The latest update as of September 5, 2023

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

(LEFT) Laying down a strong, but slightly off-course burnout, was returning veteran of the FCC circuit, Daniel Butherus in his turbocharged BBC-powered "Rat-A-Tude". He laid down a mediocre 5.032 - 154.78 pass, but the excitement started when he pulled the chutes.

(RIGHT) From this angle it looks like Butherus was being rear-ended by Alex Barker's GTO, but there was no contact between the two cars, despite the wildly out-of-shape stance of the Firebird-bodied flopper as it crossed into Barker's lane and swung wildly from side to side before he wrestled it to a stop.

(LEFT) Making his first appearance of the season, Sweden's Joacim (Joe) Ljungberg, in the California-based "Raw Valley" entry, improved from his Friday best of 4.673, stopping the timers with a 4.567 - 158.17 that placed him in the "C" field.

(RIGHT) Back on the FCC circuit after missing the last two races, Steve Timoszyk wheeled the "Detroit Tiger" Monza to a good 4.092 - 179.86 pass, but it wasn't quite as quick as his earlier 4.026 - 180.43 effort, leaving him in the middle of the "B" field.

(LEFT) With a 3.966 e.t. on the leader board from Friday night, Jade Cook put down a hard burnout in her ProCharger-blown "Nemesis". While she didn't match her earlier best, an early shutoff 4.196 at just 139.28 mph showed that there was plenty of power under the Dodge-bodied entry.

(RIGHT) Launching with the wheels up, as many cars did on the sticky Mo-Kan starting line, Clay Cunningham went on a wild ride In the "Still Crazy" entry, crossing the centerline, taking out the 330' timing block and skating to a DQ'd 4.596 - 156.90 time, as he never lifted, despite the almost out of control attitude of his car.

(LEFT) Looking for better numbers than Friday's 4.055 - 157.18, Mike Newkirk pushed his "Disturbed" entry to a brilliant 3.807 - 199.38 to take at least a temporary hold on the #3 position on the "A" field ladder. The new body and chassis were required after his off the end of the track "excursion" at the Eddyville event in May. Fortunately, he was able to find an ex-Doug Gordon rolling chassis with body and three months later he was back in business.

(RIGHT) Pulling the chutes on his new look, and named car, North Dakota's Jim Chase proved that his "Hot Pursuit" entry was still "Wicked-ly Quick", as he sat near the top of the list with a Friday best of 3.776 - 194.22. This final qualifying pass wasn't better, as a 4.087 - 183.00 came up on the scoreboard.

(LEFT) Still working on the tuneup in the injected nitro burning Corvette, Tod Barker came close to backing up his earlier 4.217 e.t., with a competitive 4.329 - 165.38 pass that left him in the bottom half of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Trying hard to qualify, Kris Battey, in the "Batmobile" entry, didn't have quite enough as his best pass of the weekend came in this session, but a 4.754 - 147.83, fell just short of the 4.692 "C" field bubble.

(LEFT) Taking one more shot at the timers, despite being at the top of the qualifying sheet with an earlier 3.725 - 209.21, the "Man O' War II" thundered to an even better 3.719 - 211.07 to show everyone that the Ken Singleton-tuned entry was ready to take on all comers.

(RIGHT) After towing all the way to Maryland for last week's FCC event, Oklahoman Jordan Ballew made three consistent runs in qualifying here, with this one being a little slower (4.411 - 162.87 than his earlier best of 4.383 - 167.29 that left him in the #22 spot at the close of qualifying. Ths run was also the final round of the Kearney event, which saw Ballew finish in the runnerup spot in the "C" field to Mike Buchanan (not shown).

(LEFT) You could title this as "won the battle, lost the war", as Tom Furches laid down a great 4.080 - 161.75 to take the Kearney win in the "B" field, over a redlighting Chris Schneider (not shown). However, as the "Made In America" entry neared the finish line, he slowed with possible engine damage, and he was unable to appear for eliminations. The large white cloud that trailed him through the lights was the ashes of a dear friend being taken for a last ride down the strip and scattered in the shutdown area.

(RIGHT) Qualifying closed with a newcomer to the series, Roger Eckhert making a much improved pass over his 9-second clocking of Friday. The '66 Chevy II looked good and with more experience and some tuning, could be a good addition to the Funny Car Chaos contingent.

