The long-awaited debut of the Funny Car Chaos tour came to Lebanon Valley Dragway for their East Coast Chaos on September 19th & 20th. Excellent conditions for the last weekend of Summer 2025 definitely made it worthwhile. The traditional 1/8 Mile Funny Car Chaos program also included 1/8-mile racing from the Lebanon Valley Dragway Top Dragster/Top Sportsman competitors, as well as 1/4-mile racing from the All-Star Racers Association Stock/Super Stock Shootout & Box & No Box Gamblers Races.
There were 14 Funny Cars on the property: 12 blown alcohol and 2 Nitro Funny Cars. (Mike Smith, with Bill Dee’s Nor’Easter Pontiac, arrived late on Friday, right when the second session was about to begin & unfortunately was unable to make a run on Saturday.)
Friday afternoon was the test and tune for the event competitors. A couple of Funny Car racers took advantage of the Test & Tune, including Doug Fassl in his “Wildly Disturbed” Ford Mustang BB/FC. Fassl made the first 3-second run of the funny cars for the weekend in testing, hitting a nice 3.960 at only 170.31 mph due to a crank sensor failure.
At sundown, it was time for two rounds of qualifying for the Top Dragster/Top Sportsman & Funny Car classes under the stars of the cool Upstate NY Night. Due to the high car count, all 13 funny cars ran single runs.
The Highlight of Qualifying Friday was Jim Gifford & his Svengali Pontiac Firebird Nitro Funny Car. In the first session, he let out a 3.708/204.31 blast to set the bar that would be tough to top. The Blown Alcohol cars made up the rest of the field. Joe Pirrone, driving the Screamin’ Eagle Pontiac, was second with a 4.060/180.80. Paul Conlon driving the Ex-Eric Lourie TAFC, the Boston Monkey Camaro would be third with a 4.153/177.26. Matt Stambaugh, driving his Generation-X Vega, was fourth with a 4.162/176.01. Fifth was Drew Sweetman driving the Frantic Ford Mustang with a 4.301/168.09. Frank Barnard & His Poison Arrow BB/FC was sixth with a 4.315/162.48.
2024 East Coast Chaos B-Field Runner Up Nitro Joe Morrison driving Dennis Champney’s “Crazy Horse” Ford BB/FC was seventh with a 4.368/167.81, and Jami Russell driving the Iron Outlaw Mustang II BB/FC rounded out the top 8 A-Field with a 4.526/154.99. The rest of the field had Doug Fassl unable to repeat his 3.96 from testing when his car lost fire after the burnout in Q1 & then experienced problems in Q2, managing only a 4.940/144.62. This was followed by Chris Massarella & his Total Insanity Monza, which achieved a 4.944/156.79. Brian White & His Paradise City Pontiac TAFC, Wayne Hofmann’s Wounded Warrior Dodge Daytona & Andrew Armstrong’s Smokey Bonz Gang Nova BB/FC all had problems & rounded out the field.
Saturday had final qualifying for Funny Car Chaos with conditions even better than the night before. Wayne Hofmann was proof of that; after months of dealing with gremlins in his Funny Car, he was finally returning to form with a 4.124/172.74. However the big shocker came in the next Flopper when Brian White who had problems all day Friday trying to hold the car staged as he went up on the RPMs & not getting proper times, simply waited for the tree to fully activate to make his final qualifying run & uncorked a 4.088/187.16 blast to shoot him to the #3 Spot behind Gifford & Pirrone whom both sat out this round.
The first Side by Side Funny Car run would happen next with Paul Conlon & The Boston Monkey Camaro Vs Andrew Armstrong’s Smokey Bonz Gang Nova. Conlon would be the next to improve on his Friday runs with a 4.161/176.33, moving him to #5 on the A-Field Side, while Armstrong Broke on the run. Chris Massarella came up next with his Total Insanity Monza, aiming to improve on a 4.386/165.10; however, it would not be enough to make the Top 8 A-Field & he would have to settle for the B-Field. The Last Flopper of qualifying was Nitro Joe Morrison & the Crazy Horse Mustang, & Joe would join the sub 4.20 club with a 4.188 at only 131.15 to get him in the A-Field at #7.
Eliminations would begin with the A-Field, featuring the lone Nitro Car versus #1 Qualifier Jim Gifford & His Svengali Nitro Firebird, against the Boston Monkey Camaro of Paul Conlon. Conlon was a tenth better off the line, but Gifford used the Nitro to get the win with a 3.754/188.39 to Conlon’s 4.262/174.27. Next up was Wayne Hofmann, the #4 Qualifier, taking on #9 qualifier Frank Barnard & his Poison Arrow, who got in as an Alternate when #8 Qualifier Drew Sweetman was broken.
