Funny Car Chaos at Kearney Raceway

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS Qualifying - Round ONE

(LEFT) First out of the lanes was Connecticut's Wayne Hofmann in the big-block Chevy powered "China Syndrome" car.

(RIGHT) Paired up with Hofmann was Daniel Butherus in his season debut of an all-new combination. It's got a twin-turboed 572-cid Rodeck for motivation and it should fly once they get on top of the tuneup. It sounded nasty as it spooled up and left hard before running into trouble and coasting to a 6.11 at 79.95 mph. On the far side, Hofmann put down a solid opening pass of 4.468 - 158.50 to stake his claim for a spot in the "B" field.

(LEFT) A good close race to the finish line developed in the next pairing, as Colorado's Tony Arcuri (near lane) pushed his Thunderbird bodied "Firefighter" to the top of the list with a solid 4.351 - 164.51. Not far behind in the far lane was Danny Smith in the "Snafu" entry, stopping the clocks at 4.394 - 161.92 to move into the #2 spot on the ladder.

(RIGHT) Debuting a new carbon fibre, and still unwrapped, Vega body, Mike Buchanan made a solid pass in his "Hombre", with a 4.513 - 162.45 pass. Not shown, on the far side was Jordan Ballew who was just a tick behind on the clocks with a 4.514 - 156.32 set of numbers.

(LEFT) Getting out of shape on the burnout, the orange and black flamed "Back In Black" GTO of Alex Barker ran into more trouble on the run as he launched into instant tire shake and shutoff before getting to the finish line.

(RIGHT) Running alongside Barker was the "Runnin' Down A Dream" car of Matt Nissen, and he had a much better result than Barker, as he laid down a 5.016 - 155.31 to grab the #7 spot on the list. However, with more than 20 cars waiting to run, that spot was certain to be only temporary.

(LEFT) Seen completing his burnout, Robin Rish in the Camaro-bodied "Blown Retirement" entry, didn't really get up on the tires as the car laboured down the track to a 5.076 - 139.36 clocking. That put him in the #7 spot as a total of eight cars had an e.t. at that point.

(RIGHT) Not having similar luck, Chris "The Flying Butcher" Schneider broke shortly after the launch and received NTR and NSR (no time or speed recorded) as he failed to reach the finish line. That made two cars in a row to fail to get down the left lane. Oddly enough, the crew elected to push the car back to the pits instead of towing it down to the top end turnout and making the longer trip back.

(LEFT) Things started changing quickly as David Hill piloted "Zeus" to the top of the list with a new low e.t. (of the moment) at 4.225 - 166.48 clocking. Not shown in the far lane was the "Burnin' Love" Nova of Mississippi's Michael "Toad" Neal who grabbed the #8 spot with a decent 4.828 - 145.20 clocking.

(RIGHT) Launching hard with the wheels up was "Hot Rod Herbie" Justin Herbst in his sinister looking "Executioner" in the near lane. He put down a solid 4.608 - 153.84 that placed him momentarily in the #7 spot. Trailing him off the line in the far lane was the Mustang-bodied "Pony Up" of Danny Mann, who stopped at half track, restarted (onboard starter) and idled across the finish line, but didn't receive an elapsed time.

(LEFT) Two of the heavy hitters came out next, with North Dakota's Jim Chase in the beautiful classis '57 Chevy "Wicked Quick" in the left lane. He shut off just before the finish line but still managed the second best time of the session - to this point - with a great 4.013 - 183.89 showing on the scoreboards.

(RIGHT) Laying down the first 3-second pass of the event was the defending series champion, Kirk Williams in the Williams Brothers Racing "200 Proof", as he blitzed the timers with a very strong 3.818 - 201.43 to take the top spot in the "A" field.

(LEFT) Showing off with a solid burnout, the Will Hanna-tuned, Keith Zimmerer driven "Penny Pincher 02" was back in action after a two race absence waiting for a new supercharger.

(RIGHT) Leaving first by quite a bit in the near lane, Zimmerer bounced Williams out of the top spot with a new low e.t. of the session at a brilliant 3.781, paired with a speed of "only" 192.25 to shake things up at the top of the charts. That moved the bump spot for the "A" field down to Mike Buchanan's 4.513 pass. But with still at least ten more cars waiting in the lanes, Buchanan was certain to be bumped down to the "B" field.

