The Inaugural CHAOS Supernationals was held over Memorial Day weekend at the prestigious Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. This marked the first time for the Chaos brand to roll through the historic gates of Summit Motorsports Park and despite an unfavorable forecast, the Chaos teams packed the pits with full fields in both Funny Car Chaos and DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos series. An action-packed day of testing on Thursday was just a preview of the ground pounding action on top for the remainder of the weekend.
On Friday morning at the drivers meeting, series director Chris Graves and facility owner Bill Bader Jr met with the Chaos teams to go over the final plan for the weekend. The run schedule for Friday’s qualifying was moved up to ensure two rounds of qualifying in each series were able to be completed. Saturday was determined to be a wash, so all Chaos eliminations were bumped to Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
After two rounds of qualifying in Funny Car Chaos competition, Keith Zimmerer, Bobby Toth and Jordan Ballew qualified at the top of their respective A, B, and C fields as twenty-four outlaw floppers were now ready to rumble on race day. In DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos qualifying action, John Umlauf Jr. and Dave Belock proudly led the qualifying of their classes into elimination Sunday as well.
Race teams took the day off on Saturday as the rain set in, but the entertainment wasn’t going to stop the Bader family, who hosted a pizza pit party for the Chaos teams in the pits. Not a slice was left on the property – and yes, all the beer was gone too!
It was now time for Sunday’s eliminations and as promised from the beginning, despite the rain chances in mid-afternoon, the Summit Motorsports Park staff was bound and determined to complete this event. Nitro fumes and throttle whacks were filling the air by early morning as fans started pouring through the gates.
After some great side by side drag racing in the opening rounds, it was time for the last runs of the weekend for the Chaos finalists, and first to the line was Oklahoma’s Jordan Ballew’s “Ballew Thunder” set to take on Joe Pirrone in the “Screamin Eagle” entry in the Wulff Pumps ‘C’ Field final. Both these drivers were coming in hot off wins at the last event at the Texas Motorplex. Ballew had clicked off career-best numbers earlier in the weekend and took a healthy starting line advantage but just ran out of ponies as his 4.27 at 167 mph was no match for Pirrone’s 4.07 at 180 mph, giving Pirrone his second consecutive event win.
In the Alkydigger ‘B’ Field final round, first time Chaos racer Dale Duche and the “Burnin’ Benjamins” team from Pennsylvania was set to meet West Virginia’s Kurt Duckworth, also making his debut in the FCC series. Duckworth had been running well, but ran into mechanical issues in the semifinals and was unable to make the call for the final. On a solo shot, Duche clicked off a 4.21 at 173 mph to score a memorable win for the team.
The Rodak’s Custom Roasted Coffee ‘A’ Field brought points leader and top qualifier Keith Zimmerer to the line with his Will Hanna-tuned, Texas-based “Penny Pincher II” team set to take on first-time finalist Alan Bradshaw in the “Dakota Pony II” owned by Dallas Schott. Both these cars were living in the 3.60 zone all weekend and this final round was sure to be a dandy. As they staged, the revs came up and Zimmerer’s car rolled through the beam, turning on the red light. Bradshaw, meanwhile, clicked off his best run of the weekend with a 3.64 at 206 mph as the team erupted in celebration on the starting line.
DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos competition welcomed a pair of fuel altereds to the CP-Carrillo ‘B’ Field final round as Kansas’ Anthony Whitfield and team “Mighty Mouse” prepared for battle against Texan Chuck Loftin and the “Crap Shoot” team. Loftin took the starting line advantage and never trailed as his 3.94 at 176 mph took the win.
The RBS Superchargers ‘A’ Field brought former series champion Garry Wheeler Jr. and the Oklahoma-based “Grand Prix Racing” fuel dragster team to the line against first-time finalist Dave Hill and the crowd favorite “Mad Max” Nitro Funny Car from Indiana. Hill took a slight starting line advantage, and in a side-by-side race, Hill’s 3.61 at 215 mph edged out Wheeler’s 3.67 at 204 mph as Hill and company took their first career Nitro Chaos event win.
This story was originally published on May 27, 2026. 
The post Bradshaw, Duche, Pirrone, Hill, and Loftin Score Event Wins at Inaugural Chaos Supernationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
