The 6th Annual Spell Paving Services Funny Car Chaos Classic presented by Vertex Roofers delivered three days of CHAOS at the Texas Motorplex, April 9-11. With pits packed with outlaw funny cars and nitro burners of all kinds, the anticipation was high and the fun meter was pegged in Texas.
After two rounds of qualifying on Friday, Keith Zimmerer’s “Penny Pincher 2” funny car led the Rodak’s Custom Roasted Coffee ‘A’ Field into eliminations with a 3.59 at 210 mph. Mary Reep and Daniel Cottrell also claimed top qualifying positions in the Alkydigger ‘B’ Field and Wulff Pumps ‘C’ Field.
In the DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos qualifying, Shawn Murphy wheeled his “Hillbilly” nitro funny car to the top spot in the RBS Superchargers ‘A’ Field with a 3.61 at 216 mph and Colin Thomas’ “Twisted Sister” fuel altered led the CP-Carrillo ‘B’ Field with a 3.97 at 188 mph.
After two days of fantastic weather Thursday and Friday, Saturday brought spotty showers through the area which resulted in some delays, but with the hard work from the Texas Motorplex staff, the track was dried twice during eliminations and delivered a full dose of CHAOS for a fantastic crowd on hand for the action.
In Funny Car Chaos ‘A’ Field action, Keith Zimmerer continued to prove he is the man to beat as he advanced past Mark Billington and Alex Barker to meet Mike Newkirk in the final round. Newkirk had knocked out John Robinson and Aaron Morrow, but would have his hands full with Zimmerer. A -.066 reaction time for Newkirk told the tale in the final round, as Zimmerer gave it a quick pedal job to a 3.76 at 205 to score his second straight Rodak’s Custom Coffee ‘A’ Field win this season.
The AlkyDigger ‘B’ Field found Joe Pirrone’s “Screamin Eagle” entry advancing past Daniel Butherus and Bobby Toth to meet Wayne Hofmann’s “China Syndrome” in the final round. Hofmann had claimed win lights over top qualifier Mary Reep and Casey Geeslin on his way to the last dance. In the final, Pirrone’s 3.94 at 184 mph took the win over Hofmann’s 4.06 at 172 mph.
Wulff Pumps ‘C’ Field eliminations came down to Jordan Ballew in the “Ballew Thunder” versus Steve Vang in the “Prairie Fire” entry. Vang took the starting line advantage but Ballew had the ponies at the big end and his 4.35 at 162 mph drove around Vang’s 4.74 at 143 mph.
In Nitro Chaos action, the RBS Superchargers ‘A’ Field final round was set to see Jake Sanders in “The Menace” do battle with Garry Wheeler Jr’s “Grand Prix Racing” team in a battle of outlaw front engine nitro dragsters. Wheeler’s car suffered race ending damage in the semi-finals as Sanders fired up for the solo shot, but Sanders had issues himself during the burnout and elected to stage and take the tree to ensure the win. Not the wild header-flaming side-by-side battle fans had hoped for, but a win nonetheless for Sanders.
CP-Carrillo ‘B’ Field action welcomed Joe Kostelecky’s nostalgia top fueler and Brian Kohlmann’s “Street Fuel Coupe” to the line for the last CHAOS final round of the night. The cars were off the line together and immediately Kohlmann’s car was smoking heavily and as they neared the stripe Kohlmann took the win, the lost control in his own fluid and ended up on its side and on fire at the quarter mile mark. Thankfully CHAOS top end safety director Brad Thompson was perfectly positioned to extinguish the flames within literal seconds and Kohlmann was able to walk away from the very wild final round ride.
The next stop for CHAOS is coming up May 21-23 as the series makes its debut at the one and only Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio for the Inaugural CHAOS Supernationals, which features both Funny Car Chaos and Nitro Chaos over Memorial Day Weekend.
The post Zimmerer, Pirrone, Ballew, Sanders, and Kohlmann Score Wins at Funny Car Chaos Classic first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