(LEFT) Things got a little weird when the lights went green as Clay Cunningham (near lane) shot off the line in his "Still Crazy" entry, and ran strong for a few hundred feet before clicking it to a 4.737 - 110.73. He missed the last two races waiting for parts to arrive and probably took it easy on this pass to save wear and tear on the equipment.

(RIGHT) Hoping to keep both sides shiny, as he's kissed the guardwall on both sides at the last two events, Jesse Clark kept his Monte Carlo-bodied car mostly in the groove before shutting off a little early, stopping the clocks with a good 4.103 at only 146.78 to take the #4 spot in the "A" field.

(LEFT) Running a full-on Top Alcohol Camaro-bodied entry, Christine Foster experienced severe tire shake shortly after launching, pedalled it once, then gave up on the run to the tune of a 5.170 - 98.69 to take a place at the top of the "C" field.

(RIGHT) Leaving first in the near lane, Kris Battey pushed the "Batmobile" to a so-so 4.916 - 140.30 to take the #16 spot on the list, while in the far lane, Colorado's Steve Griboski had a troubled (for him) run in his nitro burning "Mile-High Express" early model Mustang, as he could only muster a 4.382 - 169.78 to take the #7 spot in the "A" field. His run moved the "A" bump spot down to a 4.394, with still more cars left in the lanes and ready to lower that number.

(LEFT) Next up were a pair of Top Ten runners, with points leader Tom Furches (far lane) in the Firebird-bodied "Made In America", facing series rookie Casey Geeslin (#7 in points) in the hot looking Camaro-bodied "Gambler" (near lane). Neither racer got the numbers they wanted, as Geeslin had to pedal at the 60' mark, then got on it hard to stop the clocks at 4.576 - 172.65. The e.t. wasn't the best, but the speed was seriously fast.

(RIGHT) With only one more car waiting behind him in the lanes, the gorgeous "Man O' War" of Oklahoma's Shayne Lawson was looking to blast into the top half of the "A" field and he did just that with a very strong 3.840 - 198.50 to take the #3 position. The Ken Singleton tuneup was obviously continuing to pay dividends for the team.

The last of 29 cars to make an attempt in the first qualifying session was Jeff Cameron in the "War Machine" (aka: Jake's Speed Shop), left very hard with a .990 time at 60', but started heading towards the centerline, and took out the 330' timing block to DQ the run. The scoreboard read 4.603 - 144.29 but it was all for naught with the centerline infraction.

With the first round of qualifying in the books, the "A" field runners ranged from Keith Zimmerer in at 3.781, down to Steve Griboski at a 4.382. The "B" field started with Danny Smith with a 4.394, and ended with Lance Van Hauen coming in at 4.687. In the "C" field, the numbers started from Clay Cunningham at 4.737, then trailed off down to Chuck Loftin in the #24 spot at 6.661. Below him were three drivers that didn't reach the finish line, one that broke on the burnout, and one that crossed the centerline. With the second session coming in the evening, under cooler conditions and possibly better bite, the qualifying numbers were almost certain to improve.

With the sun sinking over the horizon and lights on, the evening qualifying session got underway with a full contingent of cars waiting in the staging lanes. The blazing orange sunset made for a beautiful background as the first pair fired up and came to life. The light faded quickly and the track was in full darkness before the third pair ran.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Qualifying Round TWO

(LEFT) The evening qualifying session opened with Wayne Hofmann making a solo pass, as scheduled opponent, Mike Buchanan, was shut off after the burnout. Hofmann wasn't able to better his afternoon 4.468 pass, and stayed in the #10 spot on the ladder, and solidly placed in the "B" field.

(RIGHT) After laying down a solid burnout, Matt Nissen shut off without making a pass.

