Funny Cars took over Texas with the largest gathering of flip top outlaws that the Southwest has seen in decades with 23 funny car teams on hand for the Inaugural Funny Car Chaos event, presented by Red Line Shirt Club. Event promoter Chris Graves collaborated with North Star Dragway and track owner Gene Nicodemus to host this spectacle celebrating all things Funny Car. With a very simple rules package, no rules at all, any Funny Car was welcome to attend which attracted a wide range of cars packing unique engine combinations and body styles. It was literally, Funny Car Chaos!

Teams started pulling through the gates in Denton, Texas as early as Tuesday as the anticipation for this event was overwhelming for both teams planning to attend and the fans eager to experience this two-day extravaganza. With the open rules package that required only two things, a “funny car style” flip top body encompassing the front wheels, along with up to date safety equipment for the car and driver, funny cars from over seven states were on hand to compete. This massive field of floppers plus exhibition fuel altered match racing, jet dragster, wheelstander, the Dirty South Gasser group and the Beat The Heat World Finals police racing program packed the pits with trailers parked well beyond the normal pit parking area.

Friday’s racing kicked off with a test session which was led by Mark Sanders’ “Mr. Explosive” nitro burner who posted a 3.72 elapsed time to set the pace. Two qualifying sessions were completed on Friday night, and Sanders again found himself atop the pack with a stellar 3.68 at 205 mph blast. John Hale’s “One Bad Texan” laid down a burnout like none other as he kept the hides blazing to 500 feet before backing up and ripping off a 3.77 at 194 mph pass to qualify number two. Marc White wheeled the Frank & Debra Ousley owned “Crop Duster” to a 3.78 at 197 alongside Ronny Young in the “Blue Max” who clicked off a 3.82 at 192, but things got chaotic for Young at the top end.

Young struggled to get the chutes out and went into the catch net, which worked perfectly to stop the speeding car, but with possible frame damage and clear damage to the front of the body, Young and company were sidelined for the remainder of the event. Thankfully, Young climbed out completely uninjured in this wild ride. Rounding out the top five qualifiers was Dave Gallegos in the “Nitro Clown” fuel funny that he purchased and took delivery of at this event from Richard Townsend, this the former “Nitrohaulic” entry. Gallegos’ 4.06 at 189 was impressive in only his second pass in the car as teams returned to the pits and prepared for Saturday’s final qualifying and eliminations.

A capacity crowd of over 2,500 jammed into the stands, pits and along the fence at North Star Dragway for Saturday’s fun-filled line up of drag racing action. The Dirty South Gassers, Beat The Heat, and match racers wowed the crowd and K.C. Jones pulled double duty driving his “Crazy Train” wheelstander and “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” jet dragster! But Funny Cars were the headliner and what a show it was that unfolded as the final qualifier set the fields. The ‘A’ field featured the quickest eight cars with a total purse of $14,500 with $5,000 going to the winner. The ‘B’ field hosted the number 9-22 qualifiers with over $12,000+ total purse and $2,000 going to the winner. It was time to line em’ up and let em’ rip!

The elite eight came to the line for the first round of the ‘A’ eliminator as Mark Billington, Mark Sanders, Chris Morel and Keith Jackson scored first round wins. Marc White, Charles Ware, Dave Gallegos and John Hale all made respectable runs but were out in round one. In the semis, Keith Jackson’s “High Heaven” nitro fueler from Denver, Colorado took a solo shot in the final after Mark Billington’s Top Alcohol Funny Car unexpectedly shut-off with ignition issues during the staging process. Mark Sanders clicked off a 3.82 at 184 to advance over Chris Morel’s off pace 5.42 as Jackson and Sanders were final round bound.

An epic thrash erupted in the Sanders pit as that semi-final round resulted in a blown engine as crew chief Jake Sanders and company took charge and changed motors in preparation for the final round. Jackson and company had been making solid and consistent low four-second passes all weekend and patiently waited for the service in the Sanders pit. The warm-up went well and “Mr. Explosive” was then headed to the lanes to take on Jackson for the ‘A’ field final round to see who would be crowned inaugural Funny Car Chaos Champion.

Nitro filled the night’s sky as the cars backed up from their burnouts and crew chiefs came in to make final adjustments before sending their drivers to the line. Jackson was ready to rock and took the starting line advantage as flames tricked from the pipes. The cars were full throttle and side by side at half-track. Both drivers were up on the wheel, moving around a bit as they neared the finish line, both actually lifting a bit early as Sanders’ 4.12 at 141 mph narrowly defeated Jackson’s 4.25 at 154 mph as Mark Sanders claimed a huge win for the team. Sanders had qualified number one, recorded top speed and low elapsed time of the event and capped it all off by winning Funny Car Chaos! Congratulations to the hard-working team on their efforts back in the pits that paid off with a memorable trip to the winner’s circle.

The ‘B’ field hosted great side by side action from a huge crop of blown funny cars, all running on lower percentages of nitro or alcohol. Top qualifier Ray Stringer of New Mexico in the “Blown Cent-less” 1989 Chevy Lumina bodied entry was on the biggest load of nitro at 89% and was the favorite on paper, but an intake runner failed on his first-round bye run which eliminated the top qualifier early. By the semi-finals, Andy Mears, Jordan Ballew, and Wes Breiten were still alive. Ballew’s “Ballew Thunder” 1969 Chevy Nova bodied Oklahoma based entry posted a 4.79 at 144 mph to eliminate Wes Breiten and move into the finals. Andy Mears’ “Dragon Slayer” 1957 Chevy bodied Lubbock, Texas-based machine soloed into the final with a 4.93 at 139 mph as the ‘B’ field final round was set.

Both Ballew and Mears were amped for the final and hungry for the honor of winning the inaugural Funny Car Chaos event. As they came to the line, crew members watched intently, and at the flash of amber, Mears was off the line with a .011 reaction time to Ballew’s .046. Side by side they thundered down the eighth mile and at the stripe, Mears posted his best run of the weekend with a 4.76 at 145 mph to Ballew’s career-best 4.77 at 146 mph in an epic battle with a .021 margin of victory at the stripe. For twenty-seven-year old Ballew, it was a huge success for the team posting career-best numbers and a strong runner-up finish. Congratulations to Mears and company on their hard-earned win as they joined Sanders in the winner’s circle as inaugural Funny Car Chaos Champions.

Announced in the drivers meeting, event promoters revealed that two Funny Car Chaos events will be held in 2018 with dates to be scheduled in May at historic Amarillo Dragway before the event returns to North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas next September. Racers and spectators alike shared their delight with the event, and all indications suggest a possible 32 car field of funny cars to come next year. Very special thanks goes out to the sponsors that helped make this event become a reality, including Red Line Shirt Club, Texas Diesel Power, Mears Mazda Volvo, Rodak’s Custom Coffee, Best of Texas BBQ Sauce, Fine Line Hot Rods & Performance, Equipment Sales & Service of Texas, Dooley & Sons Hot Rod Shop and Icon Pistons atop many product and vendor sponsorships. Additional kudos to the staff at North Star Dragway for providing a stellar racing surface for these cars to unleash their fury.

For more information on this event and future dates, follow www.funnycarchaos.com.