Anaheim, CA — The recent NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion was a real dog fight, as 38 Nostalgia Funny Cars battled for the coveted 16 qualified spots. But defending event champion, Kris Krabill, was ready for the challenge behind the butterfly wheel of Gary Turner’s striking “Pedaler” Plymouth Arrow. When qualifying had wrapped up, Kris found himself in the ninth position, which is uncharacteristic for this veteran team. Krabill noted, “We had a few minor issues crop up during qualifying, but we still put up a 5.885/243.50 shot.” After the final session, this event featured the first all 5-second Nostalgia Funny Car field in history.
In round one, Kris dispatched the Van Gundy & Clark “Quarter Pounder” with another 5.88-second charge and between rounds; it was business as usual with routine maintenance needed for their next match-up.
In round two, Krabill was on his game at the green light, recording a .055-second reaction time against Mark Hentges’ .148 in Bucky Austin’s Arrow. Kris noted, “I was ahead of him the whole way. Then at about 1,100 feet, it just blew up. We suffered a crankshaft failure, which caused the whole clutch assembly to spin in the bellhousing. The supercharger pitched sideways, it oiled me in, and it also broke the transmission. That was a wild ride.”
Initial inspection indicated the transmission was held in by only one bolt. But had that let go; it would have spun uncontrollably inside the cockpit, causing much more damage. Kris added, “This is just one of those things you go through when you drive a Funny Car. We’ll take plenty of time going over our whole engine combination to find out exactly what caused this whole chain of events. That was a tough way to go out, but it could have been a lot worse. All together, 2010 had plenty of bright spots, so we’ll focus on those as we move forward.”
* Follow Pedaler Racing on Facebook. Go to the Fan Page for Pedaler Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car, featuring photos, info and more. Pedaler Racing sends a sincere thanks to the following associate sponsors for their continued support throughout the season: Darton Sleeves, Torco Racing Oils, Airheart Sales, M/T Tires, Permatex, Pro Nitro, and Larry Miller Honda.