(LEFT) He may have left first, but Danny Smith in the near lane, broke shortly after this photo and rolled to a stop before the finish line. In the far lane, Jade Cook down the run her team has been searching for all year, as she blitzed the scoreboard with a career best e.t. and speed at 4.124 - 177.24 to rocket up the ladder from "no time recorded" in the first session, to #5, and well placed in the "A" field. Unfortunately, Cook was very likely to be bumped down to the top of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) There was no improvement for either driver in this next pairing, as Jim Chase (near lane), slowed to a 4.41 - 151.00 clocking, and stayed in the #4 position, but only by a thread with some serious hitters in the lanes looking to move up. In the far lane, Michael Neal slowed a tenth from his first session effort, carding a 4.92 - 146.00 that left him in the #19 and dropping.

(LEFT) Despite laying down a strong 3.818 - 201.43 effort in the first session, good enough for #2 on the ladder, Kirk Williams (near lane) was looking to take the top spot on the ladder. He did just that, pounding out a new low e.t. and top speed of the meet with a brilliant 3.757 - 203.49 effort. On the other side it was the "Executioner" picking up nearly a tenth, at 4.529 - 157.15, as Justin Herbst managed to get back into the "B" field, at the bottom, in the in the #16 position.

(RIGHT) After an aborted first session pass, Lance Van Hauen (near lane) pushed the Van Hauen Brothers car to a very strong 3.880 - 195.87 to vault all the way to #4, and a spot in the middle of the "A" field. Also improving, marginally, was Tony Arcuri, (far lane), with a consistent 4.335 - 166.48 that moved him back to the top of the "B" field.

(LEFT) This pairing featured a pair of Missouri-based Mach 1 Mustang-bodied cars, both with drivers looking for a timeslip, as neither made it to the finish line in the first session. Chris Schneider moved first and got to the finish line first, albeit with a mediocre 5.506 - 120.10, "good" enough for only the last spot in the "C" field in the #24 position. Faring even worse was Missouri's Danny Mann (far lane), as he could only manage a 8.414 - 45.24, leaving him in the third alternate position for the "C" field.

(RIGHT) With no time on the board following his first session DQ (took out the 330' timing block), Jeff Cameron (near lane), needed to get solidly into the show. He tried hard, and pedalled, but could only muster a 4.988 - 107.73, that left him in the middle of the "C" field, in the #21 spot with one more chance to improve in tomorrow's final round of qualifying. Having trouble from half track to the finish line as the car hugged the guardwall, Clay Cunningham, in the far lane, wasn't able to better his first session 4.737, and remained in the #18 spot in the top half of the "C" field.

(LEFT) Running by himself after opponent Kris Battey broke before the burnout, Steve Griboski blasted out the first nitro fuelled pass of the evening, knocking nearly three tenths of his first session 4.382 pass, as he cranked out a 4.066 - 184.70 to jump into the "A" field in the #6 position. Griboski's run also moved the bubble for the "A" field down to Jade Cook's 4.124 pass. Without having a chance to make a run, Battey remained in the bottom half of the "C" field.

(RIGHT) There were improvements on both sides of the track in the next pair, as Shayne Lawson (near lane), bombed out a 3.816 - 197.48 to knock three hundredths off his first session 3.840, to remain in the #3 position. Showing tremendous power down low, Lawson did the 60' in .976 seconds. Picking up a bunch from her first round tire shaking 5-second effort, Christine Foster (far lane), knocked out a good 4.254 - 162.39 to leapfrog from #24 to #10, advancing from the very bottom of the "C" field to near the top of the "B" field.

(LEFT) Leaving strongly was Jesse Clark (near lane), but he shut off early again, lifting to the tune of a 4.19 pass. He did remain in the #7 spot in the "A" field courtesy of his first session 4.103 - 146.78 effort. In the far lane, Casey Geeslin put down a solid 4.483 - 173.27 in his blown alky Hemi-powered Camaro, and advanced to the #14 spot, near the bottom of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Following a dismal 6-second pass earlier, Chuck Loftin ran into even more trouble on his second pass. Following a ragged burnout, the rear tires jumped in the air on the launch as Loftin pedalled a couple of times, dropping cylinders and finally shutting off to a slower e.t. That left him outside the show in #27 with just one chance left to get back into a field.

