Kris Krabill takes NFC Win at SRP’s Funny Car Fever

With his win at Funny Car Fever, Kris Krabill (far) moved up five positions and now sits in the #3 slot
and within range of the leaders; with his runner up finish, Rupert (near) increased his lead over Hale
by 45 points.

There is a new contender for the Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car Championship and his name is Kris Krabill from Anaheim, CA. The former driver for Gary Turner’s Pedaler, now honing his craft for owner Bucky Austin, vaulted all the way to the 3rd position with his win at Sacramento Raceway Park’s Funny Car Fever. Despite triple digit heat for eliminations on Saturday, the NFC’s did not seem affected by it. In fact, defying logic, they ran better on Saturday than on Friday when it was cooler.
One of the reasons for Krabill’s win may have come from the team’s decision to make a run during Friday’s test-n-tune session (he was the only NFC to do so). On that pass, the team elected to run in the less esteemed left lane. The resulting 6.05-242 would give the crew much valuable data should Kris have to face an opponent in that lane.
Friday’s qualifying session was undistinguished with the exception of Kris’ 5.961-241.88 to take the conditional number one position. Points leader Jason Rupert did not run on Friday and John Hale in the Mike Burkhart tribute car over-powered the track and clicked it early. Saturday had a different script despite temperatures spiking upwards to 107 degrees. Hale let it be known that he did not tow all the way from Addison, TX, just to play games. In Q2, John charged to the top of the group with an excellent 5.934-244.34 run. He would be followed by Krabill’s run from Friday and Will Martin’s at 6.049.  Jason Rupert (6.122) and Roger Garten’s War Horse (6.204) rounded out the top five.
NFC QUALIFIERS

The big showdown between number one in points Rupert and number two Hale occurred in round two of eliminations. Deadlocked out of the gate, both drivers did masterful jobs keeping their ‘69 Camaro’s stuck in the groove on this very hot day. At the finish, it was Jason over John with top speed and low e.t. of the meet: 5.885-255.50 to 5.983-215.81. 

Coming into Funny Car Fever, Rupert and Hale led the point standings at number one and two, respectively. Based on their qualifying positions, the two antagonists would meet in round two should they both advance out of E1. At the Rockabilly Reunion contested at Las Vegas in May, Hale prevailed over Rupert to win the event. The first pair out was Hale and Brad Faria. It ended up as a single run for John and he immediately upped the ante for the rest of the teams with what was then low e.t. of the meet—5.915. Unfazed, Rupert responded with a tasty run of 5.966 that easily dispatched Roger Garten’s mount. The stage was now set for another big showdown. Hale had lane choice and put Rupert in the left lane. It did not matter because Jason responded with the top time and low e.t. of the event—5.885-255.50. John was right there, but had to peel back at the very end when the potent Camaro took a fancy to those little orange blocks in the middle of the track. Meanwhile, Krabill was efficiently taking care of business on his side of the ladder. He got by Brad Thomson in E1 and was gifted a single run in round two when Will Martin did not answer the call. With Rupert running low elapsed time of the meet in the semis, Kris knew he would be placed in the tricky left lane. When the moment of truth arrived, both drivers quickly staged. Krabill, a known “leaver”,  got the early jump on Rupert (.055 to .143), and it remained that way to the finish line. Krabill had saved his best run for the final, and his 5.911 was just enough to hold off Rupert’s gallant 5.918.
The Pro Slammers Door Car Association (PSDCA) sponsored by Scrappers Racing was also competing at Funny Car Fever in three classes: Pro Mod, 6.90 Slammers, and 7.60 Slammers. Marc Meadors and his Tim McAmis-built Pure Hell 2 ’69 Camaro has now won all three races this year. At Funny Car Fever, Marc did it with a hole shot over #1 qualifier Bret Williamson. The Danville, Ca. driver got a slight jump over Williamson at the start and just held off Bret by .006 at the finish line—6.273 to 6.264. The 6.90 Slammers also saw a repeat winner when Jerry Jahnsen backed up his Door Car Shootout victory with another title at Funny Car Fever. The local driver had the dominant performance both days. He qualified #1 at 6.966, which was followed up by a string of 6.90s that included a timely 6.929 against 2011 Pro Slammers champ Mike Doushgounian in E2. In the final round, Jerry was paired against the National Open winner Ralph Willis. Willis got the jump off the line (.021 to .053), but Jahnsen had the horsepower to run Willis down in a 6.943 to 7.031 decision. In 7.60 Slammers, Mark Lawson and Rob Patten renewed their yearlong battle for supremacy in the class. At the beginning of the season Patten held the edge. But lately, the momentum has swung over to Lawson. As was the case at the Door Car Shootout contested just two weeks earlier, it was Mark and Rob in the final round. This one ended quickly when Patten went red, gifting Lawson his second win in a row.

Marc Meadors and his Pure Hell 2 ’69 Camaro is batting three for three at SRP this year. The Danville,
Ca. driver has totally dominated the Pro Slammers Pro Mod division. At Funny Car Fever, Marc beat
a very determined Bret Williamson in the final round by a scant .006.
By winning his second race in a row at Funny Car Fever, Jerry Jahnsen (near) has now taken over the points lead in the Pro Slammers 6.90 Slammers class.
Mark Lawson was all smiles in the winner’s circle after posting his second consecutive win in 7.60 Slammers.

