The latest update as of March 27, 2022

2nd annual FUNNY CAR CHAOS CLASSIC is in the books

This report will be very short as the only results posted from last night's eliminations at the Funny Car Chaos Classic are winners circle photos. We got a few more details from our photographer/correspondent, "Big" Bob Snyder, but that's all we've got for now. Photos from the Friday's first qualifying session, Saturday's final qualifying session and eliminations should arrive tonight and tomorrow and will be posted later tomorrow and Tuesday.

Here's the bare details from last night's eliminations.

"A" field winner was Lyle Greenberg in the "Cone Hunter" on a bye run when opponent Brad Tuttle was a no-show (due to engine damage) in the "Nitro Bandit".

The "B" field winner - in a big surprise - was Don Knoblauch in the "Atomic Punk" Camaro over Mike Newkirk in his Top Alcohol car.

Taking the "C" field trophy was Clay Cunningham in his "Still Crazy" entry, defeating Dustin Bradford in the "American Dream" 'Cuda.

Finally, the "D" field was won by Steve Timoszyk in the "Detroit Tiger" Monza over Jade Cook in her unblown nitrous assisted "Nemesis".

In a bit of a surprise, the eliminations photos arrived this afternoon and they're posted below. The captions will come tomorrow, and hopefully by then we will have e.t.'s and speeds available. At this time (6:00 PM PDT) they have not been posted on the Funny Car Chaos Facebook page.

One bit of VERY GOOD NEWS was posted on the High Risk Racing Team Facebook page a few hours ago. Ken Singleton has been taken off the ventilator, had his sedation reduced, and is alert and talking. While he still has an incredibly difficult journey ahead of him, it appears that he is out of danger and starting on the road to recovery. Very, very good news indeed.

ELIMINATIONS - Round One

With the obvious withdrawal of Ken Singleton due to his Friday night fire, the ladders for all four fields were adjusted accordingly. The only change to the "A" field - which we start with - is the elevation of #9 qualifer Jeff Cameron into the field, as everyone below the #4 spot moved up one notch. In an attempt to equalize competition between vastly different combinations, and power levels, the FCC creates an index for the "C" and "D" fields. Normally, the index applies to the "B" and "C" fields, but with the number of racers at the Classic, and the four 8-car fields created, the index rules were changed for this event only.

At this event, the "A" & "B" fields run heads-up, with no breakout, and all final rounds are no breakout, allowing racers to run all-out in the big money rounds. The indexes are set two tenths below the quickest qualifier in each field, meaning that if the top car ran 4.00, the index would be 3.80, etc. With all the breakage and subsequent insertion of alternates, the quick e.t. for the "C" field was 3.976 (Tom Furches), making the index for that group 3.77. For the "D" field, Jade Cook set the pace with her 4.296, making the index 4.09 for that bunch.

(LEFT) Eliminations opened with low e.t. qualifier, and #1 overall, Brad Tuttle in his "Nitro Bandit" Mustang (near lane) advancing past #9 qualifier Jeff Cameron in the "Jake's Speed Shop" entry in the far lane. Cameron did his very best to even the odds against the NHRA "Big Show" car, cutting an .001 light, but Tuttle had cut that lead in half by the 60' clocks, and pulled away to a 3.352 - 246.02 to easily cover Cameron's very good 3.833 - 173.50 as he shut off early.

(RIGHT) Running her old "Guardian" car (she recently purchased an NHRA "Big Show" car from Todd Simpson), Nancy Matter (near lane) faced a formidable opponent in the #3 qualifying Ronny Young, driving the iconic "Blue Max" tribute car (far lane). Young slowed a little from his qualifying pace, but still took the win with a 3.776 - 184.98 to advance to the semis. Matter was in trouble early, smoking the tires and shutting off to a 9.279 - 47.26 time.

(LEFT) Despite his Nitro Pro Comp win three weeks ago at the March Meet, Lyle Greenberg, (near lane) came into eliminations as a bit of an underdog from the #8 spot in his "Cone Hunter" Corvette. In the far lane, NHRA Top Alcohol racer Kyle Smith held a nearly two tenths of a second edge based on qualifying times, but it was Greenberg turning on the winlight and moving into the second round with a very good 3.729 - 202.70, coupled with a quick (.041) light. Smith was right there with him all the way down the track, leading by nearly three hundredths at the 60' mark, but fell just a few feet short at the finish with a 3.740 - 203.58, in the closest race of eliminations. The margin at the finish line was just .009 seconds.

