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The latest update as of April 12, 2024


FUNNY CAR CHAOS Classic

4th annual FUNNY CAR CHAOS Classic


After three hard fought rounds of qualifying, the fields were set with just one alternate inserted (in the "B" field). A total of 13 cars went into the 3-second zone, and the "A" field bump spot was an ultra-tough 3.774, held down by Shayne Lawson. A procedural change for this season saw a "sportsman" ladder used, instead of the traditional "pro" ladder. We presume that was instituted to make for closer matchups, with #1 facing #5, instead of #8. An interesting concept but after so many years of being used to the pro ladder, it was a bit confusing (at least to me) at first. Repeat after me: 1 against 5, 2 against 6, 3 against 7, 4 against 8.


FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field Eliminations - Round ONE


Shayne Lawson 
(near lane) vs Kirk Williams (far lane) --- Doug Schneider 
(near lane) vs Ronny Young (far lane)

(LEFT) Eliminations opened with a pair of Top Alcohol-style cars, with Shayne Lawson in the Ken Singleton-tuned "Man O' War II" (near lane), paired with the Williams Brothers "200 Proof" entry, driven by 2022 FCC Champion Kirk Williams. It was a very close race, with Lawson leaving first on an almost perfect .003 reaction time, but getting to the finish line second, despite a 3.912 - 179.04. Williams turned on the winlight with a slightly quicker 3.868 - 177.56. Oddly, it appeared that both drivers shut off a little early.

(RIGHT) Despite a decided e.t. advantage, Ronny Young (far lane) smoked the tires and shut off to a disappointing 11-second clocking in the "Blue Max". Taking full advantage of his plight was Doug Schneider (near lane), as the "Milliken Monster" reeled off a 3.813 - 200.55 for the win. His e.t. was a full tenth of a second slower than his qualifying best, but it was more than enough to turn on the winlight.

John Hale (near 
lane) vs Keith Zimmerer (far lane) --- Bill Bernard (near 
lane) vs Kris Krabill (far lane)

(LEFT) Another possible David vs Goliath match followed, with top qualifier John Hale in the Gordon & Hale "Red Baron" holding a near two tenths edge over a very worthy opponenet Keith Zimmerer (far lane) with his hard running "Penny Pincher" entry. Zimmerer left first by an .046 to .109 reaction time margin, but smoked the tires hard before the 60' clocks and slowly rolled to a stop before the finish line. Hale, on the other hand, imporoved on his qualifying effort, setting a new low e.t. of the meet with a tremendous 3.460, coupled with a new top speed at 230.96 mph for the easy win.

(RIGHT) The first round concluded with an alcohol versus nitro pairing. In the near lane, it was the blown alcohol entry of Bill Bernard in "The Grinder", against the Bartone & Lebor Daryll Gwynn tribute car, driven by west coaster Kris "Hollywood" Krabil. Both cars ran close to their qualfying times, but the alky car lit up the scoreboard with a 3.684 - 207.74 over the nitro burner's 3.731 - 204.10 effort. Making it a more convincing win was the reaction time advantage for Bernard, by an .040 to .079 margin.


FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field Eliminations - Round ONE


Levi Keenen 
(near lane) vs Ray Stringer (far lane) --- Mary Reep

(LEFT) A pair of nitro burners came up next, with Levi Keenen's Plymouth Arrow-bodied "Illinois Thunder" (near lane) holding lane choice by a tenth and a half over the "Blown Cent-Less" car of New Mexico's Ray Stringer (far lane). They left close together and at the finish line the gap was a little more than a car length, with Keenen getting the win with a solid 4.025 - 190.79 over Stringer's second-best 4.100 - 181.07 effort.

(RIGHT) It wasn't planned to be a bye run, but when Casey Geeslin "struck oil" in his "Gambler" Camaro on the burnout, Mary Reep had an easy path to the second round in the "Grim Reeper". She nearly matched her qualifying time with a very strong 3.876 - 187.85 for the win. As it turned out, Reep's e.t. was quickest of the round for the "B" field and guaranteed her lane choice in the semifinals.

