The latest update as of April 8, 2024

4th annual FUNNY CAR CHAOS Classic

Normally we cover a race from start to finish; ie., with qualifying first, then eliminations, culminating with the final rounds and sometimes, winners circle shots. This time around, we're doing it from back to front, with the FINAL rounds first, starting with the FUNNY CAR CHAOS "D" field final. We expect more - lots more! photos to arrive in the ol' inbox over the next few days. Keep checking back for updates and more details on what was a wild - in more ways than one - race.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "D" Field FINAL

Appearances can sometimes be deceiving, as it looks like the "Bad Intentions" car was being driven by Chance Biffle, but Biffle never recorded an e.t. and was well outside any of the fields in the #46 spot on the final qualifying sheets. We don't know why Jade Cook (near lane), who normally drives her "Nemesis" entry, but the answer will come at some point in our review of the video(s) from the event. We can report that Ms. Cook did in fact win the "D" field with a very consistent 4.248 - 168.38 pass, to easily cover FCC newcomer Colin Thomas (far lane) in the nitro-burning "Twisted Sister" car. He left first by nearly five hundredths, but trailed badly at the finish line with a 5.564 - 99.51 losing effort.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "C" Field FINAL

The second final of the evening produced an anticlimactic result, as Sheldon Lofgreen in the "Arizona Thunder" (far lane) came into the final with a 4.00-flat in the semis, nearly matching the slightly better 3.98 pass of Chuck Loftin (near lane) in his "Motivation" Mustang. The two teams had very motivation, with only the hemi engines in common, as Lofgreen was running a twin-turbo setup, while Loftin was running a standard blower with nitro in the tank. Loftin finished his burnout and backed up to the line while Lofgreen's team was frantically trying to latch the body down, ultimately throwing in the towel and letting Loftin take a single for the victory. He left hard, with the wheels up for the first hundred feet, before setting it down and stopping the clocks at 4.064 - 145.65, as he lifted early with no one in the other lane.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "B" Field FINAL

The "B" final matched up a pair of blown fuel racers, with Levi Keenen in his Arrow-bodied "Illinois Thunder" (near lane), facing the Loftin & Poloson "Bucket List", with 'Nitro' Nick Poloson at the wheel. When the ambers flashed, Keenen launched first by a few hundredths, but Poloson caught him by the 330' mark and despite getting very close to the wall on the top end, lit up the scoreboards with a winning 3.848 - 196.72 to take the win over a close and very competitive 3.941 - 192.40 pass by Keenen. A great final round for the "B" field and a solid lead-in to the "A" final.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - "A" Field FINAL

The last final round of the evening for the Funny Car Chaos contingent matched up a pair of full-on NHRA Top Alcohol cars, both hailing from the high country of Colorado, with Bill Bernard (near lane) in the Mile-High Crankshafts sponsored "The Grinder" against the "Milliken Monster" of Doug Schneider in the far lane. Both cars left very quickly with Bernard getting a miniscule edge by virtue of a .024 to .030 reaction time. They stayed close together all the way to the finish line, with Bernard turning on the winlight with a tremendous 3.673 - 209.18 to take a carlength victory over Schneider's oh-so-close 3.724 - 206.04. Throughout the event, the two racers had consistently run within a half a tenth of each other, and the final round was no different.

With all four Funny Car Chaos finals completed, it was time for the Nitro Chaos teams to wrap up their three final rounds. With 29 cars pre-entered, and 28 showing up, it was decided to run a "C" field for the first time ever in the series. It was a wise move as 22 cars qualified with a sub 4-second run, and the bump spot for the "C" field was a very competitive 4.123 elapsed time.

NITRO CHAOS - "C" Field FINAL

The first pair of "Awful Awfuls" (AA/Fuel Altereds) blasted out of the burnout box to start the NITRO CHAOS finals. The "C" field finalists were Wade Pennington (near lane) in the "Scrap Bucket", matched up against the Wasson & Hunter "Jailbreak" in the far lane. When the cars pulled into the staging beams, Hunter "double bulbed" before Pennington had even moved into pre-stage and it was more than a few seconds before the "Scrap Bucket" finally moved into full stage. When the green lights came on, Pennington launched hard as Hunter apparently broke, and coasted across the 660' finish line with a 15-second e.t. Pennington laid down his best run of the event, with an awesome 3.895 - 206.86 for a very convincing win. Coming all the way from the #24 spot on the ladder, at the very bottom of the "C" field, to the winner's circle was quite an accomplishment for the hard working team.

NITRO CHAOS - "B" Field FINAL

Showing the diversity of the Nitro Chaos format, the "B" final pitted the "Cubic Dollars" AA/Fuel Altered of Texan Chase Copeland (near lane) facing the "Great Expectations III" AA/Fuel Dragster of the Ohio-based Hilton Family, with young Tyler Hilton (far lane) driving. On the green, Copeland took a four hundredths reaction time advantage and kept it close all the way down, despite slowly drifting towards the centerline for most of the 1/8-th mile pass. Even with a slightly delayed launch, Hilton caught Copeland at half track and turned on the winlight with a great 3.767 - 211.37, taking a half carlength victory over the very close, and very worthy 3.839 - 209.18 carded by Copeland's fuel altered.

NITRO CHAOS - "A" Field FINAL

We know that Kebin Kinsley (near lane), in the Farris & Kinsley "War Wagon" won the "A" final because we've seen the winners circle pictures, and he was paired up with fellow Texan (lots of Texans running Fuel Altereds it appears) Mitch King in his "Bone Bucket" entry. Unfortunately, we don't know who turned what, e.t. or speed-wise, as the YouTube video stream ran out before the final was run. More details when we receive them.