The 28th edition of Funny Car Fever roared into Sacramento Raceway for the second straight year under the direction of Lisa and Lee Paul Jennings' 619 Promotions. The race was preceded by a brief spring storm that chugged through the Sacramento Valley early Friday. Although menacing cumulo-nimbus clouds darted across the sky all day Friday, the threat of rain never materialized. Yet, Mother Nature's presence was felt long after the weather front had passed on. Though the track had been prepped for the big race, it never came around on Friday, making life miserable for the nitro funny car teams. Q1 went off as scheduled at 4:00 P.M. Friday, but after assessing the dismal results from that session, Q2 (originally scheduled for 7:00 PM Friday) was postponed until 12:00 Saturday. The times improved, but it was still a quirky and problematic session for most of the teams. Unfettered by this temperamental track were Mendy Fry and Kris Krabill, who paced qualifying with a pair of 6.0s.

QUALIFIERS

1. Mendy Fry McCain's Bomb Squad 6.003-235.60
2. Kris Krabill Pedaler 6.008-242.78
3. John Powers Power's Steel 6.213-224.07
4. Mike Savage Candies & Hughes 6.325-215.37
5. Garrett Bateman Plueger & Gyger 6.784-149.01
6. Leah Pruitt-LeDuc Holy Toledo 7.230-147.06
7. Mark Sanders Mr. Explosive 7.282-216.64
8. Josh Crawford 7.660-110.70
9. Michael Halstead Nitro Charger 7.674-203.24
10. Steve Nichols Mill Road Boys 7.995-106.80
11. Bucky Austin Northwest Hitter 8.230-109.23
12. Sean Dale Revellution 9.464-133.95
13. Jim Adolph 10.113-78.75
14. Dennis LaCharite Back in Black 10.118-81.60

ELIMINATIONS

Can you say, "One lane drag strip; I think you can". Simply stated, if one had a nostalgia funny car and got placed in the left lane, they lost. Not a single competitor won a round of eliminations from the left lane. On the other hand, the right lane was a totally different story. Those fortunate to have lane choice, marched down the right lane with verve and swagger. A total of (7) five second runs were recorded from the right lane, including Garrett Bateman's track record 5.816 in the Plueger-Gyger entry. Bateman, who made an impressive debut in the Plueger-Gyger Mustang at the March Meet, did his best "Bucky Austin" imitation, winning Funny Car Fever handily. Fans will never know if Kris Krabill could have duplicated his 2008 feat when he beat a dominant Bucky Austin in the final. This year, the scenario was similar with the unrelenting and punishing bully in Bateman up against the cool and smooth Krabill. But, engine carnage prevented Kris from taking up that challenge, and Garrett toasted the crowd with a complimentary blast from the right lane that both rattled the tires and the ears.

Photos by: Steven C. Wallace, Tim Hanaseth and Stephen Justice. Story by Stephen Justice.

Prior to eliminations Saturday evening, 619 Promotions Lee Paul and Lisa Jennings held an awards ceremony.

Grand Marshall this year was be “Fast Jack” Beckman. He piloted the “American Revolution” Nitro Funny Car... sort of. He decided to come out and play with the nostalgia guys on his off weekend from his regular job. Beckman drives for Don Schumacher in the Vavoline/MTS NHRA Nitro Funny Car. Mail Terminal Services (MTS) were in the American Revolution pit with postcards on hand for spectators to fill out free of charge. All post cards were sent to troops overseas.

With regular driver Lee Paul Jennings heading up the event, they thought it would be a good publicity move to put NHRA star "Fast Jack" Beckman in the Jennings American Revolution car.

On second thought -- on his first pass in the car on Friday Jack got a little pedal happy and before he knew it was on a very wild ride.

Finally stopping belly up Beckman emerged unscathed but quite embarrassed. Not one of his prouder moments. The car, new this season, was a write off.

The event had something for everybody and representing the cacklecars was the Anderson family "Vagabond", the Raynor-Bishop-Herbert restoration and the Burkholder AA/FA. Their presence was two fold. One to enhance Funny Car Fever and to also promote the upcoming Nitro Nite of Fire where no less than a dozen cacklecars will do their thing.

619 Promotions has taken over the Nitro Nite of Fire drag race event at Sacramento Raceway this year. With taking over the event, comes a few exciting changes. First change is bringing in 5 sec. - 240 MPH, NITRO Funny Cars. This event is also a points race for the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series for funny cars only. With the prestige of it being a HRH race, 619 Promotions is expecting a high car count of nitro funny cars competing for a "Wally" trophy.

Another addition, 619 Promotions-Inaugural Cackle Mania! Push start and static start cackle cars. Come and experience watching restored dragsters and Altereds from the past. We don't want to forget to mention the HUGE flames these cackle cars put out from their headers when they are fired up. This will be the first time at Sacramento Raceway to have an exhibition of well over 12 Cackle Mania cars. You are in for a treat...even if your not quiet sure what they are. A must see!

Best fun race all night was LaCharite versus the jet. Dennis is a loser in E1, but always comes back to make more runs (just like March Meet). So, he raced the jet for the hell of it. LaCharite should get some prize for entertaining fans the way he does.

Q2 on Saturday morning found Jim Adolph literally tearing the quarter panel off his new ride at the hit. Tire was in one piece so my guess is tire shake... or a really bad body.

On Saturday night Jessica Anderson was strapped into the Vagabond for a classic push start. Again, a preview of the upcoming 33rd Nitro Nite of Fire.

Mendy Fry ran 5.963 and 5.949 in E1 and E2 and got tossed in the left lane because Bateman ran a 5.816 in E2! Krabill matched Mendy's times with 6.005-5.946-5969 in eliminations but could not return for final. Mention should go to John Powers who ran a 6.035 in E2 and Denny Savage who had the quickest run down the left lane (6.208 in E2 against Bateman). There were only (4) runs under seven seconds in the left lane,

Bateman was supposed to race Krabill in the final, but Kris could not return (blown engine), so Bateman singled recording his forth straight 5.8 time.