Dirt
Chris Graves leads Funny Car
Chaos to steady growth
By Craig Cook
W
hen it comes to putting the
“fun” back in Funny Car rac-
ing, 36-year-old promoter Chris
Graves is leading the charge. His
Funny Car Chaos tour has exploded onto the
drag racing scene in just three short years. From
Thursday night pre-parties to qualifying under
the lights, the event has expanded from just one
race in 2017 to a seven-event series this year, com-
plete with a points championship.
It’s a success story the Texas native didn’t neces-
sarily see coming. “The first race was some-thing
I was just planning on doing every fall at North
Star Dragway,” Graves says. “But things quickly
escalated after that race, as far as racetrack in-
terest from other people, and racers giv-ing me
feedback that they’d like to do more.”
The tour has expanded beyond Texas, with
events also held in Missouri, Illinois and Michi-
gan. And while NHRA continues to struggle fill-
ing their field of nitro floppers, Funny Car Chaos
rou-tinely sees car counts in the mid-20s.
Two major factors play into this, the first being
a wide-open rule set. “We don’t enforce any rules
on performance, engine combinations, blower
size, magnetos…it’s run what you brung,” Graves
says. “And it’s run what you brung on body style.
You can have a 2019 Ford Mustang, or you can
have a 1967 Camaro. It’s not a cookie cutter deal.
You’re not seeing cars that look the exact same
every pair.”
The second aspect is a truly unique points
system. Funny Car Chaos qualifies a 16-car field,
but breaks them down into an eight-car “A” field
for the quickest eight drivers, and an eight -car
“B” field for spots 9-16. Racers in both fields
can accumulate the same amount of points,
how-ever, allowing everyone to compete for a
championship.
“Separating the field into two groups kind of
helps separate that performance gap you create
when you allow a nitro car with two mags to go run
against a guy with a big-block Chevrolet,” Graves
says. “It equals out, and ends up being some re-
ally good, unpredictable racing. It’s more exciting
for the fans, and it’s more exciting for the racers.”
In short, Graves wants everybody to have a
place to race. “I knew of a bunch of cars that were
ready to go, sitting in the trailer with nowhere to
go because they don’t fit a strict, four- or five-page
rulebook,” Graves says. “We let them run what
they already have. Because they built it the way
they wanted to build it. It gave a home for a lot
of people that had no home.”
One of the drivers that has found a home is
former Pro Mod racer Brandon Lewis. After com-
peting mainly in the Midwest Pro Mod series
last year, Lewis sold his ’57 Chevy in favor of a
nostalgia nitro Funny Car. His team and their
‘69 Camaro, nicknamed the “Attitude Adjuster,”
have seen nearly instant success, sitting second
in points after winning back-to-back events in
the “A” field.
“Chris has always put on awesome events, ca-
tered to the racers and just made it absolutely a
blast,” Lewis says. “This has been the best year in
probably the last three years racing, that we’ve
just had fun at the racetrack.”
There’s much more to the Chaos than just
Funny Cars, though. A large group of supporting
clas-ses, including slingshot dragsters, altereds
and index classes, fill the pits – led by the Dirty
South Gassers.
“They are our number one partner,” Graves says.
“Having the gassers out there between the Funny
Cars, doing their wheelstands and burnouts, it’s
just a perfect fit.”
Despite the success, Graves doesn’t want to
expand too quickly, saying he’d prefer to crawl be-
fore he walks, and walk before he runs. However,
more dates and locations – including the East
Coast – could be possible in the future.
“We’re definitely going to grow next year. I’ve
already got five tracks calling and wanting to do
something,” Graves says. “You just gotta keep
it at a steady pace of growth. We’re giving fans
something different. It’s a full day of non-stop,
exciting, unique, visually appealing drag racing
entertainment. And when the racers get treated
right, and they have fun and get paid decent
money, they’ll come back.”
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Issue 147
Organizing ‘Chaos’