The Summer Nationals at Cordova Dragway

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Qualifying Session #2

This is just the start of the photos from the second qualifying session, kicked off with a Jet Funny Car lighting up the night sky.

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Saturday started with the third (final) qualifying session. With only 24 spots open in eliminations, and 33 cars in the pits, there were going to be some disappointed racers by the time the session ended. Sitting on the 24-car bump spot was Mike Buchanan with a decent 4.681 e.t., and below him were some series regulars that were more than capable of overcoming that barrier.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

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

With the grandstands full and everyone standing it was time for the national anthem before the first pair fired up to open eliminations.

(LEFT) Choosing to run first was top qualifier Dave Hirata (far lane) in Tom Motry's "Drastic Plastic" nitro burner, paired up against the always dangerous Keith Zimmerer (near lane). With ace tuner Will Hanna calling the shots, Zimmerer qualified in the #5 rung on the ladder, only half a tenth slower than Hirata. Zimmerer launched first, with an .-029 to .100 reaction time advantage.

(RIGHT) Leaving second at a seven hundredths disadvantage, Hirata failed to close the gap before the 1/8-th mile finish line. Despite clocking in at an excellent 3.713 - 214.52, he was two car lengths behind at the stripe as Zimmerer stopped the clocks with low e.t. of eliminations 3.692 - 205.26, while Hirata notched top speed of eliminations with his 214+ mph speed.

Looks like only one car, that of Jesse Clark in his "No Name" entry in this pair of photos. Scheduled opponent Ray Drew in the Mustang-bodied "Cobra" wasn't able to make the call and with no replacement for him waiting in the wings, Clark took a free ride into the semifinals. He ran strong for a few hundred feet before clicking it off early to a 4.183 - 135.01 timeslip, well off his #8 qualifying 3.778 - 203.89 numbers.

(LEFT) The Williams Brothers racing team "200 Proof Top Alcohol car, driven by Kirk Williams only qualified in the #7 spot, well down from his usual position near the top of the ladder. After a Funny Car Chaos series championship in 2022, preceded by second place in 2021, and back-to-back second placings in 2023 and 2024, he was looking to move up in this year's standings.

(RIGHT) Facing Williams was the defending series champion Shayne Lawson in the Mustang-bodied "Man O' War" entry in the far lane. With tuning help from Ken Singleton they finished qualifying in the #3 slot but ran into trouble early in the run and stopped on the track before the finish line. Taking the easy win was Williams (near lane) with a strong 3.834 - 202.73 to advance to the second round.

(LEFT) Making quite a name for himself in his first season on the FCC circuit has been Brian Lewis in the brand-new "Grumpy 2" entry. He runner-upped at the season opener at the Texas Motorplex and entered eliminations here from the #6 spot on the ladder, courtesy of a strong 3.741 - 199.58 qualifying effort.

(RIGHT) Lining up in the near lane against veteran Chuck Loftin (far lane) in the "Motivation" Mustang, Lewis left first by nearly a tenth and a half (.012 to .157 r.t.'s), and outran Loftin all the way to the finish line. Lewis' scoreboard read 3.734 - 205.85 while Loftin trailed with a solid, but losing 3.927 - 169.27. The e.t's could have been closer if Loftin hadn't pulled the chutes early.

Here's a closer look at Chuck Loftin launching hard with the slicks wadding up and propelling the 'Stang down track.

The first round ended with pairings for the semis seeing Brian Lewis taking his choice of lanes over Jesse Clark, and Keith Zimmerer choosing over Kirk Williams.

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

With the index rule in effect, it was set at .15 seconds quicker than the top qualifier in the field. That was Bill Bernard, who ran 3.783 to set the index at a very quick 3.63.

(LEFT) Leading off the "B" field eliminations was series regular Chris "The Butcher" Schneider in the Trxoxel & Schneider "Brutus" Mustang. The Lew Arrington tribute car qualified #15 overall with a solid 4.135 - 173.76 pass in the final qualifying session.

(RIGHT) Facing Schneider was one of the most iconic cars in the history of funny car racing, the (in)famous "Chi-Town Hustler", with third generation driver Mike Minick at the controls. Following in the footsteps of grandfather Pat Minick in the original iteration of the car in 1967, and father Wayne Minick who drove in the 1980's, Mike is still doing massive burnouts that are the signature trademark of the Hustler.

