2018 AMARILLO DRAGWAY

Amarillo Dragway - Texas, USA
June 1st & 2nd, 2018

Event Media Coverage Links:
- Hot Rod Magazine: ***Click Here***
- Competition Plus: ***Click Here***
- Fuel Curve: ***Click Here***
- Drag List: ***Click Here***

'A' Field Event Winner - Ken Singleton "High Risk"

'B' Field Event Winner - Nick Poloson "Bucket List"

Outlaw Nostalgia Shootout Event Winner - Wyatt Curbo

'A' Field Event Runner Up - Lyle Greenberg "Cone Hunter"

'B' Field Event Runner Up - Ray Stringer "Blown Cent-less"

Outlaw Nostalgia Shootout Runner Up - John Sliney

Jake Simmons Videography Event Recap Video:

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS:

Photos by Tera Graves, Wes Ramsey, Jason Bryant, Martin Libhart, Bob & Ginger Snyder, Paul Fields,
Wayne Gierke, Dale Flacker, Russell Brown & Jason Dunn! Thank you all!

***Click Here For Event Photo Gallery!***

FINAL QUALIFYING ORDERS & ROUND BY ROUND RESULTS:

A-FIELD RESULTS:

Final Qualifying Order:
#1 Ken Singleton - 4.18 @ 149
#2 Chris Morel - 4.31 @ 169
#3 Mike Newkirk - 4.34 @ 152
#4 Clay Cunningham - 4.80 @ 142
#5 Jordan Ballew - 4.89 @ 142
#6 Lyle Greenberg - 4.91 @ 143
#7 Ray Stringer - 4.99 @ 141
#8 Andy Mears - 4.99 @ 137

Round 1 Elims:
(W) Mike Newkirk - 4.42 @ 147 - vs - (L) Ray Stringer 4.98 @ 137
(W) Clay Cunningham - 4.82 @ 142 - vs - (L) Andy Mears 5.15 @ 130
(W) Ken Singleton - 4.03 @ 176 - vs - (L) Jordan Ballew 4.83 @ 144
(W) Lyle Greenberg - 4.31 @ 165 - vs - (L) Chris Morel 5.76 @ 95

Round 2 Elims:
(W) Lyle Greenberg - 4.26 @ 170 - vs - (L) Mike Newkirk 4.37 @ 159
(W) Ken Singleton - 4.01 @ 181 - vs - (L) C. Cunningham 4.74 @ 144

Final Round Elims:
(W) Ken Singleton - 4.01 @ 179 - vs - (L) Lyle Greenberg 4.14 @ 181

B-FIELD RESULTS:

Final Qualifying Order:
#1 Nick Poloson - 5.01 @ 169
#2 Charles Ware - 5.06 @ 101
#3 Larry Bradford - 5.12 @ 130
#4 Dave Gallegos - 5.49 @ 101
#5 Tom Furches - 5.64 @ 137
#6 Mike Buchanan - 5.77 @ 125
#7 Ray Stringer - 5.84 @ 136
#8 Robert Slaughter - 5.85 @ 111

Round 1 Elims:
(W) Nick Poloson 4.79 @ 161 - vs - (L) Tom Furches 6.58 @ 96
(W) Mike Buchanan 7.61 @ 74 - vs - (L) Charles Ware - N/T (Red)
(W) Robert Slaughter 7.67 @ 98 - vs - (L) Dave Gallegos - N/T Broke
(W) Ray Stringer 6.40 @ 73 - vs - (L) Larry Bradford - N/T Broke

Round 2 Elims:
(W) Ray Stringer 5.63 @ 159 - vs - (L) Mike Buchanan 5.63 @ 126
(W) Nick Poloson 4.39 @ 172 - vs - (L) Robert Slaughter 7.33 @ 73

Final Round Elims:
(W) Nick Poloson 4.42 @ 170 - vs - (L) Ray Stringer 4.85 @ 161

Singleton & Poloson Ace Funny Car Chaos at Amarillo Dragway

Report: Chris Graves

There's just a special feeling you get when you bring something back to life, be it an old grime covered set of chrome wheels that you polish up and restore that once perfect shine. Or maybe the satisfaction of rebuilding a clogged up carburetor on your old high school hot rod you somehow never sold, but hasn't run in thirty years. Hearing that engine purr back to life or seeing those wheels glisten for the first time in decades just makes you feel good, accomplished, proud.