Mike Newkirk --- Smiley Cordero 
(near lane) vs Nick Poloson (far lane)

(LEFT) Showing up this year with a very different look to the body, paint, and nickname, Mike Newkirk appeared to be on a solo also in his "Silver Slipper". It wasn't quite a bye run, but his opponent, the defending series champion, Tom Furches in the "Made in America" entry left the starting line before the tree was activated, negating his e.t. and giving the automatic win to Newkirk. Mike ran hard for a few hundred feet before clicking it off to a 4.866 - 107.84 clocking.

(RIGHT) The round closed with the first alternate (#33), Smiley Cordero in his "Maximum Overdrive" Camaro (near lane) getting a second chance, but he ' failed to take advantage and ran into trouble on a losing 4.739 - 177.73 pass. Taking the win and advancing was "Nitro" Nick Poloson in the Loftin & Poloson "Bucket List" (far lane) with a slightly early shutoff 4.066 - 162.07 winning time.


FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field Eliminations - Round ONE


Joe Morrison (near 
lane) vs Joe Pirrone (far lane) --- Chris Schneider 
(near lane) vs Sheldon Lofgreen (far lane)

(LEFT) The first of the indexed fields began with a 3.91 on the scoreboards. With the field tightly bunched between Sheldon Lofgreen on top at 4.068 and Shawn Murphy on the bottom at 4.170, there was a promise of some close racing. The first pairing featured two Easterner's, with New Jersey's Joe Morrison (near lane) in the "Hellbound" Dodge, against Pennsylvania's Joe Pirrone and his Firebird-bodied "Screaming Eagle". It was all over before the ambers flashed as Pirrone rolled through the staging beams, and Morrison took the automatic win with a mediocre 4.570 - 157.97 timeslip.

(RIGHT) FCC series stalwart Chris Schneider in the Lew Arrington tribute "Brutus" Mustang (near lane) slowed from his qualifying time (4.133) and could only manage a decent, but losing, 4.257 - 171.66. Launching with an almost perfect reaction time (.001), Sheldon Lofgreen took the win with a very good 4.111 - 180.12 to move to the semifinal, with lane choice over Morrison.

Chuck Loftin

The round closed with another uncontested win, as Shawn Murphy failed to fire in the "Hillbilly", making Chuck Loftin the automatic winner as long as he could fire and stage his "Motivation" Mustang. He managed both and made a nearly full run, clicking it just a little early and ringing up a 4.099 - 163.89 on the scoreboards. The e.t. was enough to earn him lane choice over Wayne Hofmann in the second round.


FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "D" Field Eliminations - Round ONE


Alex Barker (near 
lane) vs Steve Timoszyk (far lane) --- Michael Irwin (near 
lane) vs Mike Buchanan (far lane)

(LEFT) The last group to run in the first round was the "D" field, running off a 4.05 index. The gap between the top of the field, Tonyt Arcuri - 4.206, and the bottom, Alex Barker - 4.322 was just over a tenth of a second, again promising some close competition. The first pair featured bubble boy Barker (near lane) in his "Back in Black" Pontiac GTO, against the "Detroit Tiger" of Michigander Steve Timoszyk in the far lane. As can be seen in the photo, Barker took an early lead with an .068 to .106 reaction advantage, but at the finish line it was close, with Barker's 4.523 - 124.80 barely eking out the win over Timosyzk's 4.545 - 128.00, as the Monza blew the engine just past the 330' mark.

(RIGHT) Next up was series debutante Michael Irwin in the blown fuel "Strange Behavior" (near lane). He struggled in qualifying with his best runs being a 4.41 and 4.22, but he found the tuneup he needed - too much in fact - and rocked the scoreboards with a very quick 3.908 - 185.59. It was nearly 15 hundredths too quick for the index, and to add injury to insult, his opponent Mike Buchanan broke shortly after he left the starting line and slowly rolled to a stop well before the finish line. Sometimes it's truly better to be lucky than good, and in the "Hombre"'s case, it certainly was.

