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MECHANICSVILLE, MARYLAND – (August
30th 2023) – Funny Car Chaos (FCC)
made its East Coast Debut at
Maryland International Raceway (MIR)
August 25th and 26th. FCC also
brought the return of the Legends at
Budds Creek event. Forty Funny Car’s
would pre-enter to the event with
more than thirty arriving to MIR and
putting on a show to remember!
Funny Car
 A
combination of Nitro and Alcohol
cars would line up ready to hit the
track for the first time on Friday
night. The sun would set, the lights
would come on, and the 8pm
qualifying stage would be set.
Melinda King, of Norfolk, VA, with
her Alcohol-fueled 2020 Camaro Funny
Car would take the top spot at a
3.845 at 199.55 MPH setting the
Funny Car 1/8th mile track record.
King’s time on top of Qualifying
would last until Saturday afternoon
when the Nitro huffing 2003 Firebird
piloted by James Gifford, from
Taflon, PA, would rocket to the top
of leaderboard at a 3.768 at 208.23
MPH to reset the track record. While
no one would top Gifford in
Qualifying, all eyes would be on DJ
Cox, from Whiteford, MD, with his
Alcohol Funny Car. While he would
struggle in the first two qualifying
attempts, he would move up to the
number two spot at a 3.768 at 206.13
MPH. The top placing Nostalgia Nitro
car would be Jon Wall, Halifax, MA,
in his 1978 Ford Mustang running a
4.053 at 159.83 MPH which would be
good for the number four spot. The
top placing Nostalgia Alcohol car
would be George Reidnauer with the
1974 Chevrolet Vega going a 4.111 at
181.08 MPH.
 Eliminations
would bring fantastic side by side
action with each pass just as
exciting as the next. The finals
would set a stage with drama and
upsets as each pairing would be just
as great as the next. The D Field
would be the first set up. Delbert
White with the Carolina Outlaw 1999
Firebird from Jamesville, NC, and
Drew Sweetman with the Frantic Ford
1977 Mustang from Elkton, MD. White
saved his best pass of the weekend
for the final going a 4/598 at
150.40 MPH but would still come up
short to Sweetman who ran a 4.527 at
160.84 MPH to take the win.
The C Field would see Cody Helger
with the Dazed and Confused 1969
Camaro from Little Compton, RI, and
Chris Massarella with the Total
Insanity 1976 Monza from Lake
Hiawatha, NJ line up next to each
other. Massarella would leave the
line first and Helger would be able
to drive around him to take the win.
Massarella would leave with a .092
reaction time (R/T) going a 4.373 at
165.82 MPH. Helger would be a .132
R/T but a quicker 4.284 ET at 164.97
MPH to be able to hoist the trophy
in the winners circle.
 The
B Field final would set up a race to
be remembered with Gary “Little
Bear” Pritchett, Avon, IN, and Wayne
Hoffman, New Preston CT. Pritchett
was handling driving duties for the
iconic Bunny and the Boys 2000
Avenger the same weekend as the
Tribute for the former car owner and
late Bunny Burkett and Bear
Pritchett. Hofmann would put on a
clinic hitting the tree in the final
with a .019 R/T, to give himself a
shot at pulling off a holeshot win.
Pritchett would be much later with a
.119 R/T, but would put up a jaw
dropping 3.964 at 184.40 MPH to take
the win compared to the 4.192 at
169.23 MPH.
The A Field final would see the #1
and #2 qualifiers with Gifford and
Cox, Nitrous VS Alcohol, PA VS MD,
etc. Gifford would kick Cox over to
the right lane where Cox has
struggled on two of his three
qualifying attempts. Cox would leave
the line first with a .063 R/T and
Gifford would start the race behind
with a .110 R/T. Cox would take the
stripe on a holeshot running a 3.741
at 207.62 MPH and Gifford would go
up in smoke at the finish line
mustering a 3.708 at 202.12 MPH.
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Funny Car A Field |
Funny Car B Field |
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Drew Sweetman |
Cody Helger |
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Funny Car C Field |
Funny Car D Field |
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Gary “Little Bear” Pritchett |
DJ Cox |
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Burnouts for Bunny and Bear Tribute
 The
Burnouts for Bunny and Bear would
see ¼ mile record holder for a Nitro
Altered Dan Pettinato from Fountain
Inn, SC, take the number one
qualifying spot running a 3.899 at
193.79 MPH. Only two other drivers
would make it to the three second
zone, K
urt Duckworth, Weirton, WV, with his
Altered ran a 3.953 at 183.05 MPH,
and Bruce Mullins, Fredricksburg,
VA, with his 2021 Top Alcohol
Dragster ran a 3.959 at 184.27 MPH.
Once the two rounds of qualifying
was complete, the field would be
split into two. Kurt Duckworth would
see Dan Pettinato in North Vs South
all Altered final. Duckworth would
take the win over Pettinato going a
3.959 at 182.82 MPH over Pettinato’s
4.423 at 161.61 MPH. The B Field
would see the front engine dragster
of Bruce Hacker of Seagrove, NC,
take the win over Ray Urban.
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Tribute A Field |
Tribute B Field |
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Kurt Duckworth |
Bruce Hacker |
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Nostalgia ET Classes
In the Nostalgia AA class, Michael
Leizear Jr, of Waldorf, MD, would
take on Jake Milstead, of
Mechanicsville, MD, in the final.
Leizear would take the win after
Milstead would be -.003 on the tree.
In the Nostalgia BB class, David
Whitlock, of Mechanicsville, VA,
would take the win over Pat Brewer,
of Lebanon, PA, who had issues
leaving having a .454 R/T compared
to Whitlock’s .027. In the runoff
for the $1,000 bonus between Leizear
and Whitlock, Whitlock would take
the win.
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Nostalgia AA |
Nostalgia BB |
Nostalgia Runoff |
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Michael Leizear Jr |
David Whitlock |
David Whitlock |
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