Funny Car Chaos Amarillo Pounds the Ground!
If you like high stakes, heads-up drag racing and ground-pounding funny cars, then Funny Car Chaos Amarillo should be added to your bucket list. After a three-decade void of any nitromethane burning, ear-piercing, flame-throwing funny car action, eager Texas panhandle flopper fans jammed the stands and fence lines of Amarillo Dragway in early June for two days of nitro fueled fun. It delivered the thrills you would expect.
The entire Funny Car Chaos Amarillo weekend was a trip back in time for thousands of race fans who used to frequent the historic facility where the best of the best once made history and raced for World Championships. This rules-free showdown welcomed sixteen funny cars to compete for over $27,500 in guaranteed prize money all fueled by a deep passion and love for the most iconic drag racing machine of all time, funny cars!
Headlining the ‘B’ field was top qualifier “Nitro” Nick Poloson behind the wheel of the Gary Doak’s 1992 Dodge Avenger bodied “Bucket List” entry from Kerrville, Texas. Poloson qualified number one and marched through the competition to advance to the final round.
His opponent was a fellow nitro burner, Ray Stringer and his “Blown Cent-less” 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass-bodied fueler from Alamogordo, New Mexico. In a cackle fueled final round, Poloson’s 4.42 at 170 mph held off Stringer’s 4.85 at 161 mph as Poloson and company secured their first win since the team was put together last summer.
‘A’ field action featured the quickest eight cars on the property and included nitro and alcohol burning floppers from across the country.
Accomplished drag boat racer Ken Singleton from Chickasha, Oklahoma (who scored a big win to kick off the 2018 season of Funny Car Chaos last month in Missouri) again found himself back in the final round. Driving the “High Risk” alcohol burning 2006 Monte Carlo, he was the man to beat. In the opposing lane, New Mexico’s Lyle Greenberg, making his competition debut in the new “Cone Hunter” 1978 Corvette nitro burner provided stiff competition.
An epic side by side drag race ensued as the cars blasted off the line together, but at the stripe it was all Singleton with a 4.01 at 179 mph – good for low elapsed time of the event. Greenberg’s very competitive 4.14 at 181 mph, his best pass of the weekend, came up just short at the stripe. Singleton and company etched themselves into Funny Car Chaos history as the first back to back and two-time winners of the series, claiming $10,000 in winnings already this year.
The first and only rule at Funny Car Chaos is ‘have fun’ and the fun meter was certainly pegged in Amarillo, Texas as fans, racers and staff were all smiles upon the conclusion of the memorable weekend.
This was the largest gathering of drag racing enthusiasts at Amarillo Dragway in many years as new ownership has high hopes of reviving the once thriving facility.