Hofmann would continue the momentum from Qualifying with a 4.135/173.01 to Barnard’s losing 4.635/157.25. Then the Surprise #3 qualifier Brian White & his Paradise City Firebird took on #7 Qualifier Nitro Joe Morrison. Morrison was just too much for White & ran 4.364/157.71 to advance to round 2. Rounding out A-Field round 1 was #2 qualifier Joe Pirrone & the Screamin Eagle Pontiac Vs Matt Stambaugh’s Generation-X Vega. Unfortunately, Stambaugh left before the tree activated, & Pirrone would get the win & would join the 3 Second Club for the weekend with a 3.974/185.18.
The B-Field had only 3 Cars make it with an easy index of 4.23 for this round only. Chris Massarella would be first getting the bye run to a 5.099/105.57. The lone pair would have Andrew Armstrong’s Nova Vs Jami Russell’s Iron Outlaw Mustang II. Unfortunately for Armstrong, this was the icing on the cake for his problems, as not only were the Chutes out again, but he also went “bowling for Timing Blocks,” as Russell ran 4.508/155.91 in his victory to face Massarella in the final.
The Semifinals of A-Field came up next, featuring Wayne Hofmann vs. Joe Pirrone. Hofmann continued his 4-teens of the day with a 4.134/172.98 victory over Pirrone’s 4.299/169.05, his worst run of the event. The other pair had Jim Gifford in his Nitro Funny Car Vs Nitro Joe Morrison & his Blown Alcohol Mustang. Gifford continued his dominance here with a 3.713 at 206.32. The top speed of the meet over Morrison’s losing 4.343/160.98 to set up the Final of Hofmann Vs Gifford.
The B-Field Final came up next with Chris Massarella Vs Jami Russell. Russell claimed the B-Field title wire to wire with a 4.404/159.27 to Massarella’s l.875/158.41.
The A-Field Final of Hofmann Vs Gifford was the story unfolding in front of everyone. Hofmann & Gifford were both in the pre-stage, and a staging duel began for 30 seconds before Gifford finally went in. Hofmann would go red by .004 & throw away the victory as Gifford went right into tire smoke & Gifford would become the A-Field Champion.
For Top Dragster/Top Sportsman Bob Vojtila & his Nitrous Assisted Midnight Sun Dragster was low ET with a 4.042/175.76 & Tom Simone driving the Ex-Carllton Phillips 1992 Lumina IHRA Pro Stock had the fastest doorcar in the class with a 4.583 at his best speed of 153.56.
On Saturday, the finals would feature two dragsters, with Tom Couture taking on notable Division 1 hitter Frank Genovesi. Just like the A-Field Funny Car Final, the red light would decide the race as Genovesi went .017 red & threw away a 4.340 on his 4.34 dial to give the win to Couture, who was .007 Green & ran 4.615 on his 4.63 dial.
There were three other classes run during the day. The ASRA All Star Stock/Super Stock shootout had Ethan Sutherland & his 81 Chevy Malibu run 10.980/118.44 on his 10.98 Dial to defeat Brady Jezewski’s 67 Camaro after Brady broke out with a 10.829/119.25 on a 10.83 Dial.
The Box Gamblers final had Steve Pray & his ’70 Nova get the win with a 9.375/139.12 on his 9.37 dial over Alan Kirby’s 84 Camaro after Kirby red-lighted away a 9.378/144.60 on his 9.37 dial.
The No Box Final Had Brennan Cunningham’s Monte Carlo win with an 11.303/111.18 on an 11.29 Dial over Jim Whitehead & his Ex-Sterling Simmons Stock 98 Camaro running a 10.735/122.15 on a 10.72 Dial.
Sunday would feature another Top Dragster/Top Sportsman Race, as well as another All Stars race & 1/8 Mile Gamblers races, sponsored by Port-a-Tree. The Top Dragster/Top Sportsman would be won by Joe Dunne & his nitrous-assisted Nova, defeating Grant Nichols, who was driving Jenna’s Ford-powered dragster. Dunne ran a 4.807/146.84 on his 4.77 dial, while Nichols broke out by one thousandth with a 4.909/134.04 on a 4.91 Dial. Nichols defeated FCC TD/TS Winner Tom Couture in the semis. Also, Ethan Sutherland would repeat in All Stars, defeating Charlie Hough’s 65 Nova.
In the 1/8 Mile Gamblers races, Mark Richards & his ’78 Nova won No Box over Ned Mitchum’s ’95 S-10, & Braden Acker took his ’66 Nova to victory in the Box Gamblers after Alan Kirby red-lighted again in the final.
