THOMPSON, KNOWLES TOP FUEL ALTEREDS AT EDDYVILLE

Harold Thompson wheeled his Michigan based, Spitzer built, carbon fiber bodied blown alcohol altered to an impressive win in the “A” field at the sixth annual World Fuel Altered Nationals at Eddyville Raceway Park.  Thompson qualified fourth with a 4.05 and marched into the final against the number one qualifier John Broussard.  Thompson cut a .008 light and blasted to a 4.04 at 177 mph pass to take the win over Broussard who shook early and pedaled his way to a 4.18 at 176 mph.

Broussard, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, clicked off the quickest elapsed time of every qualifying and elimination round as he advanced to the final in his “Purple Haze” branded Alan Johnson 481X blown alcohol powered altered.  Broussard and company are Outlaw Fuel Altered Association regulars and dear friends of the Hay family, whom this race was dedicated to after the passing of two-time WFAN Champion Tim Hay in the final round of last year’s event.

Tim’s wife Candy was in attendance as the honorary starter along with daughter Kristen and son Shawn.  They cheered on as Broussard led the field into eliminations and met up with the heavy hitting John Dunn in the “Dunn-N-Gone” nitro burner in the opening round.  Broussard laid down his career best 3.98 at 180 mph to take out Dunn’s close 4.00 at 183 mph.  In the semi-final, Broussard took out number three qualifier Nick Poloson and the San Antonio, Texas based “Sundown” machine.  The cars left even, but Poloson was forced to lift just before the 330’ cone. His front wheels were three feet in the air and he was drifting to the wall. Meanwhile Broussard laid down another stout 3.98 pass to take the win over Poloson’s 4.27.

Harold Thompson used a 4.07 elapsed time to take out Rick Wilson’s 4.47 in the opening round of eliminations then squared off with team “Nitro Madness” and Sean Belt in the semi-final.  Both cars had issues early in the run and found themselves coasting across the finish line with Thompson taking the win and Belt flat out of luck with a broken throttle cable.  Thompson advanced to the final where he then defeated John Broussard and became the 2011 World Fuel Altered Nationals Champion!

In the “B” field, Howard Knowles’ “Cheaper Than Therapy” machine lined up against Bill Seals’ “Sudden Debt” entry in a re-match of last year’s final.  Seals knew he had to be sharp on the tree as Knowles had the performance advantage, but Seals jumped the gun going red as Knowles clicked off a 4.35 at 158 mph to claim his third World Fuel Altered Nationals “B” field victory.

In the opening round, Knowles paid tribute to his lost friend Tim Hay by idling down the track pointing to the heavens on a competition bye run.  Many other tributes and special presentations were made throughout the event including a tribute pass from Sean Belt and the presentation of a hand made 1/16th scale replica of Tim’s “High Voltage Hayride” fuel altered built and designed by Mike Garland.  It was a truly unforgettable event, just like the man it paid tribute to, Tim Hay.  Congratulations to promoter Scott Gaulter, track manager Scott Gardner, all the participants, crew members, safety officials, track employees, event winners and most of all the fans who packed the house in Eddyville, Iowa to enjoy the 2011 edition of the World Fuel Altered Nationals.

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