(LEFT) Sitting near the bottom of the "B" field with a first session 4.489 on the board, Tom Furches (near lane), failed to improve, despite a decent 4.560 - 149.56, and remained in the #15 spot at the end of the evening. In the far lane, David Hill was looking to repeat his first session 4.222 effort, but lifted early and coasted to a 5.535 at less than 90 mph. He held on to his #9 spot on the ladder, at the top of the "B" field going into the final qualifying session.

(RIGHT) Despite making an attempt earlier in the session, Kris Battey shut off before staging and was allowed to pull back into line for another try. The Miner Brothers powered entry sounded strong, but pedalled his way to a slightly better 4.893 - 141.19 to remain in the #21 spot in the bottom half of the "C" field.

The final car to run on the evening was Howard Seldon in the "Proclaimer" making another licensing pass. He pedalled it several times on the burnout, before leaving hard, pedalling twice more, and lighting up the scoreboard with a 5.35 - 136.70 time and speed. And that was a wrap for the second round of qualifying.

After the session, the "A" field e.t.'s ranged from Kirk Williams's 4.757 (#1 spot) to Jade Cook in the #8 position. On top of the "B" field was David Hill at a solid 4.222 in the #9 spot, while holding down the #16 bump spot was Mike Buchanan with his first session 4.513 pass. The "C" field started with #17 Jordan Ballew, at 4.514 and ended with Robin Rish in the #24 slot with a 5.148 elapsed time. Sitting on the outside some series regulars, with Chris Schneider and Chuck Loftin very capable of moving into the "B" field at least.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS Qualifying - Round THREE (FINAL)

With the storm clouds gathering as the final session commenced, and getting darker throughout, the racers were hoping to get well placed in the respective fields before eliminations began in the late afternoon. With only 29 cars in competition, almost every car that was healthy after qualifying was going to be in the show. As the session began, the bump spot at the bottom of the "C" field stood at a relatively easy 5.148 e.t., held down by Robin Rish. At the other end of the spectrum, sitting at the very top of the "A" field was Kirk Williams with his Friday night 3.757 - 203.49 effort.

(LEFT) First out of the lanes to start the final session were Christine Foster (near lane), and on the far side, Danny Smith. Both teams were running a Top Alcohol combination and both wanted to advance to the "A" field. Foster appeared to be in trouble as she was pushed back after the burnout, but was able to stage the car with no drama. Things came undone when she launched and headed directly at our photographer. Her 6.80 pass left her - at least temporarily - in the #10 position. Not doing much better was Smith as his 4.80 - 145.19 clocking left him in the #12 spot and in danger of falling further back in the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Coming into the final session sitting on the "A" field bump spot was Jade Cook (right side) was hoping to repeat, or possibly improve a little, to solidify her position in an "A" field for the first time in her career. On the left side of the photo, Jordan Ballew wanted to move up to the "B" field from his #17 spot as the session started. Neither driver got their wish, but Cook put down a very respectable 4.27, at an early shutoff 133.2 to remain in the #8 spot. Her 60' time of just .996 indicated just how much power the "Nemesis" has under the hood of their Dodge Daytona. In the other lane, Ballew showed incredible consistency, running his third consecutive 4.51 pass, this one a 4.515 that was just a thousandth slower than his Friday best of 4.514. He remained in the #17 spot, at the top of the "C" field and in a very good position going into eliminations..

(LEFT) Launching strongly on the right side of the photo, Michael Neal improved by three hundredths of a second but remained in the #20 position. On the left side, Robin Rish was unable to improve on his Friday best of 5.148 and hung on (by a fingernail) to the last spot of eliminations at #24 on the ladder.

(RIGHT) Pulling into an early lead on the left side, Wayne Hofmann improved half a tenth with a good 4.393 - 156.11 to strengthen his grip on the #16 spot at the bottom of the "B" field. On the right side, Mike Buchanan pulled a serious wheelie for the first hundred feet and wasn't able to challenge his earlier best of 4.513. That left him in the very tenuous #16 spot on the bubble in the "B" field. With Jeff Cameron and Chris Schneider waiting in the staging lanes, his position wasn't looking too sfe.

