An overwhelming surge of second day voting has former Funny Car racer Denny Savage smiling like he did after a good run back in the day. The former driver of the Chi-town Hustler and Powers Steel Camaro will open Monday’s first round of the 4th annual War Stories Showdown presented by Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com as the No. 1 seed in the story-telling competition.

Savage leapt from fourth to first during the second day of qualifying, passing veterans Louie Force, Roy Hill and Pat Musi. The qualifying portion of the event is determined by a reader vote based on who they believe can tell the best stories.

“There's not a lot of humor in my stories, at least the ones I can tell,” said Savage with a smile. “[There’s] just a lot of hardcore racing from the old days. I’m just honored to be a part of this competition.”

An overwhelming surge of second day voting has former Funny Car racer Denny Savage smiling like he did after a good run back in the day. The former driver of the Chi-town Hustler and Powers Steel Camaro will open Monday’s first round of the 4th annual War Stories Showdown presented by Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com as the No. 1 seed in the story-telling competition.

Savage leapt from fourth to first during the second day of qualifying, passing veterans Louie Force, Roy Hill and Pat Musi. The qualifying portion of the event is determined by a reader vote based on who they believe can tell the best stories.

“There's not a lot of humor in my stories, at least the ones I can tell,” said Savage with a smile. “[There’s] just a lot of hardcore racing from the old days. I’m just honored to be a part of this competition.”

Savage admits he never raced nitro looking over his shoulder but this competition is another story. Falling into the second seed is Louis Force, brother of 15-time Funny Car champion John Force. Force was upset last year in the semi-finals by Pat Musi.

“I’ve know Louie Force for a lot of years and he’s the story teller for sure,” Savage admitted. “He’ll probably win this hands-down.”

Force led the first day qualifying but quickly fell behind the Savage surge in voting. Behind Force are veterans Roy Hill, Pat Musi and “TV” Tommy Ivo.

One competitor, Whit Bazemore, the No. 11 qualifier, was forced to withdraw from the competition due to unexpected and sudden business demands related to his new television series. His spot will be filled by first alternate and Pro Stock legend Herb McCandless.

Savage will be in the first group of competitors to kick off the competition on Monday. Savage will face another former Chi-Town Hustler and No. 16 qualifier Ron Colson in the first round of competition. In a battle of No. 8 versus 9, former NHRA Div. 5 Top Fuel racer Ed Renck will meet Dave Settles.

A day later, No. 4 Musi battles it out with first-time participant Jack Beckman. Musi has reached the finals in two consecutive seasons. Closing out the pre-Christmas portion of the event, No. 5 Ivo battles Pro Modified pioneer Rob Vandergriff.

The event pauses for Christmas break and returns on Dec. 27, with the other side of the ladder. Those matches include No. 2 Force vs. No. 15 Steve Reyes and former NHRA race director Steve Gibbs matches up with John “Tarzan” Austin. The final portion of the ladder begins on Dec. 28 with No. 3 Hill meeting for “Wild” Bill Shrewsberry and concludes with No. 6 Jon Lundberg meeting McCandless.

UPDATE: The actual No. 16 qualifier was Ron Colson and not Steve Reyes. We apologize for this mistake in the article.

FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS

1st round - #1 Denny Savage 21.66 vs. #16 Ron Colson 1.54, #8 Ed Renck 5.03 vs. #9 Dave Settles 4.0 -- Dec. 20, 21, 22

#4 Pat Musi 10.16 vs. #13 Jack Beckman, #5 Tommy Ivo vs. #12 – Rob Vandergriff -- Dec. 21, 22, 23

PAUSE FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK

#2 Louis Force 11.61 vs. #15 Steve Reyes 1.85, #7 Steve Gibbs vs. #10 John “Tarzan” Austin – Dec. 27, 28, 29

#3 Roy Hill 11.19 vs. #14 “Wild” Bill Shrewsberry 2.16, #6 Jon Lundberg 5.85 vs. #11Herb McCandless [Alternate] – Dec. 28, 29, 30

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