Funny Car Chaos Nitro Madness – The Biggest Funny Car Race of the Century
March 2021 • By Marc Gewertz
Presented by RatTrapracing.com & USAutomotive
Who said drag racing was dead? Not if you went to Funny Car Chaos Nitro Madness it isn’t. While certain aspects of the sport might be struggling, Chaos, organized by 38-year-old Chris Graves and wife Tera was a huge success with 68, yes, 68 Funny Cars: There hasn’t been a 64-car Funny Car field in almost 50 years. Besides a staggering field of ‘floppers,’ there were also Outlaw Fuel Altereds aplenty and nearly 50 Dirty South Gassers that were a huge hit (more of that in another report).
Chaos has expanded like an accelerating Funny Car since the Graves’ first one-off event in 2017. “The first race was something I just planned on doing every fall at North Star Dragway,” said Graves, “but interest from racers and tracks quickly escalated until we now have an 8-race schedule.”
What makes Chaos so exciting and unpredictable is its simple rule strategy of no rules on performance, engine combinations, blower size, magnetos, body, and more.
As great as the Funny Cars were, the Outlaw Fuel Altereds killed it when Richard Hartman made history with the first 4.920/296.13 mph on Friday evening. The following day he bumped his speed to 304.53 mph with the exact same ET.
Secondly, there’s a unique points system in which a 16-car field is broken down into an eight-car “A” field for the quickest eight, and for spots 9-16 a “B” field. However, racers in both groups can accumulate the same amount of points enabling everyone to compete for a championship. It’s great for the teams and it’s certainly great for the fans.
And, there are payouts for 2021 totaling over $250,000 provided by sponsors such as Spell Paving Services, Red Line Shirt Club and Mears Mazda Volvo. Additional funds are provided by O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rodak’s Custom Coffee, AlkyDigger.com, CP-Carrillo, Littlefield Blowers, Taylor Motorsports Products, Don Schumacher Performance Parts, North Texas Diesel, and Wulff Pumps.
Organizer Graves summed it up saying, “What a drag race! This event at Billy Meyer's Texas Motorplex was jam packed with action. Many months and countless hours went into preparation and it showed with the results and feedback we have received. I want to first thank the entire staff at the Texas Motorplex for believing in what we've got going on at Funny Car Chaos and giving us a chance to rock Billy's house. Secondly, the 68 Funny Cars, 17 Fuel Altereds and every other racer who made the effort to support and attend this event from coast to coast. We had world records shattered, dozens of career best performances, thousands of smiles and an overwhelming amount of fun and that's what we do at Funny Car Chaos.”
For more information on Funny Car Chaos go to: http://funnycarchaos.com
Chris and Tera Graves and their Promoters of the Year Award from NostalgiaDragWorld.com
2021 Funny Car Chaos Schedule:
EVENT #2—April 23-24th: Amarillo Dragway,Amarillo, TX
EVENT #3—May 14-15th: Penwell Knights Raceway,Odessa, TX
EVENT #4—June 4-5th: Eddyville Raceway Park, Oskaloosa, IA
EVENT #5—June 11-12th: Kearney Raceway Park, Kearney, NE
EVENT #6—July 9-10th: Kansas International, Wichita, KS
EVENT #7—Sept. 3-4th: Mo-Kan Dragway, Asbury, MO
EVENT #8—October 1-2nd: Alamo City Motorplex, San Antonio, TX