With a total of 33 cars in attendance, and just three 8-car fields being contested, there were a few racers going home disappointed. Three of them turned up broken before the first round: the aforementioned Tom Furches, and Lance Van Hauen, as the car apparently broke on the burnout in the third qualifying session. Matt Nissen who qualified #26, and would have made it into the "C" field as an alternate, wasn't able to make it, elevating Michael Neal (#27 on the list) into eliminations.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field eliminations - Round #1

(LEFT) With an all 3-second field, there were bound to be some very difficult races, starting in the opening round. The Texas-based "War Machine" of #8 qualifier Jeff Cameron, fresh off his delayed victory at Kearney earlier in the day, faced defending series champion Kirk Williams as eliminations opened.

(RIGHT) As can be seen in the photo, the black nose of Williams' "200 Proof" car appears to be well in front of Cameron just off the line. That wasn't an optical illusion as Williams left first by an .056 to .213 margin and increased the lead all the way down the track, taking a resounding 3.723 - 206.33 win over Cameron's best of the weekend 3.804 - 207.37 losing effort.

Despite laying down a hard burnout, Jim Chase struck the tires early and coasted to a 5-second e.t., losing to Mike Newkirk (not shown), who advanced to the semifinal with a very good 3.914 - 170.84 clocking.

Seen from two angles, courtesy of our husband (Bob Snyder) and wife (Ginger), the Terry Darby-tuned and Aaron Morrow driven "Nitro Relapse" entry qualified strongly with a 3.920 - 204.36 best. He upped the pace in the first round with an even better 3.858 - 190.92 as opponent Keith Zimmerer (barely visible in the background of the photo on the right), broke on the launch. Unfortunately, Morrow wasn't able to return for the semifinals as the car burnt three pistons on this pass.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field eliminations - Round #1

The "B" field was running on a 3.76 index, established by top qualifier Jade Cook's great 3.966 qualifying pass, but it didn't appear anyone would be capable of going under that number. In the first pair, Bob Alberty Jr. in his "Thunderin' Okie" certainly brought the thunder with the quickest e.t. of the round, at 4.055 - 164.90, coupled with a nearly two tenths holeshot over his opponent, Tod Barker (not shown). One glitch occured though, as Alberty smacked the wall - hard - just before the finish line, DQ'ing the run and advancing Barker to the next round.

The second pair of the round matched the #4 and #5 qualifiers, Chris Schneider in the Mach 1-bodied "Brutus", against the later model Mustang of Mary Reep. Schneider left first by half a tenth and stretched the lead all the way with a winning 4.161 - 175.17 pass, over the slowing 4.434 - 149.06 effort of Reep.

(LEFT) Staying solidly in the 4.0's, Steve Timoszyk pounded out another great pass at 4.061 - 183.52 to take the automatic win over red-lighting opponent, Tony Arcuri (not shown), who wasted a good 4.238 - 168.41 run. Timosyzk's run was quickest of the round and earned him lane choice over Tod Barker in the second round.

(RIGHT) Closing the first round was the match between the top and bottom qualifiers, with Wayne Hofmann (near lane), knowing he was going to have to pull out all the stops to get past the very tough Jade Cook, in the far lane. Hofmann tried a little too hard and red-lighted by .061, throwing away a decent 4.213 - 168.16, and making Cook the winner. She didn't take it easy though, pushing the "Nemesis" to a very good 4.071 - 175.78, and gaining lane choice in the semifinal round.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field eliminations - Round #1

(LEFT) A welcome addition to the FCC is the Firebird-bodied "Tremor" brought out by Ilinois's . During qualifying, he progressed from an opening 4.71, to a 4.56, and finally, a 4.30 to end at the top of the "C" field. He slowed slightly in the opening round to a 4.420 - 148.47, but it was still more than enough to take out Michael Neal's (not shown) 4.709 pass.

(RIGHT) With a redlight shining on the Christmas tree in the other lane, Shane "Smokey" Blanton was off and running to an automatic win. He ran into trouble down track and shut off to a slow, but winning, 5.734 - 93.17, over Jordan Ballew's just a little too quick -.006 reaction time.

(LEFT) Running his first elimination round in FCC competition in nearly a year, Joacim Ljungberg laid down a hard burnout before staging up to face opponent Mike Buchanan. Ljungberg got a little too anxious to get to the finish line, launching the "Raw Valley" Firebird before the tree was activated. Buchanan took and easy cruise into the semifinals, albeit without lane choice.