Amarillo Dragway once thrived as one of the top drag racing locations in the country, where the biggest names in the sport collided for the ultimate prize, a place world champions once were crowned. A place where families spent thrilling days at the drag races and witnessed a showcase of horsepower like none other. A place where East coast and West coast collided. Names like Don Garlits, Bill Jenkins and Raymond Beadle (just to name a few) all pounded the ground in their famed racecars within these gates. Those days for Amarillo Dragway were long gone, that is until Funny Car Chaos came to town. June 1st and 2nd, 2018 will be marked in local history as the day funny cars and nitromethane returned to historic Amarillo Dragway for the first time in nearly three decades. Let's relive the weekend and turn back the clock with some old fashioned guardrail to centerline, throttle whacking outlaw flopper action.

Funny Car Chaos is quickly gaining steam and popularity with it's broadly appealing no rules, run whatcha' brung rules package that is attracting funny cars of all types from across the country to compete for $25,000+ in guaranteed prize money. A very fresh and new addition to the drag racing entertainment stable, this was just the third edition of Funny Car Chaos since it's birth in the fall of 2017. Amarillo marked the second of four stops on the 2018 tour. Funny Car Chaos brought its nitro powered circus to town as drag racing fans from coast to coast and across the Texas panhandle counted down the days, awaiting the highly anticipated return of funny cars with support from title sponsor Red Line Shirt Club. A sort of re-birth for Amarillo Dragway, which had simply become an afterthought to many, now front row and center yet again.

In this part of the country, unpredictable weather patterns are the norm. High winds and low humidity keep things rather dry and when combined, the resulting conditions are not exactly what you're looking for when your goal is to put two outlaw funny cars side by side and let them blast to 200+ mph in the 1/8th of a mile. With 25-30 mph sustained gusts which included more dirt than you'd likely need to fill the abandoned swimming pool in your backyard, the chance of even racing at all on Friday was iffy at first when combined with record setting high temperature of 107 degrees. After countless reconditioning of the racing surface by track staff, it was time to call funny cars to the starting line for Friday night qualifying.

Teams were met in the lanes by Funny Car Chaos owner Chris Graves, race director and multi-talented veteran of the sport Bubba Corzine and staging lane director Justin Haas. A Texas trio ready to tango funny car style with assistance from Letha Corzine in the tower, Tera Graves on the ground and a fresh crop of Amarillo Dragway staffers who were on alert and ready for the unknown. It was almost as if everyone on the property was transported back in time as the first pair of Funny Cars came to life in Amarillo. No tire rotator, no traction measuring trick devices in the hands of the crew members, no one's shoes being pulled off their feet. It was time to see what the track can hold after several hours of dragging, a firm spray of traction compound and a hopeful prayer. Fire em' up!

Two sessions of qualifying were completed which kept the crowd on their feet as the battle between horsepower and traction had the crew chiefs making big power adjustments. Dry hops, back up girls, pedal jobs and header flames were the norm as drivers fought for a position in the 'A' field which would include the quickest eight cars on the property. The remaining eight qualifiers would make up the 'B' field of competition, respectively. The most recent winner of Funny Car Chaos back in April at Mo-Kan Dragway was Ken Singleton and he muscled his 2006 Monte Carlo bodied "High Risk" alcohol burning flopper to the pole position with a 4.18 at 149 mph.

Chris Morel who made the tow from Reno, Nevada in the family run "Little City Cuda" scored the number two spot with a 4.31 at 169 mph seeking tuning guidance from NHRA Top Fuel driver and home state Texas racer Troy Buff. Mike Newkirk's "Girl Watcher" blown alcohol 2002 Avenger bodied machine slid into the third spot with a 4.34 at 152 mph and local favorite Clay Cunningham rounded out the top half of the 'A' field in the "Still Crazy" branded Daytona bodied entry. With one session remaining on Saturday afternoon and predicted temperatures in the high 80's, the pressure was on several teams to deliver their best runs in the final qualifier and secure their spot in the elite eight before eliminations on Saturday evening.

Spectators, racers and even the dozens of ground hogs who call the shutdown area home at Amarillo Dragway were all thrilled to wake up to much cooler temperatures on race day, but were still challenged by sustained gusts of 30+ mph, now from the North. Thankfully, the Northern current eliminated the majority of dust and debris coming up from the South on Friday. Saturday welcomed a wild line-up of drag racing machines to be added to the rotation of outlaw funny cars which was headlined by the Dirty South Gassers, 806 "Top 10 List" racers and an 8 car heads up "Outlaw Nostalgia Shootout" class featuring altereds and front engine dragsters. This atop the "Game X-Change" jet dragster driven by Ray Kelley that was in fire breathing action both days.

