What a difference a year makes.

To say Kebin Kinsley's Funny Car Chaos Series' Funny Car Classic performance a year ago was a disaster would be an understatement. Kinsley and his "War Wagon" Nitro Funny Car team were plagued with numerous issues at last year's Funny Car Classic from the Texas Motorplex in 2022. Kicking the rods out during the burnout in the first qualifying session on Friday afternoon, added with a small fire in the pits, before finally smoking the tires right at the hit during their final chance to make the show on Saturday. 

Fast forward one year later, Kinsley and his team would right the ship and not only win the battle of taking home a trophy from the Funny Car Classic but also win the War by taking home top honors. Kinsley put together a dominant performance on Saturday evening at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis to capture the 'A' Field title at the third annual Classic and his first Funny Car Chaos victory. 

Joining Kinsley in the winner's circle at the Texas Motorplex was Joey Haas, who took home the honors in 'B' Field action. Ray Stringer outlasted the competition in the 'C' Field, and finally, Alex Barker claimed the title in the 'D' Field. 

Over fifty Funny Cars congregated at the Motorplex for the Funny Car Chaos season opener despite being delayed a week due to inclement weather. From the jump in qualifying, Kebin Kinsley at the wheel of "War Wagon" let it be known he had the car to beat. 

Kinsley sat atop the charts heading into the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon with a stout 3.574 elapsed time at over 229 miles per hour. That is until Mitch King in the "Bone Shaker" Nitro Funny Car was able to steal the top spot away in the final stanza with a blistering 3.563 at over 205 miles per hour. 

However, Kinsley's 3.57 was good enough to qualify him second in the 'A' Field, which would set up a classic Nitro vs. Alcohol matchup in the first round as Kinsely would be rewarded with a date with 2022 Funny Car Chaos Champion Kirk Williams in the opening round late Saturday afternoon. 

 

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Williams was coming off a dominant six-win Funny Car Chaos Championship season in 2022 behind the wheel of his Williams Brothers Racing Pontiac Firebird Alcohol Funny Car. He knew he had to get a good starting line advantage if he wanted any chance to overthrow Kinsley in "War Wagon" Nitro burner. Unfortunately, Williams would leave the line .008 of a second too soon, turning on the redlight and automatically handing the win to Kinsley, who blistered the eight-mile with a sizzling sub-three-and-a-half second pass, running a stout 3.499 at over 228 miles per hour. 

Julie Nataas in the Randy Meyer prepared injected nitro Funny Car was Kinsley's next opponent in the semifinals. Nataas, from the No. 3 qualifier position, proved to be a formidable foe as she got the jump on Kinsley on the starting line and was ahead once they got past the sixty-foot mark. Unfortunately, the Randy Meyer Racing driver would get out of shape not long after and crossed the center line, coasting down the dragstrip in the opposite lane in which she started, handing the win to Kinsley, who advanced into the final round with a stellar 3.558 at over 224 miles per hour. 

The final round in the 'A' field on Saturday night under the lights would feature another classic Nitro vs. Alcohol matchup as Kinsley squared off against 2021 Funny Car Classic winner Kyle Smith. Smith defeated Lyle Greenberg in the opening round in a battle of the two previous Funny Car Class 'A' Field winners. Then Smith got around Jeff Cameron, who finished third in the Funny Car Chaos championship points in 2022 to advance into another final round at the Funny Car Classic. Ironically it was a nitro burner that Smith defeated in the final round to take home the victory in the Classic two years ago, upsetting Del Worsham in the "Worsham and Fink" tribute car, who by far had the best car all weekend long. 

Unfortunately, lightning would not strike twice for Smith as he got the advantage on the starting line against Kinsley, but the "big bad" nitro burner proved too much. Kinsley blazed the eighth mile with header flames high in the sky, stopping the clocks in the final round with low e.t. of the event at 3.446 at over 231 miles per hour to Smith's 3.613 at 208 to take home the Funny Car Classic win in the 'A' Field. 

"YEAH, BABY," Kinsley exclaimed. "What a blast today. Thanks to Chris Graves and everybody for putting on an awesome race. It's home base for me, the Motorplex. Thank you, Billy (Meyer), for everything you've done for racing."

Kinsley's win on Saturday night also marked the first time a "big show-esque" Nitro Funny Car conquered either the Funny Car Classic or the Championship Finals at the Texas Motorplex. 

Much like Kinsley's performance in the 'A' Field on Saturday night, it would be all nitro all the time in 'B' Field action as well. Joey Haas, behind the wheel of his fourth generation Camaro Nitro Funny Car, dubbed "Nimrod," just missed out on qualifying for the 'A' Field with a 3.683, but it would, in turn, give him the No. 1 starting position in the 'B' Field bracket. 

Haas opened up eliminations taking care of business against "Nitro Nick" Poloson, covering the eighth mile in 3.585 seconds at over 184 miles per hour to Poloson's 5.435 at over 89 miles per hour to secure a spot in the final four of the 'B' Field.  