(RIGHT) Taking a break from the action to share some time with one of the numerous pets on hand for the event, dog-loving Bob Snyder was enjoying the attention from this friendly fellow.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field eliminations - Round #2

We've only got one photo from the second round, but this one of Kirk Williams doing a strong burnout in the "200 Proof" car pretty much sums up the action in the round. With no opponent in the other lane, due to Aaron Morrow's engine damage in the first round, Williams didn't spare the horses as he lit up the scoreboard with an excellent 3.722 - 205.86 to come close to Ronny Young's low e.t. of the meet 3.706 in the first round.

Before Williams' automatic advancement to the final round, the first pair of the second round turned into a bye run also. First round winner Mike Newkirk, was unable to make it back to the lanes after finding a broken rear end following his first round win. Not wanting to waste fuel or parts, Shayne Lawson simply staged the "Man O' War II" before shutting off on the starting line for the automatic win.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field eliminations - Round #2

We don't have any photos of this round either, but we can report that Jade Cook started drifting towards the guardrail, forcing her to shut down to a losing 4.360 - 127.30, indicating that she was enroute to some very good numbers. Taking advantage of her plight, Chris Schneider pounded out what could be a career best 4.093 - 177.51 to move to the final. The other pair turned into a bye run for Steve Timoszyk as opponent Tod Barker was unable to fire his injected nitro Corvette. Timoszyk ran hard, with a great 4.059 - 176.61 being quick enough to grab lane choice over Schneider for the final.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field eliminations - Round #2

The first pairing of the round had Dana Kleinhoffer (near lane) and Shane Blanton (barely visible), in the far lane. Kleinhoffer left first by a .027 to .104 margin, but Blanton passed him early and held on for the win with a solid 4.239 - 172.22 win over Kleinhoffer's good try of 4.649 - 162.81 in the losing cause.

The other race of the round (not shown) saw "The Gambler" cash in his chips, redlighting away a great 4.236 - 175.71 pass, with a .007 redlight. The beneficiary of that mistake was Mike Buchanan who moved to his second final round of the day, after taking the Kearney event win earlier, with a coasting 5.449 - 89.95 pass.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field eliminations (FINAL)

Final round time featured multi-time event winner, Mike Buchanan in the unpainted/unwrapped newly carbon-fiber bodied Chevy Vega, facing the "Bad Company" Chevy Lumina of Shane Blanton. Despite being left on - big time - at the starting line with a .271 reaction, compared to Buchanan's much quicker .051, the Hemi-powered Lumina took the lead before the 330' mark, stopping the timers with an event winning 4.234 - 173.75, over Buchanan's simply too slow 4.731 - 157.78 effort.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field eliminations (FINAL)

What was intended to be a pair of hard running low 4.0-second cars turned into a bye run for winner Chris Schneider in the John Troxel-tuned "Brutus" Mach 1 Mustang. His scheduled opponent, Steve Timoszyk was unable to make the call after suffering serious engine damage in his semifinal win. Schneider made an even better run than his great 4.093 in the semifinal, lighting up the scoreboard with a 4.074 - 178.01 to show that they were truly on top of their tuneup after some disappointing outings this season.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field eliminations (FINAL)

Closing out the event were the two strongest and most durable cars on the Funny Car Chaos circuit. Defending series champion Kirk Williams in the Williams Brothers "200 Proof" entry (near lane in the left photo), started eliminations from the #2 spot (3.748), and carded back-to-back 3.72's to reach the final round. Facing him was the "Man O' War II" Mustang of low qualifier Shayne Lawson, who grabbed the top spot with an excellent 3.719, then won in the opening round with a 3.76, took an automatic bye win in the semis, before facing Williams in the final.

When the ambers flashed, Williams was away first with an .026 reaction to Lawson's .065 launch. Both drivers were well under one second in the first 60', Lawson quickest at .956, while Williams was a fraction slower at .958. When they passed the 330' timers, Williams had pulled into a solid lead with a 2.501 interval time, while Lawson was slower at 2.545, making the gap between the cars nearly a car length. The margin continued to grow all the way to the 660' finish line, with Kirk Williams blasting out a new low e.t. of the meet at 3.686 - 206.71 over a very close 3.759 - 209.79 from Lawson. It was a pair of great runs to cap off a very successful event in front of a large and appreciative audience.