The latest update as of April 24, 2021

After a very successful - and that's putting it mildly - season opener at the Texas Motorplex, the FUNNY CAR CHAOS crews moved on to Amarillo Dragway for their second event of the 2021 season. With 37 cars on the pre-entry list (down a bunch from the world-record breaking 67 cars on the list at the 'Plex) it was still a very strong turnout, portending strong support for the FCC from the racers. Adding a third ("C") field to this race helped keep up the interest level among the racers and may lead to it becoming a fixture at future events. Here is the full report from the first day, Friday, with photos and results from both qualifying sessions.

After so many years in mothballs, it was very cool to see the original Amarillo Dragway sign (left) on display before qualifying, then we fast forward to 2021 and see the current "A" board (right)

A couple of pre-race pit shots are next, with Scott Pareso and the "Altered Reality" crew preparing to fire up the car before the first session, and Ray Stringer and the "Blown Cent-Less" crew spinning it over for the warm-up

FRIDAY - First Qualifying Session

After two days of inclement weather, ranging from hail and rain, to wind and sun, conditions calmed down enough for the first qualifying session at the second FUNNY CAR CHAOS event of the season at venerable Amarillo Dragway. The starting line was tacky but most of the cars lost traction at some point enroute to the finish line. And it wasn't the "Big Show" cars that invaded the Texas Motorplex last month having trouble, as none were present in Amarillo, but everyone from low-buck Chevy operations, to serious blown fuel combos that were struggling to post good numbers. We don't have the first qualifying session results, but numbers quoted in our report are the best recorded for each car after two sessions.

Two of the series regulars, Daniel Butherus (left) in his Chevy-powered "Rat-A-Tude" and Dustin Bradford in the "American Dream" (right) tried their luck and came up with varying results. Butherus ended up #9 on the qualifying list with a decent 4.672 - 152.09 clocking, while Bradford had obvious problems in his first attempt when the 'chute popped out on the launch. He kept it in to the finish line in the evening session and put down a 5.426 - 137.83 for the #17 spot on the list

Two long distance travellers came out next, with Don Knoblauch making the long tow down from Sumner, WA to run his "Atomic Punk" Camaro,(left) but not finding results to his liking as his best pass of the day was only 7.011 - 72.42, landing him in the #23 slot. Coming from even farther afield, Edmonton, AB, Canada's Tim Boychuk brought his popular "Happy Hour" entry out for the first time in 18 months, and slipped and slid to a 5.459 - 125.57 for the #18 position

Coming out strong in his "Northland Express", Flagstaff, Arizona's Mitch Bowen (left) surprised quite a few people with a strong #3 qualifying pass of 4.405 - 160.50 pass. On the other hand, Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry, didn't get very far before shutting off to a last on the list 11.435 - 47.29, only "good" for the #29 spot on the list

It looks like a full-on burnout on the left and the start of a second one on the right, but Ray Stringer in the "Blown Cent-Less" entry had major grip issues on his launch, and could only manage a best of 7.525 - 116.55 to end the day far down the ladder in the #26 position

Coming out with a new body and new look this year was Steve Vang, as the "Wicked Weekender" (left) managed to put himself solidly into the "A" field (at least provisionally) with a 4th best 4.478 - 148.40 pass. The only Chevy Vega in the field, the "Hombre" driven by Mike Buchanan (right) was well down the list, clocking in at 5.346 - 104.46 for the #16 spot

A newcomer to the circuit this year, Jade Cook in the "Nemesis" (left), didn't get too far under power, with a timeslip reading 6.060 - 78.57, only good enough for the #21 position. Faring a little better was the beautiful high country Camaro of Colorado's Keith Jackson (right), as the "High Heaven" kept the throttle open long enough to land in the #15 spot with a 5.294 - 101.65 pass

Taking up a lot of space on the page is one of our favourite FCC cars, the very photogenic "Cone Hunter" entry of Albuquerque's Lyle Greenberg, seen doing his burnout, then backing up (upper photos), then leaving the line, dropping cylinders and spinning the tires hard (lower photos). The results weren't pretty as the scoreboards told the tale with a 7.448 - 107.43 displayed

Late in the first session the Texas-based "Guardian" of Nancy Matter ran, but she didn't get very far under power and ended up near the bottom of the list (#27) with a clocking of 8.524 - 79.69. The team was obviously hoping for much better results in the evening session