Colin Thomas (near 
lane) vs Justin Mallott (far lane) --- Tony Arcuri (near 
lane) vs Jade Cook (far lane)

(LEFT) The other newcomer to Funny Car Chaos in this field was Colorado's Colin Thomas in his flat black "Twisted Sister" Mach I Mustang (near lane), facing Justin Mallott in the '57 Chevy "Must be Nice" in the far lane. Thomas left hard with a sub 1-second 60' time, but his reaction time of .137, versus Thomas' .095 was too much overcome despite the closeness of the e.t.'s. Thomas stopped the clocks first with a 4.147 - 175.41 versus the second-best effort of Mallott, who trailed with a 4.229 - 167.35. Despite making his best run of the event, it was an early finish for Mallott.

(RIGHT) The first round of eliminations closed with Jade Cook in her borrowed "Bad Intentions" entry (far lane), taking a holeshot win over "The Firefighter" '56 Crown Victoria of Tony Arcuri. Cook laid down one of her patented quick leaves, with an excellent .021 reaction against Arcuri's .157, and that pretty much told the tale. Cook ran a very consistent 4.218 - 170.40 that easily covered the later leaving 4.250 - 167.26 of Arcuri. The win also gave lane choice to Cook over Buchanan in the semis, while Thomas had his pick over Barker.


NITRO CHAOS - "A" field eliminations - Round ONE


Kebin Kinsley 
(near lane) vs Brian Inouye (far lane) --- Mitch King (near 
lane) vs Joe Gallegos (far lane)

(LEFT)Even though there was a huge spread between the #1 (Joey Haas at 3.332) and #8 (Gary Wheeler Jr. at 3.759) qualifiers, the sportsman ladder reduce the performance disparity somewhat. The first pair out of the lanes matched #2 qualifier Kebin Kinsley in the Farris Brothers "War Wagon AA/Fuel Altered (near lane), against Ohio's "Frantic Fueler", driven by Brian Inouye (far lane). Despite taking a .016 reaction time advantage, it was all over quickly for Inouye when Kinsley rang up an .890 time at 60', taking nearly a half car length lead by the time they passed the christmas tree. Kinsley extended the lead all the way to the finish line, igniting the scoreboards with an excellent 3.482 - 227.02 to train length the very credible 3.843 - 209.40 of the Dauenheimer & Inouye AA/Fuel Dragster.

(RIGHT) The round continued with another fuel altered versus dragster pairing. In the near lane it was another Texas-based AA/FA. the "Bone Bucket", driven by long-time fuel racer Mitch King, against the "Nitro Clown" AA/FD of Joe Gallegos in the far lane. It was a good side-by-side race with both cars running in the 3.80's, but it was the slower leaving, but quicker car of King turning on the winlight with a 3.815 - 196.16 to hold off the great effort of Gallegos at 3.894 - 202.70. The gap at the finish line was barely a car length in a very close race.

Gary Wheeler Jr. 
(near lane) vs Jody Austin (far lane) --- Lyle Greenberg (near 
lane) vs Joey Haas (far lane)

(LEFT) It was yet another fuel altered against fuel dragster match, with the Oklahoma-based Brooks & Wheeler dragster, driven by Gary Wheeler Jr. (near lane), taking on the "Bushwhacker" of Texan Jody Austin in the far lane. They qualified barely half a tenth apart, with Austin holding the edge, and he widened that e.t. margin with a very strong 3.632 - 209.91, but a rather tardy (.181) reaction time nearly cost him the win. Wheeler launched a full tenth quicker, but his excellent 3.736 - 213.67 fell just seven thousandths of a second short at the stripe, in the closest race of the event.

(RIGHT) The first round closed with a major David vs Goliath battle, as low qualifier Joey Haas in the "Nimrod" AA/Funny Car, far lane, took on the #5 qualifier Lyle Greenberg in his "Cone Hunter" AA/Fuel Altered. The two cars left together, but Greenberg threw in the towel early and slowed to a 4.920 - 98.02, while Haas blasted out low e.t., of eliminations at a thundering 3.405 - 218.77 to move into the second round. That e.t. gave Haas lane choice over King, while Kinsley held sway over Austin.


NITRO CHAOS - "B" field eliminations - Round ONE


In Nitro Chaos racing, only the "A" field is run heads-up. The index in place for this event for the "B" field landed at 3.62 which was at least a little quicker than any of the racers could conceivably run, and the "C" field was set at 3.73, again an elapsed time that probably wouldn't be exceeded.

