Austin & Kohlmann Make Moves at Mo-Kan!
The DMP Awnings NITRO CHAOS Championship tour charged into Smokin' Mo-Kan Dragway to headline the facility's 63rd Anniversary event on July 18-19th. This event marked the fourth of five events on the championship tour and a heated points battle had developed coming into Mo-Kan. Dave Hill and the "Mad Max" AA/FC team had a slight four point lead over John Umlauf's "Mass Chaos" AA/FA team with Brian Inouye, Cody Austin, James Gilliland and Garry Wheeler Jr all within just fifteen points of each other. Needless to say, this was a big event for those hunting precious DMP Awnings points in hopes of being crowned a Nitro Chaos champion.
With qualifying complete, Jake Sanders came into the McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field leading the sheets with a 3.74 at 209 mph in the "Menace" Outlaw Top Fuel Dragster and James Gilliland wheeled Dale "Lurch" Wilkens' "Psycho Too" AA/Fuel Altered to the top spot in the CP-Carrillo 'B' Field with a 4.43 at 119 mph. Those top qualifying positions didn't help in eliminations as both teams took surprising first round losses.
In a monster first round match-up, the number one and two teams in points, Hill and Umlauf, found themselves paired up and the results of this pair could tell the tale of the championship title at the end of the season. Hill was off the line with a strong .039 reaction time but at half-track things got wild as the "Mad Max" fuel flopper started making a move to the wall and then spinning the tires, sending Hill wildly across the centerline at the top end. Thankfully, Hill was able to gather it up safely, but his first round loss to Umlauf opened the door for his competition to make big moves in the points chase.
As eliminations continued, another exciting story was developing in the CP-Carrillo 'B' Field as Paul Schultz had wheeled Rick Taylor's "Nitro Monkey" injected nitro dragster to the final round to take on first time finalist Brian Kohlmann in the Jerry Newman tuned "Street Fuel Coupe" from Wisconsin. In that final, Kohlmann's car was having fuel system issues and was struggling to stay running as it pulled into the stage beams. As the ambers dropped, Schultz turned on the red light making Kohlmann the automatic winner. Not the heads up, side by side final we had hoped for, but none the less a big win for a dedicated team and fan favorite of Nitro Chaos. Congratulations to both teams on a strong effort at Mo-Kan.
In McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field final round action, Cody Austin, who had knocked out top qualifier Jake Sanders and 2023 Nitro Chaos Champion Garry Wheeler Jr, found himself paired with John Umlauf Jr who had knocked out Dave Hill and Anthony Whitfield in route to the last dance at Mo-Kan.
The cars backed up from their burnouts and crews made their final adjustments as the cars were guided into the staging beams. Both pre-stage bulbs were on and then it got fun as neither driver wanted to stage first. After an exciting staging battle, Umlauf decided to stage first and then left Austin sitting at the starting line with a huge reaction time advantage. Despite his lead at the hit, Umlauf's fuel altered ran out of steam at the top end and his 3.90 at only 147 mph allowed Austin to drive around him with a 3.67 at 204 mph as team "BushWhacker" took the win and erupted in celebration on the starting line.
In a thrilling evening of eliminations at Mo-Kan Dragway, the points battle got a big shake up and John Umlauf will carry a one point lead over Cody Austin into the Twisted Shifterz Nitro Chaos Championship Finals at Midstate Dragway in Havana, Illinois on October 3-4th. Dave Hill, Garry Wheeler and James Gilliland are now twenty points out of the top spot and only separated by three points themselves, as the battle for final positions in the top five will be fun to watch. As we saw in Mo-Kan, anything can happen and big points swings can be made with just one upset in the first round of eliminations. The pressure is on and the excitement is building for the final event of the DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos Championship Tour and we look forward to seeing you...at the CHAOS!
With qualifying complete, Jake Sanders came into the McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field leading the sheets with a 3.74 at 209 mph in the "Menace" Outlaw Top Fuel Dragster and James Gilliland wheeled Dale "Lurch" Wilkens' "Psycho Too" AA/Fuel Altered to the top spot in the CP-Carrillo 'B' Field with a 4.43 at 119 mph. Those top qualifying positions didn't help in eliminations as both teams took surprising first round losses.
In a monster first round match-up, the number one and two teams in points, Hill and Umlauf, found themselves paired up and the results of this pair could tell the tale of the championship title at the end of the season. Hill was off the line with a strong .039 reaction time but at half-track things got wild as the "Mad Max" fuel flopper started making a move to the wall and then spinning the tires, sending Hill wildly across the centerline at the top end. Thankfully, Hill was able to gather it up safely, but his first round loss to Umlauf opened the door for his competition to make big moves in the points chase.
As eliminations continued, another exciting story was developing in the CP-Carrillo 'B' Field as Paul Schultz had wheeled Rick Taylor's "Nitro Monkey" injected nitro dragster to the final round to take on first time finalist Brian Kohlmann in the Jerry Newman tuned "Street Fuel Coupe" from Wisconsin. In that final, Kohlmann's car was having fuel system issues and was struggling to stay running as it pulled into the stage beams. As the ambers dropped, Schultz turned on the red light making Kohlmann the automatic winner. Not the heads up, side by side final we had hoped for, but none the less a big win for a dedicated team and fan favorite of Nitro Chaos. Congratulations to both teams on a strong effort at Mo-Kan.
In McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field final round action, Cody Austin, who had knocked out top qualifier Jake Sanders and 2023 Nitro Chaos Champion Garry Wheeler Jr, found himself paired with John Umlauf Jr who had knocked out Dave Hill and Anthony Whitfield in route to the last dance at Mo-Kan.
The cars backed up from their burnouts and crews made their final adjustments as the cars were guided into the staging beams. Both pre-stage bulbs were on and then it got fun as neither driver wanted to stage first. After an exciting staging battle, Umlauf decided to stage first and then left Austin sitting at the starting line with a huge reaction time advantage. Despite his lead at the hit, Umlauf's fuel altered ran out of steam at the top end and his 3.90 at only 147 mph allowed Austin to drive around him with a 3.67 at 204 mph as team "BushWhacker" took the win and erupted in celebration on the starting line.
In a thrilling evening of eliminations at Mo-Kan Dragway, the points battle got a big shake up and John Umlauf will carry a one point lead over Cody Austin into the Twisted Shifterz Nitro Chaos Championship Finals at Midstate Dragway in Havana, Illinois on October 3-4th. Dave Hill, Garry Wheeler and James Gilliland are now twenty points out of the top spot and only separated by three points themselves, as the battle for final positions in the top five will be fun to watch. As we saw in Mo-Kan, anything can happen and big points swings can be made with just one upset in the first round of eliminations. The pressure is on and the excitement is building for the final event of the DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos Championship Tour and we look forward to seeing you...at the CHAOS!
EVENT PHOTO GALLERY
FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER
McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field Results
CP Carrillo 'B' Field Results
EVENT WINNERS
McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field - Cody Austin
CP-Carrillo 'B' Field - Brian Kohlmann
McKinney Motorsports 'A' Field - Cody Austin
CP-Carrillo 'B' Field - Brian Kohlmann