Closing out the first session was Nick Poloson (right), as he topped the charts, with a very good (for the conditions) 4.159 - 170.83 in the "Bucket List" car to take provisional pole going into the evening session. As the crews got busy in the pits prepping for the second session, the ever-threatening storm clouds gathered over the track

FRIDAY - Second Qualifying Session

With the temperatures dropping rapidly after sunset, a number of teams decided against trying to hook up on the cold track and stayed in the pits. A few of the teams managed to improve but most of the racers were hoping for much better conditions in the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. With a better weather forecast on tap, it seemed like a prudent move. As the FCC gang doesn't provide separate reports for the first two sessions, we can only report the best numbers recorded for each racer from the combined results.

Streaking into the night, the "Prairie Fire", driven by Nick Johnson (left) anchored the "A" field in the #8 spot, with a solid 4.659 - 148.65, while Blaine Cunningham in his "Animalize" entry (right) went nowhere in a hurry, finally stopping the clocks at 8.983 - 71.96, leaving him near the bottom of the pack

The old school '55 Chevy (or is it a '57 ?) "Dragon Slayer" of Andy Mears ended up in the middle of the "B" field (#12) with a decent 4.987 - 132.16 e.t. and speed

Coming all the way from Washington state, the "Atomic Punk" of Don Knoblauch (left) had some extra tuning help on hand, as Jeff 'The Surfer' Diehl joined the team for the weekend. His first effort ended early with a 7.011 - 72.42 timeslip and a good second try was negated by rolling the lights and getting a NTR (no time recorded timeslip)

Out for the first time in a very long time, Canada's Tim Boychuk in the "Happy Hour" Camaro, couldn't have been overjoyed with an 18th best 5.459 - 125.57 that put him all the way down into the (just added) "C" field. With only one more chance to knock off the rust, Boychuk and crew have to be hoping for much better numbers on Saturday

Enjoying the day much more was Oklahoma's Shayne Lawson (right) as the sharp looking "Man O' War" pounded out a good 4.560 - 120.51 for the #6 spot and a chance to play in the "A" field on Saturday night

As reported earlier, Ray Stringer and his "Blown Cent-Less" didn't exactly light up the scoreboards with a best of 7.525 - 116.55.

We're not sure if Steve Vang and his "Wicked Weekender" (left) improved in the evening session, but he managed to hold on to the #4 position, while Tod Barker's "Back in Black" 'Vette surprised a few people with the second fastest speed of the day, and the #5 qualifying position, with a very good 4.523 - 163.63 timeslip

Sporting new colours for the 2021 season, the former "Magnolia Missile" of Jeff Cameron (left) is now known as "Jake's Speed Shop", and he didn't disappoint his new sponsors, coming in as the #7 qualifier at 4.588 - 139.53. The best looking 'Vette in the pits, the "Cone Hunter" of New Mexico's Lyle Greenberg (right) had mixed feelings about his evening pass, as he lit the tires on the launch and stayed with it, smoking the tires to the finish line and finally stopping the clocks at 7.448 - 107.43 to sit just outside the "C" field at #25. It wasn't good, but it was spectacular

Two of the final shots from this report featured Clay Cunningham in the "Still Crazy" entry (left), on his way to an on-and-off (and probably at least one more on-and-off) before the clocks (finally) stopped at 6.240 - 128.05 that put him in the #22 spot

Late in the evening Chuck Loftin in the "Motivation" Mustang made his second attempt, shutting off early to a 5.235 - 104.54, only good enough for the #14 spot on the ladder

Saving the best for last, defending Funny Car Chaos series champion, Ken Singleton in the "High Risk" entry shut off a tad early on his qualifier and slipped into the #2 spot on the ladder with a 4.173 - 142.34 timeslip, landing less than two hundredths of a second behind the provisional #1 qualifer, Nick Poloson

Going through the results, it's obvious that most cars shut off before the finish line as the 200+ mph speeds at previous events (especially the season opener at the Texas Motorplex) were lacking, as Nick Poloson's top speed of the day (170.83) would have been well down the rankings at almost any other event on the schedule. Here's hoping for a tighter track and warmer track temperatures on Saturday. Stay tuned for more pictures from Friday's qualifying and results from Saturday's eliminations.