2020 Funny Car Chaos at San Antonio, Saturday Finals

Funny Car Group A winner Ken Singleton

By JM Hallas

Marion TX (June 13, 2020) – With two rounds of qualifying under their belts, the Funny Car Chaos group ran one more round to set the two 8-car fields competing in eliminations later in the day. Terry Haddock led ‘Group A’ qualifying with a record-setting set of numbers while Andy Mears came in atop of ‘Group B.’ Everyone had a chance to improve their numbers and move up or down the elimination ladder.

Funny Car Chaos qualifying, round 3:

Ken Singleton, 3.7297 at 205.86

Jonathan Johnson, 3.8662 at 193.30

Steve Vang, 4.3552 at 155.28

Dustin Bradford, 4.5500 at 139.02

Jeff Cameron, 4.5862 at 154.32

Jordan Bellew, 4.8994 at 142.00

Chris Schneider, 5.0946 at 101.17

Chuck Loftin, 5.376 at 96.11

Robert Slaughter, 5.4072 at 137.53

Tod Barker, 5.5451 at 85.49

Randy Mueller, 5.6697 at 120.77

Clay Cunningham, 8.7245 at 47.43

Now, with the fields set, it was time to get down to business and see who would come out on top of the Alamo City Motorplex portion of the Funny Car Chaos series.

Prior to round 3 of FCC qualifying, the other classes (Dirty South Gassers, Southwest Superchargers, Top Sportsman, 6.00 & 7.00 Index) all ran time trials as they prepared for battle between rounds of FCC eliminations.

As temperatures reached into the mid 90s late in the day, it was a true test to find a good setup to make it down the track where temperatures hit near 140 degrees. That setup would change throughout the evening as air and track temperatures went down and humidity levels went up. It was a true test for both track and competitor crews to stay on top of conditions.

Funny Car Chaos

Group A

The finals in group came down, as it should, to the two fastest cars on the property, Terry Haddock (Temple) and Ken Singleton (Chickasha, OK). Singleton, in his alcohol car, put a tree job on Haddock, in his nitro car, getting almost a tenth and a half advantage at the start. Singleton, in his Auto FX, Boyd Singleton Welding, Marshall Auto Parts, Gavin Wrecker Service, Bates Repair Service, CarX City, Texas Two Step, in-house powered, McKinney Chassis copy by Singleton, also outperformed Haddock in the Strutmasters, Fischer Body Shop, Ford Mustang as Haddock appeared to eat up the motor on the top end and kick out a rod.

“Consistency all weekend long was the key,” said Singleton. “The car ran low .70s all weekend long. Everyone did their job and the track was awesome. I couldn’t ask for a better weekend. We did change some things (in the finals) that might speed it up, but we didn’t want to beat ourselves either. We just did our deal.”

“With Terry Haddock here it’s my Top Alcohol car and his Top Fuel car. If I can luck out and win that deal it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. We cut an .01 light on that lap. I knew I had to do all that I could do because if he ran a number, the light is the only way I could beat him. My car is a .70s car and his is a .50s, that’s two tenths I need to make up somewhere.”

Ken Singleton, 3.7244 at 206.33 defeats Terry Haddock, 3.7551 at 184.50.

Singleton got by Steve Vang in round 1, then Ronny Young in round 2 after a good side by side battle. Haddock got a huge break in round 1 when Chris Schneider continued on down the track after his burnout while Haddock had trouble just limping down the track. In round 2, Nick Poloson put up a fight, but the win went to Haddock.

Funny Car Group B winner Clay Cunningham

Group B

The #9 and #11 qualifiers paired off in group B pitting Clay Cunningham (Dumas) against Jeff Cameron (Magnolia). Cameron, in his Dooley & Sons, Be an Angel, 582 Chevy-powered, 93 Firebird got a half a tenth on the start, but Cunningham in his Still Crazy II, 511 BAE Hemi powered Dodge Daytona drove around him at the big end to score the victory.

Clay Cunningham, 4.4277 at 143.18 defeats Jeff Cameron, 4.6277 at 152.59

Cunningham bested Randy Mueller in round 1, then ended the night for Jordan Bellew. Cameron got past Robert Slaughter, then trailered Dustin Bradford in the semis.

Southwest Superchargers winner Steve Matthews (near lane) against Christian Leffew

Southwest Superchargers

In a ’round robin’ tournament sort of eliminations, it came down to Steve Matthews (Marietta, OK) and Dennis Smith (Boerne). Matthews, in his 406 Chevy-powered Dragster laid an .039 light on Smith, in his Nogalitos Gear, 532 Chevy-powered Dragster, and needed every bit of it, forcing Smith to outrun the 4.50 index on the big end trying to catch up.

Steve Matthews, 4.7209 at 146.39 defeats Dennis Smith, 4.4419 at 156.03.

Top Sportsman winner Austin Philpot

Top Sportsman (4.90 Index)

It was youth and exuberance versus old age and treachery in the Top Sportsman finals between Austin Philpot (Boerne), who came up through the Jr. Dragster ranks, and track veteran Mike Atkinson (Cibilo). The young Philpot, in his Reher & Morrison powered 2009 Cavalier laid a .017 light on Atkinson in the Hemi Dodge Daytona, who wasn’t that far off at .054. Philpot carried his advantage to the victory.

Austin Philpot, 5.0137 at 129.38 defeats Mike Atkinson, 5.0290 at 142.50.

6.00 Index winner Jeff Rabedeau getting the wheels up

6.00 Index

In a Ford vs. Chevy finale, it was Jeff Rabedeau (Canyon Lake) in his Ford Mustang matching up with Ryan McDonnell in his S-10 Chevy Pickup. Both went red at the start. McDonnell was the worst offender, giving the win to Rabedeau.

Jeff Rabedeau (-.007) 6.0020 at 112.00 defeats Ryan McDonnell (-.031) 7.9126 at 59.98.

On his way to the finals, Rabedeau beat J. Stacy, Bobby Banks, J. Garza, and JR Galvan. McDonnell rebought after a round 1 loss to Todd Robinson, then knocked out M. Dodd, got revenge over Robinson, and took a bye in round 4.

7.00 Index winner Jonathan Hernandez (near lane) with Bryan Littlefield

7.00 Index

In the 7.00 Index finals, it was Jonathon Hernandez (Pleasanton) in his third-generation Camaro going head to head with Mike Jenkins (Markham) in his 83 Mustang. Hernandez treed Jenkins by two tenths and that was pretty much all she wrote as long as Hernandez didn’t break out, which he didn’t.

Jonathon Hernandez 7.0700 at 87.24 defeats Mike Jenkins, 7.0903 at 97.30.,

Hernandez bettered N. Martinez, J. Stacy, J. Garza, and McDougal while Jenkins beat Bryan Littlefield, Todd Zampese, David Bixler, and got a round 3 bye.

Dirty South Gassers in action

Dirty South Gassers

The DSG group ran basically a test-n-tune with a call out grudge show so there were no real winners or losers. Just some cool old cars putting on a show for the fans.

Ray Kelley’s Jet Dragster