Haas faced another formidable opponent in the semifinals, squaring off against Chuck Loftin in the "Nitro Psycho" machine. However, after a lengthy oil down from the previous pair of cars and the track now covered in complete darkness, Haas would have his hands full as he was on and off the throttle multiple times, smoking the tires and trying to get his car to recover. After multiple attempts, Haas finally got the car to rehook and scored the round win as Loftin was having trouble in the other lane. Haas stopped the clocks at 5.138 seconds at over 163 miles per hour to Loftin's 8.965 at 65 miles per hour, and Haas would wave the nitro flag heading into the final round.

Just like in the 'A' Field final, it would be another one of those classic Nitro vs. Alcohol matchups with Joey Haas set to do battle against the "Man O War 2" alcohol-burning machine driven by Shayne Lawson. Lawson defeated Christine Chambless and Aaron Morrow in the first two rounds of competition as he looked to pull off the upset in the final round against Haas. But once again, the "big bad" nitro machine proved too much. Haas charged through the darkness at the Motorplex, tying low e.t. of the meet at 3.446 seconds and added a blistering speed of over 247 miles per hour to go with it, capping off the win in style. Lawson ran a strong 3.794 at over 189 miles per hour in the final. But Haas, who was 0-2 in Funny Car Chaos final rounds previously, finally scored his first victory, as the saying "the third time is the charm" rang true in Ennis.

"For us to run four runs in a day in this fuel car, and my guys are just phenomenal. I wish my wife and my kid were here, but I'm sure they're watching," Haas said. "I've runner-ed up twice, so the Nimord 2 is what it took to put it in the final and win, so I appreciate it.

"As a family, we don't plan to quit. It's not a hobby; it has just eaten us up, so we are here to stay. I'll drive anything I feel comfortable in, and this has felt real comfortable this weekend and my guys just gave me an awesome car."

 

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The 'C' Field final featured a pair of nitro-burning Chevrolets as Anthony Whitfield in the 4th generation Chevy Camaro with the small-block Chevy powerplant named "Mighty Mouse," took on Ray Stringer campaigning the big-block Chevrolet on nitro in his 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass dubbed "Blown Centless."

It would be all Stringer in the final round as he got the starting line advantage, and Whitfield struck the tires right at the hit of the throttle. Whitfield did a masterful job of getting the car to rehook instantly, but once he looked up, Stringer was long gone as he led wire to wire to take home the win in the 'C' Field. 

"That was such an awesome deal," Stringer said. "My guys had to put a piston in this between rounds. They knocked it out without leaks, and she made it to the final. She even knocked the tires loose before the lights, and that's why I think the e.t. was down a little bit. What an awesome deal. I had so much fun tonight.

"Chris Graves, Terra, everything they've done. Such a good time. Everyone needs to come and experience this. Thanks to everybody who helps me on this car. It means so much to us. Finally, put one together."

A full-circle moment for Stringer, who competed at the first Funny Car Chaos race in 2017 and captured his first Funny Car Chaos victory on the biggest stage.  

The future of Funny Car Chaos racing was on full display in the 'D' Field final on Saturday night at the Motorplex as two young lions squared off for the trophy and the money. In his beautiful "Back in Black" 1970 GTO, Alex Barker took on Jade Cook in the yellow centrifugal supercharged Dodge Daytona named "Nemesis."

We were treated to a mini pedal fest in the final as both drivers ran into trouble immediately when the light turned green. Barker was able to get his car to recover first as the driver of the "Back in Black" Funny Car took home his third Funny Car Chaos victory, keeping his perfect final round record intact and finishing the night with a 5.034-second pass at over 166 miles per hour to Jade Cooks 5.726 at 153. 

"Texas Motorplex. I just need to keep coming back here and forget going anywhere else. I've been doing great here," Barker said. 

 

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"We thought the starting line was going to be a little bit tighter (in the final) like it was in round two, but with the temperatures dropping tonight, it just got a little chilly, so it was definitely a pedal fest to the end, but luckily mine stuck the tire and kept going."

Outlaw Fuel Altereds were also on display at the Funny Car Classic, as twelve of the baddest Fuel Altereds in the country showed up at the Texas Motorplex utilizing a Chicago-style format to determine the final round matchup of Saturday night. Two accomplished Outlaw Fuel Altered drivers faced off in the money round, pitting Jimmy Jones at the wheel of the Texas Tremor against John Broussard at the wheel of Purple Maze.

Broussard hoped to bring the trophy back with him to his home state of Louisiana, but the trophy would stay in its rightful place in Texas as Jones, whose car made a hard right towards the wall just after he left the starting line, was able to hold and take the win, running a 4.003 at 186 to Broussard's 4.026 at 173. 

Funny Car Chaos returns to action April 14-15th from State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.