Drag racing history is still rich in these parts, despite the lack of many major nitro, nostalgia or really any big events held in Amarillo in recent years minus a few no-prep style efforts. Funny Car Chaos sparked a revival of sorts and many local favorites and garage kept drag racing machines made it back to the track for display and even exhibition passes. This included a beautifully restored 1962 Chevy Impala B/FX machine powered by a Z-11 409 motor that Dickie Harrell won the 1963 NHRA Winternationals in and is now owned by Bill and Mark Warrick. What a fine piece of history that wowed the crowd for the thousands of spectators on hand for Saturday's festivities.

Final qualifying kicked off on schedule at 1:30 pm and despite better weather and track conditions, no changes were made to the top eight which was rounded out by Lubbock, Texas' Andy Mears with a 4.99 at 137 mph bump spot in the "Dragon Slayer" 1957 Chevy. Leading the 'B' field contingent was "Nitro" Nick Poloson in the Gary Doak owned "Bucket List" nitro funny car with a 5.01 at 169 mph with Robert Slaughter rounding out the field in the "Smokey Bear" Bill Wendt tribute alcohol burner with a 5.85 at 111 mph. Two eight car fields, sixteen fearless fun loving funny car drivers and stands packed to capacity, it was time to turn them loose and have some fun at Funny Car Chaos!

Action on the track was non-stop and that certainly played a critical role in developing some much desired traction and fresh rubber on a surface that simply needed some tender loving care. First round really brought out the potential of the funny cars as the 'B' field saw top qualifier Poloson advance joined by Mike Buchanan, Ray Stringer and Robert Slaughter. You'll notice Ray Stringer competing in both the 'A' and 'B' fields. Stringer from Alamogordo, New Mexico was wheeling his family owned nitro burning "Blown Cent-less" while also driving the "Wayne's World" alcohol flopper owned by local Wayne Reinart. Only at Funny Car Chaos folks! Thankfully for Stringer and company, these cars were split in the 'A' and 'B' fields, but likely in the reverse order they preferred.

'A' field first round action saw top qualifier Ken Singleton advance with a strong 4.03 at 176 mph over Jordan Ballew in a re-match of the first round from Mo-Kan Dragway in April. Clay Cunningham defeated Andy Mears and Mike Newkirk got the best of Ray Stringer, yes that Ray Stringer. All higher qualified cars advanced except for Chris Morel who slowed to a sluggish 5.76 with a broken mag drive bracket, which yanked the timing from 50 to 26 degrees at the hit of the throttle. Lyle Greenberg ripped off his best pass of the weekend with a 4.31 at 165 to move into the semis. Greenberg was making his competition debut in the nitro burning "Cone Hunter" 1978 Corvette, a beautiful New Mexico based machine that suddenly proved to be a threat.

Semi-final pairings were set as all four cars in the 'A' field stepped up their game with some great drag racing led by Ken Singleton who's 4.01 at 181 mph took out Clay Cunningham to advance to his second straight final round. Singleton would face Lyle Greenberg in the last dance as Greenberg took the win in a close contest with Mike Newkirk. Greenberg's 4.26 at 170 was just enough to hold off Newkirk's centerline riding 4.37 at 159 mph. 'B' field semis found Nick Poloson advancing past Robert Slaughter with a 4.39 at 172 mph and Ray Stringer's 4.56 at 159 mph took the nod over Mike Buchanan as an all nitro final round was set in the 'B' eliminator while the 'A' field welcomed a nitro -vs- alcohol contest.

As the sun began to set behind the historic tower at Amarillo Dragway, sun rays and shadows mixed to create quite a canvas held together by that iconic catwalk bridge that can been seen in so many old photos from fifty years ago. The original catwalk and tower still stand and are used weekly as this facility just screams old school cool. With fans lined up down both sides of the fence, kids on top of their fathers shoulders, all eyes on the burnout box and four outlaw funny cars bodies up and ready to crank in the staging lanes, it was finally time to put a cap on one stellar weekend of good ol' American funny car drag racing.

"Light em' up boys" was the call from Bubba Corzine as the final round of 'B' came to life and the staccato of belching nitro pipes rang through the air. All clean on the burnouts as Danielle Williams jumped the wall out front of Nick Poloson after working the crowd as she had just been named "Best Dressed Back Up Girl" of the event. Ray Stringer and the family performing their usual starting line routine as the crew chiefs guided their drivers into the stage beams. Ambers drop and hammer down, they were off!

