With the threat of rain all around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area all weekend long, the sun managed to shine down on the Team Wiley’s “Texas Grim Reaper” ’68 Camaro as they took out the #1 qualifier in the finals to take the win. What a sweet win it was because even though Steve has had the “Texas Grim Reaper” in the finals several times, he always came up short just missing the taste of victory. I’m sure the drive back to Liberty Hill, Texas was a lot easier with their first win under their belt. It’s supposed to get easier, right? You’ll have to follow the Texas Outlaw Pro Mods to find out! After 3 rounds of qualifying on Saturday 6 cars were unable to make first round including the first alternate. Here’s the final qualifying order:
1) Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor 4.008 @ 186 mph
2) Thomas “Slick” Myers 4.093 @ 178 mph
3) Wes “WWW” Johnston 4.145 @ 179 mph (Broke)
4) Bobby Booth 4.153 @ 178 mph
5) Clyde “TMW” Scott 4.186 @ 169 mph (Broke)
6) Chris Smith 4.190 @ 175 mph
7) Steve “Texas Grim Reaper” Wiley 4.246 @ 172 mph
8) Ken “Bad Blown Bird” Thomas 4.253 @ 171 mph (Broke)
9) Chuck Nuytten 4.350 @ 144 mph (Broke)
10) Aaron Wells 4.392 @ 170 mph
11) Jackie “Underdawg” Deaver 4.396 @ 148.48 mph (Broke)
12) Steve “War Dog” Gorman 4.414 @ 162 mph
13) Gaylen “Texas Bounty Hunter” Smith 4.436 @ 169 mph
14) Howard “Nuclear Frog” Brown 4.493 @ 163 mph
15) Don Wooton 4.521 @ 133 mph
16) Randy Merrick 4.693 @ 128 mph
17) Tim Cruce 4.993 @ 142 mph (Broke)
Since so many cars broke and could not get fixed before first round on Sunday, we removed the broke cars and re-paired the ladder and here’s what went down.
First Round:
Aaron Wells (W) 4.412 @ 163 mph (.061 RT) Competition Bye
Ken Thomas (No-Show)
Aaron is from Yukon, Ok and drove his ’69 Camaro powered by a 632 Fulton nitrous assisted motor right down the center of the lane to take his first round win.
Steve Wiley (W) 4.219 at 173 mph (.113 RT)
Steve Gorman (RU) 13.909 at 27 mph (.025 RT)
Steve Wiley had no problem making up the hole shot advantage that “War Dog” slapped on him since he had to get out of the throttle.
Gaylen Smith (W) 4.810 at 111 mph (.384 RT)
Chris Smith (RU) left before tree activated
Chris left a little too early and Gaylen was right behind him but the win goes to Gaylen (WooooHoooo)!
Bobby Booth (W) 4.144 at 178 mph (.159 RT)
Howard Brown (RU) 5.576 at 91 mph (.450 RT)
Not sure what happened to Howard but it didn’t matter because Bobby made a nice clean pass.
Thomas Myers (W) 4.074 at 179 mph (-.166 RT)
Don Wootton (RU) 4.655 at 138 mph (-.279 RT)
Don fouled the tree first and then Thomas did too but Thomas got the win with a very nice pass.
Frankie Taylor (W) 4.021 at 185 mph (.159 RT)
Randy Merick (RU) 4.582 at 126 mph (.237 RT)
Randy still having problems as the mad man sails by for the win.
Second Round: (Whoever has low ET of this round gets bye-run in Semi’s)
Gaylen Smith (W) 4.191 at 176 mph (.067 RT)
Bobby Booth (RU) 4.637 at 133 mph (.085 RT)
Gaylen got the hole shot and the upset win. This run was a key run for the Texas Bounty Hunter team in the quest to get things lined out on the car after completely re-backhalfing the ’41 Willys. Thanks to Jackie Deaver, Charlie Wooten and team TBH. Now we’ve got something to work with. Bobby was going for the win but the ’53 Vette was shaking so hard both doors were trying to open. It’s a good thing they didn’t fly off.
Frankie Taylor (W) 4.079 at 185 mph (.172 RT)
Aaron Wells (RU) 4.495 at 164 mph (.046 RT)
Aaron was going for the win with the huge hole shot advantage over the mad man but his HEMI drove around Wells to take the win and the low ET of the round giving him the bye-run into the finals.
Steve Wiley (W) 4.179 at 174 mph (.098 RT)
Thomas Myers (RU) 21.73 at 146 mph (.341 RT)
The numbers for Myers don’t look right but that’s what my paperwork says. I was on the return road when they ran and I found out later that Thomas broke a planetary gear in the tranny. Steve was going to the semi’s to meet up with Gaylen to see who would be running Frankie in the finals.
Semi Finals:
Steve Wiley (W) 4.192 at 173 mph (.245 RT)
Gaylen Smith (RU) No Time (.100 RT)
Gaylen didn’t make it to the finish line. After the transmission let go, he pulled over out of the center of the grove not knowing exactly what broke. Luckily it was a planetary in the transmission and not the motor.
Frankie just lit the tires up and backed off the starting line waiting on his competition in the final round.
Finals:
Steve Wiley (W) 4.191 at 173 mph (.059 RT)
Frankie Taylor (RU) 4.183 at 175 mph (.078 RT)
If Frankie would have been on a run like he was in the 2nd round, Steve’s hole shot advantage might not have been enough but he wasn’t and Steve squeaks by and snatches the win from Taylor Racing. This is their first victory since building the car. Congrats to the Texas Grim Reaper team and the Wiley family for your victory and to team Taylor for the runner-up finish.