(LEFT) On the green, Chris Schneider in the far lane took a reaction time advantage of half a tenth before running into trouble and shutting off to a 6.939 at 66.10 mph. In the near lane, Mike Minick pounded out a strong 3.897 - 204.88, quicker than his 3.914 qualifying time and easily advanced to the semifinal round.

(RIGHT) Here's a closer look at the Hustler, hooked up and charging down track.

(LEFT) Despite a sub-par qualifying result that saw the "Executioner" land in the #25 spot and out of the show, Justin Herbst got a reprieve when Casey Geeslin announced that the "Gambler" was unable to make repairs after qualifying. It was quite a jump from #25 to the #12 position in the middle of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Making his debut in FCC competition, Bobby Martin wheeled the aptly named Dodge Charger bodied "Super Charger" through a strong burnout before facing Herbst. He qualified at the bottom of the "B" field with a very respectable 4.169 - 182.53 pass that indicated some serious potential for the newcomer.

(LEFT) The race was over before it started, as you can clearly see with the big redlight glowing in the far lane for Justin Herbst, negating his consistent 4.531 - 156.43 effort. Bobby Martin, on the other hand, had a rather slow reaction time (.155) but easily passed Herbst with a winning 4.249 - 163.53 clocking.

(RIGHT) Another view of Martin as the "Super Charger" hooks up and charges towards the finish line.

(LEFT) The top qualifier in the "B" field, Bill Bernard smoked the tires hard on the burnout in "The Grinder". He laid down an excellent 3.783 - 201.73 best in qualifying and could still go quicker without worrying about going under the index.

(RIGHT) Bernard's opponent, Steve Timoszyk in the very familiar Monza-bodied "Detroit Tiger" broke into the 3-second zone in qualifying with a very strong 3.991 at only 170.93 mph. His team was looking to improve on that if they hoped to take out Bernard in the opening stanza.

Timoszyk, in the near lane, launched first by more than a tenth of a second, with an .038 light to Bernard's (far lane) .158 reaction. It didn't take long for Bernard to close the gap as they ran side-by-side to the finish line. At the stripe, it was a margin of just .004 of a second, as Timoszyk's great (career best?) 3.941 - 206.67 fell just inches short of Bernard's winning 3.817 - 189.98 pass. The closest race of the weekend and one of the closest of the season to this point.

(LEFT) The final pair of the round matched up the Top Alcohol Funny Car "Thunderin' Okie" of Bob Alberty Jr. against the '57 Chevy out of North Dakota. Alberty dipped into the 3.80's with a very strong 3.873 at only 168.15 mph to land in the #10 spot overall, and #2 in the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Facing Alberty was the sinister looking '57 Chevy-bodied "Wicked Quick" of FCC regular Jim Chase. He qualified a little slower than normal as he could only manage a 4.108 - 178.33 best in qualifying.

(LEFT) When the green flashed, both drivers left the line with quick reactions: Chase carded an .036, while Chase was even better with an .015 reaction time. Alberty started smoking the tires right at the hit, and had to pedal his way to a losing 4.611 - 151.24 effort, while Chase turned on the winlight with a quicker pedal job that resulted in a 4.461 - 181.28 timeslip as he advanced to the next round.

(RIGHT) Here's a closeup view of Alberty's trouble off the line as the front tires are in the air, the rear tires are smoking and showing daylight under them. It's actually somewhat incredible that he was able to recover and post a semi-respectable number after that.

With the first round in the books, the pairings were set for the semifinal, with Bill Bernard choosing his lane over Mike Minick and Bobby Martin having his pick over Jim Chase.

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

The "C" field was also an indexed field with a 4.04 index, courtesy of Lee Loveall's top qualifying 4.197 elapsed time.

(LEFT) The "other" '57 Chevy in the show, the "Must Be Nice" of Indiana's Justin Malott warmed up the hides before making his first round run.

(RIGHT) Malott's opponent, in the near lane, was Colin Thomas in the flat black "Twisted Sister" entry. Malott got a slight jump on Thomas off the starting line and opened up more of a gap going down track, stopping the clocks with a winning 4.207 - 172.43 over the trailing, but decent 4.374 - 177.02 of Thomas.