(RIGHT) The next pair featured two NHRA Top Alky cars, with Kirk Williams in the aptly named "200 Proof" entry in the near lane, and on the far side, Texas veteran Bryan Brown in the sinister looking all-black "Empire Iron Works" car. Based on qualifying times, 3.675 for Brown, and 3.686 for Williams, it was a pick-em race. In a bit of a surprise, Brown took the win with an excellent 3.683 - 209.09 over Williams, who shook the tires early and coasted to a 5.339 - 92.06 for the loss.

(LEFT) The "B" field didn't see any changes other than everyone moving up one notch, and #17 qualifier, Mike Tobacco, climbing into the bottom of the field from the top spot in the "C" field. The #2 car in the adjusted field, Mike Newkirk, was scheduled to race Dave Hill (not shown) in his "Zeus" entry, but Hill broke on the burnout, giving Newkirk a single. He didn't take it easy though, carding a solid 3.924 - 194.59 to advance.

(RIGHT) Still not adorned with his familiar "Rednecks 'n Fuel" paint scheme/wrap, Terry Totten (near lane) in his blown fuel car faced one of the "Back in Black" entries (far lane). This one, the 'Vette is being driven by Tod Barker and running an injected nitro combination. (One that actually gets down the track as evidenced by his 3.869 qualifying time). Totten stepped up from his 3.91 best in qualifying to a 3.595 - 235.23 as Barker redlighted (-.130) and shut off to a 7.529 - 73.54 clocking.

(LEFT) In a bit of a surprise, Don Knoblauch (in the near lane) took out higher qualified Levi Keenen (far lane) with a consistent 3.925 - 193.72 and advanced to the semi-finals. Knoblauch did qualify decently with a solid 3.907 - 188.73 for a new career best e.t., and kept up the pace in the first round. Keenen smoked the tires on the launch and coasted to a 9.969 - 44.59 to end his weekend.

(RIGHT) Instead of being top dog in the "C" field, Mike Tobacco in the ex-"Crazy" Jake Crimmins car, now named "Pandemic", found himself at the bottom of the "B" field and having to race heads-up with no breakout. Paired up with the top qualifying Chuck Loftin in his "Motivation" Mustang, Tobacco gave it a good shot with a solid 4.013 - 192.88 that wasn't too far behind Loftin's winning 3.860 - 200.45. The winning margin for Loftin was much larger than the e.t.'s would indicate as Tobacco was nearly comatose when the lights flashed, with a .324 reaction time.

(LEFT) The "C" field started with last year's #5 runner in the FCC points standings, Tom Furches in the patriotically hued "Made in America" entry (near lane) facing the newly named "Maximum Overdrive" (from last year's 'Mistress') car of Smiley Cordero (far lane). Based on qualfiying times and positions, Furches' 3.976 (#18) should have easily covered Cordero's 4.287 (#32), and knowing that, Cordero attempted to saw down the tree. He missed by -.001, giving the automatic win to Furches. Cordero's decent 4.395 - 166.62 wouldn't have been close to Furches' much better 3.985 - 170.75 in any case.

(RIGHT) Qualifying near the middle of the field with his NHRA Nostalgia Funny Car, Terry Haddock, in his Vega-bodied "Fool's Errand" (near lane) paired up with Clay Cunningham (far lane) in the "Still Crazy" car. Cunningham left first by a "bunch" - .004 to .180 reactions - and to add injury to insult, ran away from Haddock's 4.185 - 179.62 pass, with a 4.060 - 180.17 to turn on the winlight and move to the next round.

(LEFT) A veteran FCC racer, Chris Schneider, in the Troxel & Schneider "Brutus" Mustang (near lane) took on Mitch Bowen's "Northland Express" (far lane) and managed to get past the quicker qualified (4.016 to 4.114) car to move into the next round. Schneider cut an excellent (.028) light and beat Bowen at both ends of the track, with his 4.070 - 179.39 covering Bowen's good try of 4.179 - 177.60 in the losing cause.

(RIGHT) The first round of "C" field eliminations closed with Dustin Bradford, in the near lane, pushing his "American Dream" to a win over series newcomer Joacim "Joe" Ljungberg, (far lane) all the way from Sweden, in the "Raw Valley" entry. Schneider dipped into the 3-second zone in qualifying in the 19th position at 3.999 for what might be his first visit to that "club". Then he bettered that run with a 3.972 - 182.77 to easily cover Ljungberg's game effort of 4.370 - 165.36 mph.