Almost dead even at the start, it was wide open and side by side at half-track with Poloson starting to pull ahead with clutch dust floating out the back of the car, a sight only true nitro junkies can appreciate, one of those things that gives the right fan goosebumps. At the stripe, Poloson's 4.42 at 170 mph took the win over Stringer's solid 4.85 at 161 mph as the "Bucket List" team led by owner Gary Doak from Kerrville, Texas erupted in celebration on the starting line. A huge accomplishment for a team fueled by a deep passion for the sport as big thumbs up go out to all involved on a job well done for Poloson, Doak and company.

It was time for the final pair, $5,000 cash on the line and more importantly, pride as these two unruly beasts of the drag strip prepared for battle in search of Funny Car Chaos glory. Singleton brought his un-defeated record, top qualifying effort, top speed and low elapsed time of the meet status to the starting line. Lyle Greenberg, no newbie to the drag strip, hoped to find the win light in his competition debut with "Cone Hunter" which had improved consistently with each run leading into the finals as his nitro burning Corvette came to life. Singelton's 521 cubic inch Brad Anderson Hemi was revved up and hungry for another taste of the winner's circle while Greenberg's car show quality Hemi sported a 34 gallon fuel pump and MSD 44 amp ignition combo, a fresh equation that seems to be the hot ticket for racers formerly restricted by smaller pump and ignition rules in other racing venues, remember, no rules at Funny Car Chaos.

The crew chiefs made their final adjustments and it was all up to the drivers at this point as the crept into the beams. Greenberg took a slight starting line advantage as the cars blasted off the line, Singleton with a .942 sixty foot time quickly started to close that gap. Pedal to the metal and don't look back, these two floppers were neck and neck as the drivers were up on the wheel working with a very narrow groove. At the stripe, Singleton's 4.01 at 179 mph set low elapsed time of the meet to take the win over Greenberg's best lap of the weekend and second quickest pass of the meet with a 4.14 at 181 mph (also second fastest speed of the meet) in an epic side by side 'A' field final round!

Ken Singleton and car co-owner Bob Raber were all smiles as the Chickasha, Oklahoma based "High Risk" team officially became the first two time winner and back to back winner of Funny Car Chaos. This just another notch in the belt for Singleton as a former two time national drag boat Champion in alcohol flat bottom boats. This team stays busy, currently pulling double duty competing not only in Funny Car Chaos but also full time in the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association with this same car. Congratulations on an impressive string of low four second 175+ mph passes that led this team to the winners circle for the second time this year.

The Outlaw Nostalgia Shootout was won by local runner Wyatt Curbo in his nitrous boosted front engine dragster who defeated Haslet, Texas based John Sliney's blown slingshot dragster. Curbo's 4.70 at 146 mph was enough to fend off Sliney's close 4.84 at 143 mph as Curbo took a memorable win for the team. Curbo spent his childhood watching drag racing at Amarillo Dragway and to share the winners circle with the Funny Cars is a moment he will never forget.

A long list of supporters played critical roles in hosting this funny car spectacle led by the support of Red Line Shirt Club, AutoNation Chevrolet of Amarillo, Best of Texas BBQ Sauce, DJ Safety, S&W Race Cars and a slew of local supporters and bonus prize sponsors. It's a team effort no doubt and all the Funny Car Chaos racers and fans greatly appreciate the support. Next up on the 2018 Funny Car Chaos tour is a trip to Central Illinois Dragway in the small town of Havana, Illinois where outlaw funny cars of all kinds will collide in a battle like no one in the mid-west has seen before! Find out more at www.funnycarchaos.com and we'll see you at the drag races!

EVENT BONUS WINNERS:
PatCon LLC "Top Qualifier" $500 - Ken Singleton
PatCon LLC "Bounty" $500 - Ken Singleton
Little City Racing Top Speed of Qualifying $500 - Chris Morel
Max Cackle Photos.com Funny Car Shootout $500 - Andy Mears
A Field Quickest Rd 1 Loser $100 - Jordan Ballew
Littlefield Blowers B Field Quickest Rd 1 Loser $100 - Tom Furches
Still Crazy Racing Outlaw Nostalgia Bonus $150 - Wyatt Curbo
Mears Mazda Volvo A Field Best Rd 1 Reaction Time $100 - Clay Cunningham
Mears Mazda Volvo B Field Best Rd 1 Reaction Time $100 - Nick Poloson
Mears Mazda Volvo Outlaw Nostalgia Best Rd 1 Reaction Time $100 - Joey Myrick
Glass Tech & Overhead Doors "Best Dressed Back Up Girl" $250 - Danielle Williams
Glass Tech & Overhead Doors "Best Burnout" $250 - Mike Newkirk

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR THE AMARILLO EVENT!