(LEFT) The shortest wheelbase car in Funny Car Chaos has to be the Vega-bodied "Hombre" of Oklahoma's Mike Buchanan in the near lane. He's been running with the FCC folks since 2020 and knows how to get it done. He left the line a little late (.213 to .153 lights) to his opponent Dana Kleinhoffer in the beautiful new "Tremor" and the tardiness cost Buchanan as his 4.361 - 169.17 fell well short of Kleinhoffer's better 4.295 - 166.60 clocking.

(RIGHT) Here's a closer loook at the Tremor as it launches with the front tires slightly off the asphalt and the slicks grabbing hard. Qualifying in the middle of the "C" field and turning on the winlight in his first round of FCC racing has to rank as a successful weekend, with possibly more to come.

(LEFT) Another "refugee" from the NHRA Top Alcohol wars, Bill Naves lined up the "Shooting Star" in the near lane against the "Ballew Thunder" of Jordan Ballew. The Thunder team has been to every Funny Car Chaos event from the beginning of the 2019 season, now at 43 races and counting. Ballew qualified #22 overall at 4.28, while Naves came in at #22 with a 4.20 e.t. Not that much separating them.

(RIGHT) Ballew launched first by .064 of a second, but his 4.306 - 163.93 wasn't enough to hold off the superior 4.171 - 160.56 from Naves. The gap at the finish line was more than a car length but it was closer enough to be exciting for the fans.

(LEFT) The round finished with Neil Girot in his "Twist 'n Shout" entry that qualified #21 with a 4.279 - 148.58 mph pass.

(RIGHT) In the other lane was Lee Loveall in the "Giant Killer" Chevy II, who sat at the top of the "C" field (#17 overall) with a 4.197 - 169.44 to his credit.

When the ambers flashed and the greens came on, the cars left together, but Loveall pulled out to an early lead and increased it going down track before stopping the timers at 4.191 - 169.17 over Girot's 4.516 - 155.74 effort in the losing cause.

With the round complete, pairings for the second round were set with Bill Naves having his choice over Dana Kleinhoffer and Lee Loveall choosing against Justin Mallot.

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

With the fields cut in half for the semifinals, the pressure was squarely on all the racers to step up or go home.

(LEFT) First out of the blocks was the "No Name" car of Jesse Clark as he burned out against the backdrop of a darkening sky. After getting a free ride in the fist round when Ray Drew broke, he knew that he'd have to step up and get deep into the 3-second zone to match wheels with Brian Lewis.

(RIGHT) Almost identical reaction times, .029 for Lewis (far lane) and .036 for Clark (near lane), and almost matching e.t.'s flashed up on the scoreboards, as Brian Lewis in his "Grumpy 2" got the winlight with his quickest pass of the event at 3.712 - 204.26. Trailing by less than a car length was Jesse "No Name" Clark with his best of the weekend 3.744 - 203.62 that wasn't quite quick enough.

(LEFT) It's difficult to write that Kirk Williams in the Williams' brothers "200 Proof" entry came into the round as an underdog, but Williams' 3.834 wasn't nearly as quick as Keith Zimmerer's 3.692 in the opening round.

(RIGHT) These two veteran drivers both tried to chop down the tree with Zimmerer (far lane) cutting an .023 light, while Williams (near lane) was a tad quicker at an .023 reaction time. Zimmerer slowed half a tenth from his first round effort, with a 3.749 - 202.76, and Williams picked up a little with a 3.801 - 203.80, but it was a full car length victory for Keith's "Penny Pincher" entry. The only fly in the ointment was Zimmerer lost lane choice to Brian Lewis for the final round.

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

(LEFT) Another major tire smoker announced the presence of Mike Minick and the "Chi-Town Hustler" for his semifinal match against Steve Timoszyk.

(RIGHT) When the lights flashed it was the "Detroit Tiger" taking an immediate lead, but that was due to a redlight in Timoszyk's lane. His -.074 reaction gave him an immediate lead that he held most of the way down track. Minick took the win with a solid 4.169 - 174.39 while Timoszyk lifted early and stopped the clocks with a 4.374 - 145.77 on his side of the scoreboards.

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

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field - FINAL round

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field - FINAL round

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field - FINAL round

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