(LEFT) Two of the "A" field hitters faced off in the next pairing, with #5 Jim Chase (left side) matched up against #1 Kirk Williams (right side). Both racers were looking for another quick run, and Chase led them out of the gate, with the wheels in the air well past the 60' clocks. He kept the pedal all the way to the finish line, stopping the clocks with a great 3.888 - 186.28 to improve by more than a tenth, and join the "3-second gang", but remain in the #5 spot on the ladder. Williams shook hard and shut off quickly to an 8-second pass, but still held on to the top spot in the field.

(RIGHT) Following side-by-side burnouts, Chris Schneider (foreground) was looking to step up and grab a spot on the elimination ladder. For the first time of the weekend, he got the John Troxel owned and tuned Mustang to lay down a good pass, putting a 4.184 - 174.80 to climb all the way to #9 on the list, at the top of the "B" field. In the background, Danny Mann managed to post a somewhat respectable number at 5.331 to move up to the #25, still one spot outside the "C" field, in the first alternate position. The car was running decently but backfired the blower before the finish line, sending the burst panel in the hood flying.

(LEFT) Coming into the final session at the bottom of the "C" field with a 4.988 "best" on Friday, Jeff Cameron was looking to move way up the charts, and hopefully into the 3-second zone. He did just that with a very good 3.871 - 188.36, initiated with a .996 time to 60' as he blasted his way to the #4 spot and first round lane choice in the "A" field. That moved the bubble for that group down to Steve Griboski's 4.066, and bump Jade Cook to the top of the "B" field. On the left side of the photo, Justin Herbst wasn't able to improve and stayed in the middle of the "C" field in the #20 spot.

(RIGHT) Leaving strongly on the right side, Tony Arcuri shaved two hundredths off his Friday best, posting a 4.317 - 166.09 to hang on to the #13 spot in the middle of the "B" field. Having an equally strong run until half track, Casey Geeslin started moving towards the centerline and clicked it off to a 4.995 - 106.25, leaving him in the #16 spot, with just a toehold at the bottom of the "B" field.

(LEFT) Pulling into an early lead on the right side, Shayne Lawson ran a consistent, and slightly quicker, 3.804 - 199.35 to solidify his hold on the #3 spot in the "A" field, and nearly join Kirk Williams in the "200-mph club". Lawson also continued his improvement on 60' times with a very good .981 clocking. On the left side, Kris Battey cut nearly a tenth off his earlier best, with a 4.823 - 143.70 pass to give him a slightly stronger hold on the #23 spot as the final qualifying session was winding down.

(RIGHT) The next pair featured a pair of "A" field qualifiers, with Jesse Clark (left side) versus Keith Zimmerer on the right side. Zimmerer held the #2 spot with his earlier 3.781, while Clark was hanging on the bump spot in the "A" field with his 4.103 pass on Friday.

(LEFT) Shutting off after the burnout earlier in the session, Chuck Loftin got one final chance to make the show in the last pair of qualifying. It didn't work as he sat on the line for quite a while, staring at the GREEN light before limping to a 6.943 - 102.75 that left him well outside the "C" field. Streaking away from Loftin was Clay Cunningham who blasted out a 3.967 - 173.47 that vaulted him all the way from #19 to #8 and a spot in the "A" field.

(RIGHT) Closing out qualifying was the final pass for Tom Furches, and he picked up nearly half a second, but only moving from the #15 spot to #11, but in the top half of the "B" field, with lane choice for the first round of eliminations.

With the fields set, the range of e.t.'s in the "A" field ran from Kirk Williams at 3.757 down to Clay Cunningham's 3.967, making for an all 3-second field. The "B" group started with Steve Griboski at 4.066 and worked down to Wayne Hofmann, in at 4.393. Griboski's e.t. set the index at 3.86 for the "B" field. The "C" field started with Danny Smith at 4.394, setting their index at 4.19, and sitting at the bottom of the ladder was Matt Nissen at 5.010, narrowly missing making it an all 4-second group.

ELIMINATIONS

Unfortunately, eliminations were rained out and rescheduled as part of the Labor Day Classic at Mo-Kan Dragway. You can check out the remaineer of the coverage of this event by clicking here.