(LEFT) The "D" field kicked off with the period correct "Detroit Tiger" Monza of Steve Timoszyk in the near lane, taking on the "Back Attack" entry of Bradshaw & Lawson in the far lane, being driven at this event by Pro Mod racer Steve Wiley. The "Tiger" team took the winlight as Timoszyk advanced to the semifinals with a decent 4.329 - 175.27 clocking. Wiley tripped the timers first though with his much quicker - and ultimately too quick - 3.980 - 176.71 that broke out of the 4.09 index by more than a tenth of a second.

(RIGHT) Two closely matched (in qualifying) racers came out next, with #37 qualifying Charles Ware in the "Juggling Rubies" (near lane), against #36 car of Anthony Whitfield in the blown fuel Small-Block Chevy-powered "Mighty Mouse" in the far lane. Unfortunately for Whitfield, it was another breakout decision, as the "Mouse" was just a little too quick at 4.026 - 188.12 that made Ware the winner with a safe 4.518 - 140.30. Whitfield left on Ware by five hundredths, but just couldn't slow his car enough to stay above the index.

(LEFT) While it appears that Mike Buchanan (near lane) in his Vega-bodied "Hombre" has a lead off the line, he had redlighted with an -.052 reaction, negating his 4.582 - 153.28 effort. Taking advantage of his plight, Jade Cook (far lane) in her familiar yellow "Nemesis", lived up to that moniker again, as she took another round win at 4.343 - 163.37 to start her 2022 FCC season on the right note.

(RIGHT) The first round of eliminations closed with a new Funny Car driver, Christine Foster, (moved over from Top Alcohol Dragster) in her "Family Feud" entry (near lane) against newcomer Wayne Hofmann in his homage to his late father Al "China Syndrome" Dodge Omni in the far lane. While Hofmann qualifed nearly three tenths quicker than Foster, the times meant nothing going into eliminations. Hofmann took the round win in his first appearance at a Funny Car Chaos event, cutting a perfect .000 light, then laying down a 4.465 - 156.33 for the win. Foster had trouble instantly, smoking and/or shaking the tires and barely managing to limp across the finish line at 16.553 - 16.19 mph.

ELIMINATIONS - Round Two

(LEFT) With the skies darkening as the sun hit the horizon, the second round started with the flames showing brightly from Brad Tuttle's Nitro Bandit in the near lane. Bryan Brown (far lane) took an early lead off the line and kept the lead to the 330' mark before Tuttle's BIG horsepower took over and turned on the winlight with a very quick 3.503 - 199.04, despite a very early shutoff. Brown gave it his best shot, with a five hundredths holeshot, another five hundredths quicker 60' time, but fell short with a 3.707 - 207.25 clocking.

(RIGHT) With opponent Ronny Young broken (see below), Lyle Greenberg's "Cone Hunter" took an easy single at 4.552 - 123.81 to advance to the final against Tuttle. Knowing that he one more round of racing, Greenberg made the wise choice to shut off early and save the parts and fuel.

(LEFT) The camera was zoomed in on the "Blue Max" at the end of Ronny Young's burnout as he prepared to face Lyle Greenberg in a match to see how would face Brad Tuttle in the final round.

(RIGHT However, it all came undone for Young during the burnout as a trail of leaking fuel stretched down the track from the starting line, with the leak ultimately forcing him to shut off and watch Greenberg run away to the final.

(LEFT) In the first race of the "B" field semifinal, there was another upset win for the "Atomic Punk" team, as the Jeff Diehl-tuned car (near lane) was really running well and consistently. Driver Don Knoblauch turned on the winlight with a very good 3.914 - 187.59 to advance to the final round. Falling by the wayside in the far lane was the top qualifier (in the "B" field), Chuck Loftin in the "Motivation" Mustang as his 4.036 - 181.06 wasn't enough to catch the "Punk". What made the decision close was Loftin's seven hundredths holeshot, making the true-win margin just five hundredths, or about one car length.

(RIGHT) In full darkness, the cars were well illuminated under the Motorplex lights, as Mike Newkirk went on a single into the final round. His solid 4.059 - 185.72 wasn't necessary as opponent Terry Totten, sat in the pits after suffering major engine damage in the first round.

