The latest update as of March 27, 2023

3rd annual FUNNY CAR CHAOS Classic is in the books!

The event went off with no interruptions by the weather and when the smoke cleared, the spectators had seen some great Funny Car racing. Lots of three second runs and some very quick and fast runs by the hard runners in the "A" and "B" fields. We had two photographers (Bob Snyder and Dale Fackler) on hand, and over the next few days we'll be posting some great shots from testing, qualifying, and eliminations. But for now, we've got the final round photos to whet your appetite for more... much more. Stay tuned for that starting tomorrow.

"D" FIELD FINAL

The "D" field was fairly tightly knit, from top qualifier Tony Arcuri, in at 4.19, down to the bump spot holder, Shane 'Smoky' Blanton with a 4.612 e.t. The field would have been tighter if two cars hadn't shown up broken, Chris Schneider and Danny Smith, who both ran in the low 4.20's. With the index set at 3.99 (two tenths below the #1 qualifier's e.t.), there wasn't much chance of anyone breaking out, but the final round winner, Alex Barker, (far lane) in the GTO bodied "Back In Black", teased with the quickest e.t. of eliminations at 4.121 - 170.38 in the semifinal.

His final round opponent, Jade Cook, (near lane), in the "Nemesis" Dodge stayed in the 4.20's in qualifying and the first two rounds of eliminations before smoking the tires on the launch in the final. Barker ran into problems a little further down track, but was able to pedal quicker and get to the finish first with a 5.034 - 166.67, that easily covered Cook's later 5.726 - 153.01 effort.

"C" FIELD FINAL

A rather unique pairing came to the line in the final round, with Ray Stringer (near lane) in the "Blown Cent-Less" Oldsmobile facing the "Mighty Mouse" entry of series newcomer Anthony Whitfield in the money round. Both racers were running Chevy power, both burning nitro, but Whitfield was running a small-block, while Stringer had a big-block between the frame rails. Stringer had lane choice with a very good 4.063 in the semifinal, while Whitfield took an easy 5-second win over his redlighting opponent, Smiley Cordero.

There wasn't much doubt who was going to turn on the winlight from the 60' mark to the finish line, as Stringer easily pulled away from Whitfield, stopping the clocks with a 4.270 - 164.22 over the trailing 4.685 - 160.81 of the Mighty Mouse. The victory was especially gratifying for Stringer as it was his first at the Funny Car Chaos Classic and proved that Chevy power on nitro is a viable combination in the 21st century.

OUTLAW FUEL ALTERED FINAL

The original 16 entries in the Outlaw Fuel Altered class were trimmed down to 12 after the two qualifying rounds. Then the "quick 12" paired up for round one of eliminations in the "Chicago Style" format. That dictates that the two quickest winning cars from the round race for the event title. The quickest car of that round didn't win his pairing, as Raymond Dawson broke out of the 3.85 (or was it 3.80?) index with a 3.798 - 189.75 pass. The beneficiary of his faux pas was Scott Pareso (switching over from FCC to the Outlaw Fuel Altered group), who took a winlight with a solid 3.995 - 176.04 to punch his ticket to the final. Joining him was the quickest winning driver of the round, Jimmy Jones, who tickled the index with a 3.861 - 161.23 (note the low speed/early shutoff).

Both racers left together with great lights (.030 to .034), but Jimmy Jones, (near lane) pushed the "Texas Tremor" to a close win over opponent John Broussard (far lane), in his "Purple Haze" entry. The margin at the finish line was less than two hundredths, as Jones' 4.003 - 186.77 was just enough to hold off Broussard's very good 4.026 - 173.92 pass. It was a great finish to the Outlaw Fuel Altered show.

"B" FIELD FINAL

With a brand new car and new name ("Man O' War II"), Oklahoma's Shayne Lawson (near lane), reeled off two consecutive low 3.70's to reach the final against the blown fuel "Nimrod" of Joey Haas. Haas had rocked the test 'n tune session on Thursday with a 3.49, shutting off early, and looked to be set to give the "A" field some serious trouble. However, his best qualifying run, 3.683, placed him in the "B" field before he stepped up with a 3.585 in the first round. He lucked his way into the final before dropping a bomb on everyone at the 'Plex, blasting out a 3.446 - 247.04 to bring the house down and set low e.t. and top speed (by a bunch), for the win. Lawson's good try of 3.794 - 189.83 came up well short of matching Haas's run.

"A" FIELD FINAL

In the final race of the event, the three-time unlucky FCC finalist, Kebin Kinsley, (far lane), driving the "War Wagon" broke through with his quickest and fastest run of the weekend, a 3.446 - 231.65 to turn on the winlight. He came into the final holding lane choice over the NHRA Top Alcohol racer, Kyle Smith, who gave it a very good effort, leaving first by .034, and running another consistent 3.60-range pass, this time a 3.613 - 208.67 to come up a few car lengths short at the finish line. Despite the horsepower disparity, with Kinsley running a "big show" engine (twin mags, big fuel pump), Smith's high rpm blown alky car was a more than worthy opponent for the blown fuel monster that Kinsley was piloting.