Bakersfield is a nitro town, and word comes today that the popular Nitro Chaos series, a spin-off of the Chris and Tera Graves-inspired Funny Car Chaos, has landed a date at Famoso Raceway in September, 2024.
The California Chaos event, slated for September 27-28, 2024, will offer 32 qualified spots for nitro burners with guaranteed payouts of $55,000-plus. It will mark the first time the unique format and run whatcha’ brung formula has ventured outside the south-central and mid-western United States. The event is open to all nitro-burning machines with the motor in the front and contested on the eighth-mile ‘outlaw’ style. There are no rules regarding engine combination, body style, etc. The series includes front engine dragsters, fuel altereds, funny cars, and pro mods. The Nitro Chaos series will enforce all safety guidelines. The only other ‘rule’ is each entry must have a minimum of 80% nitromethane in the fuel tank.
“The hair on my arms is already standing up,” said Graves, who worked for years as a photographer, shooting the Bakersfield events for CompetitionPlus.com. “This has been a secret that’s been hard to keep. The CHAOS brand is finally headed West, and I want to thank Blake Bowser for his efforts in making this happen. Blake [Bowser] and I had several good conversations before COVID-19, but obviously, the pandemic stopped our momentum. It’s extremely exciting to bring the CHAOS through the gates of such a historic facility in Famoso Dragstrip.
“Tera and I have been there many times as photographers and even raced our front motor dragsters at the 2016 CHRR. We’ve met so many awesome people on the West Coast in those years, and we can’t wait to get back to Bakersfield to see many old friends and give all the badass West Coast nitro racers their first opportunity at CHAOS.”
After three qualifying sessions, thirty-two cars will be offered a qualified spot in the main event. In standard Chaos procedure, those qualified cars will be grouped into elimination fields of eight cars. The ‘A’ Field will include the quickest eight cars on the property, ‘B’ Field will feature qualifiers 9-16, ‘C’ Field 17-24, and ‘D’ Field 25-32. Over $55,000 in payouts are guaranteed and up for grabs across all thirty-two qualified spots, and four teams will hoist Nitro Chaos trophies at the end of the night as winners of their field.
Blake Bowser believes the event is a natural fit for his family’s track.
“All of us at Famoso Dragstrip are proud to announce this new event,” Bowser said. “The West Coast debut of Nitro Chaos is sure to be amazing. Nitro fans, make your plans now, as this promises to be the largest gathering of nitro-burning Chaos cars ever. Come smell the nitro.”
Friday night, September 27th, will feature two rounds of heads up, run whatcha’ brung nitro qualifying under the lights, plus test and tune for Saturday’s class racers. Saturday, September 28th, is scheduled for final qualifying and full eliminations.
Racer entry into the Nitro Chaos program will be $250, including car, driver, five crew members, and one crew camping pass. Friday adult admission will be $25 and Saturday $30, with a two-day adult weekend pass at $45.
‘Nitro Zone’ tickets will be $100 and includes weekend adult admission plus an exclusive trackside viewing area and event t-shirt. Standard RV spots will be $125, including one occupant. Additional class details, detailed event pricing, the complete event schedule, and event pre-sale ticket portals will be published soon.
