The latest update as of August 5, 2024

61st Anniversary Event - FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Albuquerque

After just two qualifying sessions, the first on Friday evening, and the second on Saturday afternoon, the 24 racers that qualified in the three fields prepared to do battle, starting at 5:00 pm. Of the 27 cars that attempted to qualify, it appears that only 22 were able to appear for eliminations, as two of the three non-qualifiers were unable to appear. The first alternate, Dustin Bradford, did slot into the "A" field to replace Ray Stringer. Additionally, two of the "C" field qualifiers, Jade Cook and Phil Flower were unable to make the call for round one.

The top three qualifiers laid down 3-second runs, but below them the e.t.'s trailed off quickly, with the bump spot for the "A" field ending up at a rather weak 4.451. In the "B" field, the numbers ranged from #1 at 4.455 to #8 at 4.725, which worked out to a 4.30 index, while the "C" field qualifiers ran from 4.746 all the way down to 4.994. That generated a 4.59 index for the "C" group. As many of the cars in both the "B" and "C" fields were capable to running quicker than their indexes, the chances for breakout losses were rated high.

Eliminations - Round ONE Eliminations

(LEFT) As is customary before the start of any motorsport event, the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner", accompanied by a military honour guard preceeded eliminations.

(RIGHT) As the last few notes of the anthem faded, they were replaced by the sweet sounds of the blown fuel car of New Mexico's Lyle Greenberg (not shown), as he kicked off round one against Colorado's Bill Bernard. The race was over for Bernard before it began as he redlighted by nearly two tenths, making Greenberg's solid 4.026 - 185.03 the automatic winner. Bernard ran strong to the 330' mark before clicking it off to a 4.620 at 122.02 mph.

(LEFT) Action continued with Clay Cunningham in the "Still Crazy" car (near lane), facing the heavily favoured "Man O' War II" of Shayne Lawson in the far lane. Knowing that he needed to close the three tenths+ performance gap, Cunningham pushed just a little too hard on reaction time, redlighting by just two thousandths of a second, and turning on the winlight for Lawson. Cunningham made his best run of the weekend, at 4.235 - 173.54, but it was all for naught as Lawson's 3.970 - 195.40 advanced him to the semifinals.

(RIGHT) An absolute David vs Goliath match was next on the agenda, as #1 qualifier Kirk Williams (far lane) faced the first alternate (#25 on the qualifying list), Dustin Bradford in the "American Dream" Dodge Challenger. Williams' scheduled opponent was Ray Stringer but the blown fuel Chevy broke during qualifying and was unable to appear. Bradford is almost out of the frame in this burnout shot, then broke on the launch, coming to a stop just past the starting line. Williams whipped the "200 Proof" entry to an excellent 3.891 - 193.80 for the win.

(LEFT) Bradford's broken car was towed back to the pits before the final pair of the first round of the "A" field fired up.

(RIGHT) In the near lane, the defending series champion, Tom Furches in his "Made In America" Corvette made a solid pass at 4.210 - 172.88 and cut a very good reaction time of .032, but it wasn't enough to hold off Alan Bradshaw in the far lane. The "Unfinished Business" nitro burning entry left eight hundredths behind Furches, but took the win with a very good 4.048 - 185.41 as he moved into the second round.

(LEFT) Moving into the "B" field, the first pair out were Justin Herbst in his short wheelbase "Scorpion" in the near lane. In the far lane was Mitch Bowen in the higher qualified "Bowen & Monn" entry. Herbst left first by a full tenth, but his 4.646 - 152.18 wasn't quite able to hold off Bowen's later reacting, but quicker, pass of 4.532 - 161.70. The margin of victory was just .015 of a second.

(RIGHT) Another short wheelbase entry, the "Hombre" Vega of Texan Mike Buchanan (near lane), faced the nitro burning "Twisted Sister" of Colin Thomas in the far lane. Buchanan pushed the tree a little too hard, igniting the red bulb by just four thousandths of a second. Buchanan drove it all the way to the finish line with a 4.853 - 149.45 showing up on the scoreboard, while Thomas enjoyed the automatic win with a decent winning time of 4.524 - 155.23 to move into the second round.

(LEFT) The supercharged "Thunderhorse" of Darrin Hamby in the near lane faced fellow Arizonan Sheldon Lofgreen in his turbocharged "Arizona Thunder" in the far lane. Hamby launched first by half a tenth, but Lofgreen pulled away to a solid win with a close to the index 4.349 167.72 that covered Hamby's 4.635 - 152.65 effort.

(RIGHT) It looks like a close race off the starting line, but the "Brutus" Mustang of Chris Schneider, in the near lane, actually redlighted by .027, making Brent Jones in his "Lawless" entry the winner. Jones made a strong run of 4.397 - 161.87, while Schneider trailed him across the finish line by only a car length with a 4.510 - 161.41 clocking.

(LEFT) Leading off the "C" field was Michael Neal in the "Burnin' Love" Nova. He took the winlight on a bye run, as his opponent, Jade Cook, was unable to fire. Neal didn't exactly rotate the earth on his winning 4.902 - 140.76 pass, but it was more than enough to move into the second round.

(RIGHT) It looks like Shane "Smokey" Blanton was also on a bye run in the "Joker", but his opponent, Scott Pareso in the "Texas Twister" actually left before the tree was activated. Blanton sat at the line for a second before launching to a very early shutoff, but winning time of 5.086 at only 65.92 mph.

(LEFT) Another pair, another redlight, as Chance Biffle, (near lane) in the "Bad Intentions" car, redlighted by .021 as opponent Jordan Ballew sat broken at the starting line. The "Ballew Thunder" recorded a 22-second reaction time but barely broke the beams before stopping. Biffle threw away a 4.809 - 147.93 with his redlight as Ballew advanced to the semifinal.

(RIGHT) The round closed with yet another uncontested run, as Wayne Hofmann's opponent, Phil Flower failed to appear, giving him the (almost) automatic win. Hofmann pushed the "China Syndrome" to a lower than the index 4.523 - 159.24 but that was still good for the win as the breakout rule does not apply on a bye run.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Round TWO Eliminations

(LEFT) The semifinal round started with two of the "hitters" facing off, with both qualifying in the 3-second zone. Lyle Greenberg (near lane) was more than a tenth slower than Kirk Williams (far lane) in the first round, but Greenberg laid down a great 3.989 - 188.84 to take out the Williams brothers entry, as Kirk lost traction early and coasted to a 6.800 - 70.58 losing time.

(RIGHT) You can see the initial lead that Williams (far lane) took over Greenberg (near lane) with an .051 reaction time to Greenberg's later .111 leave.

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FUNNY CAR CHAOS - FINAL Round Eliminations

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