American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 3 | Page 20

Marriott Takes a Wild Ride

Story OFAA.NET | Photo By Wes Ramsey
The Outlaw Fuel Altered Association kicked off its special 20th Anniversary season at North Star
Dragway in Denton, Texas. Sunny
skies and temperatures in the 80's
welcomed a full field of these wicked machines in what would be one
of the most thrilling events in recent history.
As the sun set over the North Texas
skyline, the call went out to fire the
first pair of the final qualifying session. At a rapid pace, fuel altereds
lined up and blasted down the

eighth mile and Eric Buchanan held
low elapsed time of the round with
a 3.81 at 187 mph as Doyle Smith
and Bobby Marriott brought their
nitro burners to life. This is when
things got very scary at North Star
Dragway. At the flash of amber, the
cars were off the line together and
charging hard. Just as the cars
neared the 330' foot mark, Marriott's engine let go and erupted
into flames with oil spewing under
the rear slicks and Marriott battling
for control. The car made an

20 | American Racing News | Drag Racing

abrupt move to the centerline and
into Smith's lane as Marriott, now
covered in oil and fire, was still
fighting to keep control and somehow still got the chutes out and
fuel shutoff before being impacted
from the rear by Smith's entry. This
wild impact sent both cars bouncing across the top end as the left
rear slick exploded on Marriott's
car shortly after both cars crossed
the finish line in the same lane,
Smith's scoreboard posting a 4.11
elapsed time at 126 mph.