(LEFT) In the first pair of the "C" field semis, the "Still Crazy" car of Clay Cunningham (far lane) took a commanding lead right off the starting line, with an .006 light against the .195 reaction of Tom Furches. The elapsed times were close though, as Cunningham's 3.994 - 181.60 was only a little better than the "Made in America"'s (near lane) 4.029 - 156.89 time, but the gap at the finish line was several car lengths.

(RIGHT) The other match pitted Dustin Bradford in the "American Dream" (near lane) against Chris Schneider in the "Brutus" entry. Schneider left first by a small margin (.032 - .078) but his 4.066 - 178.33 wasn't quite quick enough to stay in front of Bradford's winning 3.966 - 182.82, as he dipped into the 3-second zone once more.

(LEFT) With both sides of the christmas tree showing green lights, it was a good start for Wayne Hofmann, in his FCC debut in the "China Syndrome" Omni (near lane), but at the finish line the winlight was flashing in Steve Timoszyk's lane as the "Detroit Tiger" advanced to the "D" field final. Hofmann left first again but not nearly as quickly as his perfect light in the first round, but his 4.494 - 156.18, wasn't nearly enough to stay in front of Timoszyk's 4.148 - 167.60 timeslip.

(RIGHT) Burning out on her own, Jade Cook warmed the tires on her nitrous-assisted "Nemesis". She was scheduled to race Charles Ware in his "Juggling Rubies" entry, but he was broken and unable to show. She took an easy single at 5.777 - 67.50 to advance into another final round. That makes five finals, and two wins so far, in the eight races of her FCC career.

ELIMINATIONS - Final Round

The Outlaw Fuel Altered final pitted two of the toughest racers on the circuit, with four time series champion Jimmy Jones in his "Texas Tremor" in the near lane, facing defending series champion Keith Zimmerer in his "Penny Pincher" entry. We don't have any results to report at this point.

(LEFT) The two finalists in the "D" field left strongly, with Jade Cook in her "Nemesis", barely visible in the far lane, slightly ahead of Steve Timoszyk in the "Detroit Tiger" (near lane). The reaction times favoured Cook by three hundredths, and she was still in front for a hundred feet, but Timsozyk pulled away with a good 4.108 - 180.73, taking the event win and visiting the winners circle for the first time since his "A" field win at Eddyville Raceway two years ago. Cook gave it a good try with her best run of the weekend at 4.292 - 163.05 to take the runnerup trophy.

(RIGHT) The "C" field final was a strange one, as the "Still Crazy" entry of Clay Cunningham, (far lane) left first - with a redlight - then ran much quicker with a 3.993 - 182.17. The automatic winner, Dustin Bradford, (near lane) in the "American Dream" Dodge Challenger crossed the centerline, invoking the age old "first or worst" rule and making Cunningham the winner. The event win was Cunningham's first since his 2020 "B" field victory at San Antonio.

(LEFT) Coming out of the gate first - by a bunch - .032 to .166 reactions, was Mike Newkirk in the near lane, but his good 4.108 - 194.07 was overtaken by a career best run by Don Knoblauch (far lane). The "Atomic Punk" Camaro stopped the clocks with a 3.874 - 189.19, for a two car length margin at the 660' finish line to win the "B" field and the $5,000 winners check. It was a great job by the entire team, led by crew chief Jeff "The Surfer" Diehl and cheered on by Leeza Diehl, the "Nitro-A-Go-Go" girl.

(RIGHT) Speeding off into the night on a single run, heading straight for the "A" field winners circle was Lyle Greenberg in his "Cone Hunter" Corvette. He took it easy with his second single of the evening, this time a leisurely 6.078 - 75.28 pass as scheduled opponent Brad Tuttle was unable to show after destroying an engine in his semifinal win. With two big wins in less than a month, Greenberg's on quite a roll. Congratulations to the team and driver for a great performance on a big stage.

The event ended with a big fireworks show over the Texas Motorplex as the racers celebrated their wins, or calculated their losses after a race filled with an awful lot of breakage, some great performances, a number of upset wins (and losses), and a successful conclusion. This year's second edition of the Funny Car Chaos Classic didn't have as many race cars, especially not of the NHRA "Big Show" variety, and the spectator count appeared less than last year.

But the biggest "minus" to the 2022 edition - by far - had to be the horrible fire suffered by Ken Singleton in his "High Risk" car. That Friday evening catastrophe cast a very large shadow over what should have been a very joyous and exciting event that turned so dark so quickly. To their immense credit, the racers, crews, and officials came together to complete the race to the best of their ability on Saturday, despite the pall cast over it on Friday.