One the the Craziest Top Alcohol Funny Car Finishes… Never Give Up!

Last year at the NHRA tour stop in Sonoma, we saw DHL Funny Car driver JR Todd come thundering from several hundred feet behind Jack Beckman to pass him at the finish line and win in the NHRA’s #12 most memorable moment of the season.

We may have witnessed one of 2018’s most memorable moments at last weekend’s Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, IL and it played out in similar, if not slightly more dramatic fashion. This race had the added bonus of being announced by my friend Brian Lohnes, whom I chose as my answer when I was recently posed with the question “If you could choose any celebrity to narrate your life story, who would it be?”

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Lohnes for a few years now and he always knows exactly what to say and how to say it, so to hear him almost at a loss for words while this drama was playing out on track shows you just how intense this moment was. Of course, showing his professionalism and calm under pressure, Brian did manage to find the words to commentate the race between these two alcohol funny cars as is unfolded, and all of that made for a hell of a good time! Let me set the stage for you and then I’ll let Brian take over and talk you through he madness.

In the near lane, Phil Burkhart is driving the Permatex funny car, lined up alongside Chris Hool in his SK Tools flopper. As the drivers bump into the staging beams and bring up the RPM’s, Lohnes takes over and gives the play by play as the cars are both on and off the throttle. There’s severe tire shake and early chute deployments and a MPH differential that has to be triple digits.

Hit that play button and check it out for yourself, it’s well worth the 36 seconds it takes to watch from beginning to end.

https://www.facebook.com/NHRA/videos/10156544778661410/