Chase Copeland (near 
lane) vs Clint Cross (far lane) --- Tyler Hilton (near lane) 
vs Michael Anderson (far lane)

(LEFT) The "B" field opened eliminations with a pair of fuel altereds, the injected nitro "Cubic Dollars" entry of Chase Copeland in the near lane, against the blown "Crossways" AA/FA of Meyer & Cross in the far lane, with Clint Cross driving. The two cars qualified just six hundredths apart, with Copeland holding the edge, but it wasn't even close as Cross slept on the line (.311 light) and gave up the chase early, shutting off to a 4.201 - 139.01. Not wasting any time was Copeland, as he left on time and pounded out a very quick 3.780 -213.12 to take an easy win.

(RIGHT) After two fuel altereds, it was time for two AA/Fuel Dragsters to face off, with 2023 NHRA Heritage Series Nostalgia Top Fuel champion Tyler Hilton in the Ohi0-based "Great Expectations III" (near lane) facing the "West Texas Hustler" of Abilene's Michael Anderson. Anderson launched first by a few hundredths, but the Hilton horsepower took over early, leading to a convincing 3.784 - 211.29 win over the good try of 3.934 - 207.15 by Anderson.

Two more pairs ran in this round, with John Umlauf Jr. in his AA/FA "Mass Chaos" taking an easy win over the A/FD (injected small-block) "NItro Monkey of Paul Schultz. Umlauf shut off early to a 4.198 - 130.57, while Schultz trailed badly with a 6-second clocking. The other pair was to be a pair of AA/Fuel Altereds, but Anthony Whitfield was unable to show with his broken "Mighty Mouse", while Scott Dominguez came in as an alternate for the broken "Psycho Too" of Wilkens & Gilliland, with James Gilliland driving. Dominguez took the free ride into the semis as he rumbled down the track to a 5.336 - 140.75 win.


NITRO CHAOS - "C" field eliminations - Round ONE


Aaron Morrow (near 
lane) vs Mike Hilton (far lane) --- Bobby Marriott (near 
lane) vs Mark Hunter (far lane)

(LEFT) With the sun sinking low in the sky, our intrepid lensman switched sides and while there weren't packed grandstands in the background, the cars were more brightly lit and photogenic. First out of the lanes was the "Nitro Relapse" AA/Fuel Altered (near lane) of Terry Darby and Aaron Morrow, with Aaron Morrow behind the wheel. Facing him was the second Hilton Family AA?Fuel Dragster, driven by Mike Hilton in the far lane. Hilton left first, by a margin of .085 to .130, but the altered turned on the afterburners and stopped the clocks first with a very strong 3.833 - 196.40 initiated by a .940 short time. Despite a very good 3.943 - 206.03 by Hilton, the win light came on for Morrow by just a little more than a car length.

(RIGHT) What could be more classic than a pair of Texas fuel altereds racing at the Texas Motorplex? In the near lane it was veteran Bobby Marriott in his "Shockwave" entry, and on the far side it was Mark Hunter in the Curtis Wasson and Mark Hunter "Jailbreak" entry. If you discount the reaction times, it was a very close race on paper, but Hunter's reaction time advantage, .068 to .150 for Marriott, told the tale. Hunter's slower, but faster 3.938 - 205.47 overcame the slower launch, but quicker e.t. of Marriott, as he stopped the timers at 3.915 - 189.64 in a futile effort to catch the quicker reacting Hunter.

Keith Jackson (near lane) 
vs Wade Pennington (far lane) --- Michael Tabacco

(LEFT) Now located in Texas and running a new, still unwrapped/painted body, the "High Heaven" AA?Funny Car of Keith Jackon (near lane) launched well, with flames out of the pipes, but faded quickly and could only post a 5.248 - 97.33, as Wade Pennington in the "Scrap Bucket" fuel altered (far lane), broke into the 3-second zone with an excellent 3.975 - 196.12 that turned on the winlight by a wide margin.

(RIGHT) This photo of Michael Tabacco in the "Pandemic: Nitro Variant" AA/Funny Car is the only image we're going to show of the final pairing of the first round of "C" field eliminations. His opponent, Tod Barker, also running a blown fuel flopper, the Corvette, isn't shown as both racers failed to make a pass, both ended up with irreparable damage, and were unable to appear in the second round.