The 7.0 Pro Nostalgia Racing Association got a jumpstart to their racing season at Funny Car Fever. Qualifying was led by longtime class stalwart Bob Murphy with his supercharged alcohol-burning Chevy dragster at 7.027. Murphy continued to impress in eliminations running 7.033 in E1, but blew his engine in the semis, ending his weekend. Then, there was Dan Whiteman, who entered more intent on testing a new combination than winning a race. Nonetheless, win he did, and with a hole shot over Don Dicero in the final round.

Dan Whiteman (near) beat some of 7.0 PROs best including Richard Phillips (the 2011 champion) and Bill Windham in E1 and E2, respectively. In the final round, his .046 RT gave the Jackson Ca. driver enough of a cushion to hold off a hard charging Don Dicero.

West Coast Pro Comp, formerly Top Eliminator West (TEW), entered five dragsters along with Jesse Adams driving the Machine Gun Keli funny car. Veteran Butch Stroupe, probably the winningest driver in this eliminator, eked out a close one over the young up-and-coming Makinna Clevenger. Makinna was schooled by Butch at the start, losing a close 6.684 to 6.665 decision.

Butch Stroupe’s winning Pro Comp dragster more resembled a slot car racer with his times of 6.653/6.657/6.684 in eliminations. Oh yes, he also recorded RTs of .018/.021/.022.

The West Coast Pro Gas Association showed up with 42 members competing in five classes. In E/G, John Victorino, reversed his runner up finish at the Door Car Shootout with a win over Chaysse Trimp.  Chuck Adams ran down a quicker leaving David Rudd to win F/G, and Dan Ficher got an automatic win in D/G when Joe Grace fouled out. Jim Finn got dropped in C/G by Chris Rea’s Sun Drop sponsored Nova, and Mike Winston marched to the winner’s circle in B/G over a red lighting Kevin McClain. Local Ed Bradell with his ‘05 Kawasaki 1000 took motorcycle.

Nitro Funny Car Footage by Les Mayhew

DRAG RACE RESULTS
AA/Funny Car
W: Kris Krabill ('76 Arrow) - 5.91, 247.08.
R/U: Jason Rupert ('69 Camaro) - 5.91, 241.88.
Semi's: John Hale; Will Martin.
7.0 Pro
W: Dan Whiteman ('23 Ford) - 7.72, 170.90 (7.00 dial).
R/U: Don Dicero ('23 Ford) - 7.66, 166.59 (7.00 dial).
Semi's: Bob Murphy; Bill Windham.
Pro Mod Slammers
W: Marc Meadors ('69 Camaro) - 6.23, 237.31.
R/U: Brett Williamson ('53 Studebaker) - 6.26, 224.56.
Semi's: Scott Bailey; Troy Ferry.
Pro Comp
W: Butch Stroupe ('92 Dragster) - 6.68, 185.54 (6.60 dial).
R/U: Makinna Clevenger ('03 Dragster) - 6.66, 200.66 (6.60 dial).
Semi's: Steve LaBurn.
Pro Slammers 6.90
W: Jerry Jahnsen ('69 Camaro) - 6.94, 189.78 (6.90 dial).
R/U: Ralph Willis ('59 Corvette) - 7.03, 188.99 (6.90 dial).
Semi's: Justin Wake.
Pro Slammers 7.60
W: Mark Lawson ('00 TransAm) - 7.57, 178.55 (7.60 dial).
R/U: Rob Patten ('63 Corvette) - foul.
Semi's: Karl Whitenhunt.
Drag Bikes
W: Ed Bradell ('05 ZX10R) - 9.93, 138.97 (9.87 dial).
R/U: Ron Alves ('78 Kawasaki) - 10.30, 123.74 (10.31 dial).
Semi's: Allen Plowman.
Pro Gas 8.60
W: Mike Winston ('67 GTO) - 8.59, 156.51 (8.60 dial).
R/U: Kevin McClain ('69 Camaro) - foul.
Semi's: Mike Mossi; Roy Castagnetto.
Pro Gas 9.60
W: Chris Rea ('64 Nova) - 9.60, 136.80 (9.60 dial).
R/U: Jim Finn ('74 Vega) - 8.97, 146.17 (9.60 dial).
Semi's: John Murphy; Darrin Brown.
Pro Gas 10.60
W: Dan Ficher ('64 Fairlane) - 10.66, 123.39 (10.60 dial).
R/U: Joe Grace ('60 Catalina) - foul.
Semi's: Alden Conway; Bill Bertram.
Pro Gas 11.60
W: John Victorino ('73 260Z) - 11.61, 110.11 (11.60 dial).
R/U: Chaysse Trimp ('69 Opel GT) - 11.64, 112.51 (11.60 dial).
Semi's: Steve Cochran; Ken Parks.
Pro Gas 12.60
W: Chuck Adams ('66 Chevelle) - 12.79, 99.33 (12.60 dial).
R/U: David Rudd ('70 Nova) - 12.84, 103.30 (12.60 dial).
Semi's: Doug Rudd; Rob Cannon.

In B/G, nearly half the races ended up as double breakout affairs. Mike Winston managed to tiptoe
around those misdeeds and win the class, all the while caressing the index with 8.6 ETs and RTs that averaged .023.

Chris Rea got the drop on all the competition in C/G. In the final found against Door Car Shootout winner Jim Finn, Chris poured out a crisp 9.603 to take all the pop out of Jim.

Dan Ficher qualified #2 with his ’64 Ford Fairlane in D/G; then, took out a Chevy (Doug Nugent) and a couple Pontiacs (Barbara Winston and Joe Grace) to win the class.

 
Ed Bradell won Motorcycle with his 2005 ZX10R Kawasaki.

Derek Snelson and the Warhawk jet funny car entertained the fans with runs in the 5.30s.