Oct 23-24, 2009

Firebird Funny Car Classic

Following on the heals of the spectacular CHHR the week before The last big race of the year for Nostalgia Funny Cars was the second annual Funny Car Classic at Firebird Raceway In Phoenix. While there was not 32 cars like th Reunion, there were 16 in attendance and they ran two eliminators, an A and a B.

Here is the recap and photos courtesy Nostalgia Funny Car News and Mark King.

The Nitro Funny Car Classic was the last event of the season at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler Arizona. 16 Blown Nitro Funny Cars made the trip to compete one last time before taking off for the winter break. Some traveled from as far as Canada and others from as far as Delaware on the east coast to take a shot at winning the final race of the season. Any worries about the condition of the track were dispelled Friday evening in the first round of qualifying when Josh Crawford reset the track record for the class with his 5.834 @ 245.14. It would not be the last 5 second pass of the event either with 5 other teams posting 5 second passes. Event winner Dennis La Charite reset the track mile per hour record with a 248.75 mph blast in the second round of qualifying.

Building on his final round appearance last weekend at the California Hot Rod Reunion, Josh Crawford in his "Fuel Junky" Ford Mustang stunned the crowd and his competitors by posting a 5.834 @ 245.14. Tim Boychuk is in the second qualifying position with a 5.997 @ 245.15. Nathan Sitko in the "Tachman" Ford Mustang sits in the third position with a 6.003 @ 237.50. Mark Sanders sits in the fourth position with a 6.094 @ 236.17. Bob Godfrey sits in the fifth position with a 6.117 @ 231.75. Lee Paul Jennings sits in the sixth position with a 6.132 @ 231.24.

Saturday Qualifying

Josh Crawford in the "Fuel Junky" Ford Mustang retained his #1 Qualifying Position going into eliminations with his 5.834 @ 245.14. from Friday. Saturday Lee Paul Jennings ran a career best 5.888 @ 245.45. Mike Savage Dennis La Caharite Tim Bochuk and first time in the Five`s Nathan Sitko all improved from their runs Friday.

Here is final qualifying

1. Josh Crawford"Fuel Junky" 5.834 @ 245.14.
2. Lee Paul Jennings"Code Red II" 5.888 @ 245.45.
3.Mike Savage "Candies & Hughes" 5.907 @ 242.63
4. Dennis La Charite "Back In Black" 5.910 @ 248.75
5.Tim Boychuk "Troy Lee Designs" 5.949 @ 245.94
6.Nathan Sitko "Tachman" 5.969 @ 237.59
7.Bob Godfrey "Burn N Money" 6.074 @ 225.15
8.Mark Sanders "Mr. Explosive" 6.094 @ 236.17
9. John Powers "Powers Steel" 6.129 @ 244.21.
10. Steve Nichols "Mill Road Boys" 6.164 @ 227.04.
11.Todd Lesenko "Jolly Roger" 6.252 @ 229.39
12. Mike Halstead "Holy Toledo" 6.729 @ 162.80
13. Sean Dale "Revolution" 6.817 @ 153.51
14. Ron Maroney "Shark Attack" 9.600 @ 86.12
15. John Hale "Mike Burkhart" 11.510 @ 71.30
16. Dale Pulde "War Eagle" 11.774 @ 76.33

 

 

Eliminations

A Field Round 1

#2 Qualifier Lee Paul Jennings in the "Code Red II" Chevrolet Camaro defeated # 7 Qualifier Bob Godfrey in the "Burn N Money" Chevrolet Camaro with a 5.949 @ 246.62 to Godfrey's 6.157 @ 201.28.

#6 Qualifier Nathan Sitko in the "Tachman" Ford Mustang defeated #3 Qualifier Mike Savage in the "Candies & Hughes" Plymouth Barracuda with a 5.969 @ 237.71 to Savage's 6.227 @ 231.04.

#4 Qualifier Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" Pontiac GTO defeated #5 Qualifier Tim Boychuk in the "Troy Lee Designs" Pontiac Firebird with a 6.097 @ 231.87 to Boychuk's on and off the throttle 8.954 @ 101.94.

And in the final pair of the first round Mark Sanders in the "Mr. Explosive" Chevrolet Nova upset #1 Qualifier Josh Crawford in the "Fuel Junky" Ford Mustang with a 5.940 @ 241.32 after Crawford went up in smoke early and had to pedal to a 6.223 @ 231.48.

Round 2 A Field

Mark Sanders in the "Mr. Explosive" Chevrolet Nova defeated Nathan Sitko in the "Tachman" Ford Mustang with a 6.011 @ 233.24 to Sitko's on and off the throttle 7.090 @ 135.61.

Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" Pontiac GTO got loose and clicked it off early and coasted through the lights for the win when Lee Paul Jennings could not make the call after a body malfunction on the top end in round 1 eliminations.

A Final Round

Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" Pontiac GTO beat Mark Sanders in the "Mr. Explosive" Chevrolet Nova in the final round to take the Nitro Funny Car Classic Crown with a 6.188 @ 242.71 over Sanders on and off the throttle 6.980 @ 226.01.

B Field Round 1

John Powers in the "Powers Steel" Chevrolet Camaro defeated Dale Pulde in the "War Eagle" Pontiac Firebird with a 6.150 @ 218.16 to Pulde's 6.273 @ 203.43.

Mike Halstead in the "Holy Toledo" Jeep defeated Todd Lesenko in the "Jolly Roger" Pontiac Firebird with a 6.783 @ 159.82 to an off the pace shut off pass of 13.105 @ 54.05.

Steve Nichols in the "Mill Road Boys" Chevrolet Camaro laid a hole shot on John Hale in the "Mike Burkhart" Chevrolet Camaro with a 6.069 @ 219.86 to Hale's quicker 6.052 @ 211.73.

 

Both Sean Dale's "Revolution" Dodge Challenger and Ron Maroney's "Shark Attack" Chevrolet Corvette were unable to make the call for round 1.

Round 2 B Field

John Powers in the "Powers Steel" Chevrolet Camaro defeated Mike Halstead in the "Holy Toledo" Jeep with a 6.124 @ 240.34 to Halstead's on and off the throttle

Steve Nichols earned the bye run in this round and clicked off a 6.890 @ 140.84.

B Final Round

Steve Nichols in the "Mill Road Boys" Chevrolet Camaro took the B Field Crown when he defeated John Powers in the "Powers Steel" Chevrolet Camaro with a 6.400 @ 220.80 to Powers 5.997 @ 234.33 when Powers turned on the red eye in the final round of the B Field Eliminator.