter rounded out the top five as teams returned to the pits to prepare for first round eliminations. Carnage took it’s toll as Donny McSwain and Clint Cross were both sidelined with mechanical issues and the remaining teams were paired up for round one.
With two rounds of qualifying complete, Aaron Morrow led the field with a 4.01 at 181 mph followed by Mark Billington’s 4.06 at 159 mph. Jimmy Jones, Jody Austin and Mark Hunter rounded out the top five as teams returned to the pits to prepare for first round eliminations. Carnage took it’s toll as Donny McSwain and Clint Cross were both sidelined with mechanical issues and the remaining teams were paired up for round one.
|
|
|
FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER: 1.Aaron Morrow – 4.01 2.Mark Billington – 4.065 3.Jimmy Jones – 4.066 4.Jody Austin – 4.090 5.Bobby Marriott – 4.093 6.Mark Hunter – 4.10 7.Mary Reep – 4.13 8.Donny McSwain – 4.31 9.Clint Cross – 10.28 |
|
Mark Hunter kicked off eliminations on a competition single in the “Jail Break” nitro burner and clicked off a nice 3.96 at 189 mph to set the pace. The two quickest winners would advance to the final round. Next up, Bobby Marriott’s “Shockwave” and Aaron Morrow in Terry Darby’s “Nitro Relapse” brought their fuel burners to life and in a great side by side header flaming match, Marriott’s 3.88 at 191 mph nosed out Morrow’s close 3.92 at 181 mph. Jimmy Jones was up next in “Texas Tremor” alongside Jody Austin’s “BushWhacker” entry and Jones used a strong 3.89 at 187 mph to take out Austin’s 3.99 at 154 mph. In the final pair, with Jones and Marriott holding tickets to the final round with their 3.88 and 3.89, Mark Billington and Mary Reep came to life knowing it would take a 3.88 or better to advance to the final round. Billington took a large starting line advantage and his 3.96 at 165 took the round win over Reep’s 4.02 at 165 mph, but it was Marriott and Jones who were final round bound in Noble.
|
|
FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Mark Hunter (.271 rt) 3.96 @ 189 -vs- (L) Competition Bye Run
(W) Bobby Marriott (.194 rt) 3.88 @ 191 -vs- (L) Aaron Morrow (.223 rt) 3.92 @ 181
(W) Jimmy Jones (.188 rt) 3.89 @ 187 -vs- (L) Jody Austin (.146 rt) 3.99 @ 154
(W) Mark Billington (.109 rt) 3.96 @ 165 -vs- (L) Mary Reep (.585 rt) 4.02 @ 16
(W) Mark Hunter (.271 rt) 3.96 @ 189 -vs- (L) Competition Bye Run
(W) Bobby Marriott (.194 rt) 3.88 @ 191 -vs- (L) Aaron Morrow (.223 rt) 3.92 @ 181
(W) Jimmy Jones (.188 rt) 3.89 @ 187 -vs- (L) Jody Austin (.146 rt) 3.99 @ 154
(W) Mark Billington (.109 rt) 3.96 @ 165 -vs- (L) Mary Reep (.585 rt) 4.02 @ 16
Marriott came into this final round looking for win number three this season while Jones was hoping to lock down his first win of the season. With nine combined OFAA Championships between them, these two drivers brought an impressive amount of experience to the line as the cars staged up for the final run of the night. Marriott was off the line first, but as the car neared halftrack it went silent as the engine unexpectedly let go and Jones blasted by to take the win with a 3.94 at 184 mph. Congratulations to Jimmy Jones and the entire “Texas Tremor” team on their big win at Thunder Valley! The next event for the OFAA series will take the tour south to Alamo City Motorplex on July 6th just outside San Antonio, Texas! We’ll see you there!
FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
(W) Jimmy Jones (.086 rt) 3.94 @ 184 -vs- (L) Bobby Marriott (.083 rt) 4.92 @ 11
(W) Jimmy Jones (.086 rt) 3.94 @ 184 -vs- (L) Bobby Marriott (.083 rt) 4.92 @ 11
