FUNNY CAR FEVER II REVIEW

In the largest showing of Blown Nitro Funny Cars since the March Meet, sixteen AA/FC's invaded Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson Arizona to compete for the $25,500 purse that the Funny Car Fever II event had up for grabs. The weather was warm and the winds were light all day long with temps in the high 80s but cooled by the early evening hours, bringing forth great track conditions for the Nitro Funny Cars to battle for the top honors.

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Mark King Photos

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Bucky Austin had low ET in the final round to defeat Del Worsham.
In the largest showing of Blown Nitro Funny Cars since the March Meet, sixteen AA/FC's invaded Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson Arizona to compete for the $25,500 purse that the Funny Car Fever II event had up for grabs. The weather was warm and the winds were light all day long with temps in the high 80s but cooled by the early evening hours, bringing forth great track conditions for the Nitro Funny Cars to battle for the top honors.

Arguably the best Nitro Funny Cars in the country competed at Funny Car Fever II last and the results give credence to our statement. Funny Car Fever II saw the quickest passes in the class ever posted at Southwestern International Raceway with
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Del Worsham made a close race of the final round until he lost traction at the 300-foot mark.
three 5-second passes recorded by two separate teams as well as a track record set by Bucky Austin with a 5.906 elapsed time at 234.98 miles per hour. What makes the performances of this class so impressive is that the corrected altitude at Southwestern International Raceway was around 5200 feet when the event started at 6:30 pm. There were no oildowns and only one team was unable to make the call for the second round, which equates to 33 out of 34 passes by the Nitro Funny Car class.

In the final round, Bucky Austin in the "Northwest Hitter" Arrow defeated Del Worsham in the "Blue Max" Mustang II with a 5.906 elapsed time 234.98 to Worshams trailing 6.476, 188.52 when his flopper got loose at about 300 ft and he pedaled it.

Round 1
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Round one of the Chicago Shootout began right on time at 6:30 PM when the call went out to fire the first pair. The win light in the first two rounds was meaningless as the racers raced to be one of the two quickest to face off in the third and final round where the win light is the determining factor.

In his first outing in Ed Lenarth's "Holy Toledo" Jeep, NHRA Funny Car Pilot James Day faced off with Lee Paul Jennings in Lee Jennings "Code Red" Challenger. Day left on Jennings but Jennings was able to drive around him on the top end and take the win light with a 6.372, 217.81 over Day's 6.577, 206.35.

Mike Adams in the "Coors Corvette" bested Ron Maroney in the "Shark Attack" Corvette with an on and off the pedal 6.723, 205.26 to the trailing 7.613, 157.47 for Maroney.

Steve Nichols in the "Mill Road Boys" Camaro edged out Bob Godfrey in the "Burn N Money" Camaro with a 6.346, 224.88 to Godfrey's 6.383, 228.77. Nichols ran a career best mph on that pass.

Del Worsham in the "Blue Max" Mustang II stunned the crowd and his competitors when he ran a 5.977, 236.80 to beat Jeff Bennett in the Bennett Family "Pure Hell" Camaro and his 6.663, 205.85.

Bucky Austin in the "Northwest Hitter" Arrow defeated Mike Savage in the "Speed Sport" Barracuda with the second quickest pass of the first round of 6.005, 225.86

John Powers in the "Powers Steel" Camaro bested Sean Dale in the "Shakey Situation" Charger with a 6.466, 224.85 to the trailing 6.645, 215.10 of Dale.

Terry Capp in the "Bubble Up" Firebird outran Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" GTO with a 6.077, 233.48 To La Charite's slower 6.299, 208.62.

Mike Grekul in the "Plueger & Gyger" Mustang got the win light over Jim Adolph in the "Nitro Charger" Daytona with a 6.121, 228.76 to Adolph's 6.600, 177.88.
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Round 2

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Lee Paul Jennings in the "Code Red" Challenger bested James Day in the "Holy Toledo" Jeep with a 6.115, 223.14 to Day's slower 8.390, 107.10.

Mike Adams in the "Coors" Corvette outran Ron Maroney in the "Sharky Attack" Corvette in round 2 of battle of the Corvettes. Adams ran his quickest pass in a couple of years with a 6.256, 213.20 to Maroney's 7.066, 186.75.

Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" GTO outran Terry Capp in the "Bubble Up" Firebird with a 6.315, 217.56 to Capp's 6.460, 217.07.

Steve Nichols in the Mill Road Boys" Camaro made a solo pass when Mike Savage in the "Speed Sport" Barracuda couldn't make the call. Nichols carded a 6.201, 230.13, which once again was his career best miler per hour.

Del Worsham in the "Blue Max" Mustang II outran Bucky Austin in the "Northwest Hitter" with a 5.966, 223.32 when Austin had a mechanical malfunction and aborted his run.

Mike Grekul in the "Plueger & Gyger" Mustang bested Jim Adolph in the "Nitro Charger" Daytona with a 6.014, 225.00 to Adolph's 6.399, 194.72 which is a career best et for Adolph in the class and the "Nitro Charger" Team.

Jeff Bennett in the "Pure Heaven" Camaro took the win light over John Powers in the "Powers Steel" Camaro with a 6.314, 216.10 to Powers slower 6.448, 222.77.

Bob Godfrey in the "Burn N Money" Camaro took the win light over Sean Dale in the "Shakey Situation" Charger with a 6.526, 221.89 to Dale's 6.613, 238.26.

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