SINGLETON SCORES AT MO-KAN DRAGWAY FUNNY CAR CHAOS
The highly anticipated kick off of Funny Car Chaos 2018 was held this past weekend at Mo-Kan Dragway in Asbury, Missouri just north of Joplin. Mo-Kan packs a powerful punch of history as the oldest continuously run drag strip in the state but it had been many years since Funny Cars were showcased at the facility, that is until Funny Car Chaos rolled through the gates! Track manager Carl Blanton and FC Chaos promoter Chris Graves teamed up for an epic two day festival of horsepower that featured a Quick 8 eliminator for Outlaw Funny Cars and also featured blown altereds and slingshots competing in the Outlaw Nostalgia Shootout, plus the Dirty South Gassers, Victory Nostalgia Super Stockers and much more. Over 100 racers were in attendance as the stands filled to capacity for a spectacular weekend of drag racing. Capping off the excitement was a special appearance by funny car racing legend, "The Hawaiian" Roland Leong, who thrilled the fans with stories from the glory days while also providing tuning assistance on the "Mopar Crazy" funny car owned by John Troxel and driven by Chris Schneider.
The rules free approach to Funny Car Chaos welcomed floppers of all kinds from across the Southwest and Friday night's qualifying action was headlined by Ken Singleton who posted a 3.98 at 164 mph to lead the eight car field with one final qualifying session set for Saturday afternoon. Singleton is a full time competitor in the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association and swapped his altered body for this 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo funny car body that he literally picked up from the wrap shop the Monday before the event. Singleton held on to the top qualifying position and led the field into eliminations followed by Fred Farndon's "Play It Loud" nitro funny car who qualified second with a 4.18 at 157 mph. Rick Krafft in the "Invader" nitro burner and Clay Cunningham in the "Still Crazy" blown alcohol entry rounded out the top half of the field.
The story of the event was in the pit area of Fred Farndon as the team unexpectedly found two bent valves on their warm-up for first round competition. With very little time to spare, Farndon and his two man crew considered throwing in the towel but right next door was the "Nitro Clown" team of Dave Gallegos, who came to the rescue. Gallegos' nitro burning Camaro had been forced to withdraw from competition without even making it to the starting line due to an oiling issue on their Friday night warm up. Thankfully for Farndon, Gallegos had the parts in the trailer necessary to make repairs as the two teams quickly became one and the thrash was on. Literally as the first pair of the opening round did their burnouts, Farndon and company pulled out of their pit and into the lanes ready to make the call against his first round opponent Chris Schneider.
To the delight of the crowd and all involved in the knuckle busting engine service, Farndon's 4.52 at 141 mph got the win over Schneider's 5.02 at 143 mph. The beat went on for Farndon in the semi-finals as he took the win over Robert Slaughter's "Smokey Bear" advancing the team to the finals against top qualifier Ken Singleton. Singleton had advanced over Jordan Ballew in round one and Rick Krafft in the semis to move into the last dance of the night of his first Funny Car Chaos appearance. It was a blown alcohol vs blown nitro match-up as the last pair of the night came to the line. Farndon took the starting line advantage but immediately went up in smoke, while Singleton was glued to the groove and clicked off a winning 3.97 at 187 mph to claim the $5,000 purse and bragging rights as Funny Car Chaos Champion!
The display of teamwork and camaraderie that propelled Farndon to his first final round in many years portrayed just what hard work and good times drag racing is all about and despite coming up short in the finals, Farndon and the team were all smiles after a memorable weekend at Mo-Kan Dragway. For Singleton, this win was a big boost as the team used consistency to take home the money in their first weekend as a "Funny Car". Singleton's wife Jo also claimed the bonus money in the 'back up girl contest' putting the icing on the cake. The "High Risk" team from Chickasha, Oklahoma will ride this momentum into the next Funny Car Chaos event to be held June 1st and 2nd at Amarillo Dragway.
Chris Graves, Carl Blanton and all those involved in hosting Funny Car Chaos at Mo-Kan Dragway would like to thank Red Line Shirt Club, Triple C Agency.com, Best of Texas BBQ Sauce, DJ Safety, S&W Race Cars and Drag Daddy's Garage for their support. Additional thanks certainly goes out to all the racers and staff who did a fantastic job entertaining the crowd and providing a go fast surface, proven by Rick Krafft's 3.81 elapsed time in first round of eliminations, one of the quickest passes in recent years at Mo-Kan Dragway. Find out more about Funny Car Chaos by visiting www.funnycarchaos.com.