Pete Kaiser, KFR Top Fuel Team Take Tulsa Nitro Nationals Title at Famoso Dragstrip
With the fifth stop on the NHRA Heritage Top Fuel series postponed until 2025, the Tulsa Nitro Nationals, Blake Bowser and the team at Famoso Dragstrip stepped up to host this year’s event as a race within the race at the California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports.
With two qualification sessions and 13 Top Fuel entries in the pits for an eight-car field, one thing was assured: this event was going to be a wild one as the fastest front-motored machines from all over the U.S. were here to battle it out for the Tulsa title.
In the Top Fuel Final, Pete Kaiser ran a blistering 5.69 at 257 MPH to take the title over Tyler Hilton’s 5.98 at 197 MPH and claim the KFR’s first-ever Top Fuel title.
Tyler Hilton and the Great Expectations III team rolled into Famoso with the points lead and their third straight Top Fuel championship virtually clinched. Pete Kaiser and the KFR team came to Famoso sitting number two in the points standings in search of a breakthrough event after three straight semi-final losses on the NHRA Heritage series six-stop tour.
Straight off the trailer in Thursday’s test and tune session, Kaiser stormed to his year-best E.T., a 5.61 at 259 mph. After two rounds of qualifying, the field was set, with Kaiser and Tyler Hilton leading the way with a 5.73 and 5.77, respectively.
Bryan Hall and the Nomad team, semifinalists at the Redding event, sat third with a one-shot down-the-track effort, netting a stout 5.80. Michael Hilton, the brother of the Great Expectation’s tuner extraordinaire, Bobby Hilton, held down the bump with a 6.03 for his first big go-west event attempt at Famoso.
In round one, Kasier looked race ready with the KFR machine, dispatching Michael Hilton with a great 5.73. Tyler Hilton answered with a razors edge victory over Michigan’s hard charging Shawn Bowen in the Violator entry, 5.770 over Bowens’ right there 5.776. Brendan Murry, the living front-motored legend, who laid down a jaw-dropping 5.95 to qualify was beaten by Bryan Hall. Adam “the Green Light Bandit” Sorokin lived up to his reputation, and laid a .058 holeshot and a 5.91 to beat Bret Williamson’s quicker 5.86.
Come round two, it was Kaiser and Tyler Hilton with big E.T. victories. The KFR team busted a 5.72 to take out a game Adam Sorokin in the Champion Speed Shop entry, while Hilton ran an impressive 5.67 to end Bryan Hall’s title run.
The battle the Top Fuel world has waited eight months to finally see, the titanic showdown between number one and number two, was set. So as the shadows grew long late Saturday afternoon, the Tulsa Nitro Nationals finalists at the patch rolled into the burnout box. The champ and the No. 1 contender would finally go mano a mano.
Tyler Hilton and the Great Expectations team won their third straight NHRA Heritage Top Fuel points crown with a first-round win.
Tyler Hilton, with the 2024 championship locked up in earlier rounds, and Pete Kaiser would finally give the fans what they wanted to see. At the hit, Hilton was away first on a decent holeshot, but Kaiser reeled him at the 1,000-foot mark and stormed to his first KFR racing title. A clean 5.69 at 257 mph did the trick as the Hilton team trailed with a 5.98 at 197 mph.
While they would both be back the very next day to get after it again, for this day, Pete Kaiser, the terminal contender, took it to the champ and emerged with a well-deserved W.
Towing all the way from Ohio, Michael Hilton was one of the few cars to get down the track in qualifying round one. His 6.03 would stand as the bubble spot.
Frank McBee Jr. put up a 6.35 in the final qualifying session for the rescheduled Tulsa at Famoso Top Fuel meet. The car just missed the eight-car field at the unlucky ninth spot.
Long-time Top Fuel runner Brendan Murry ran a fantastic 5.95 in the final qualifying session for Tulsa to grab the No. 6 spot.
Bryan Hall passed on Q1 to save it all for a last ditch, one shot down the 1320. Hall’s 5.80 was good for the third spot, making it to the semifinals for the second race in a row.
The barnburner in round one, Tyler Hilton and Shawn Bowen in the Violator team out of Michigan, ran side by side 5.77’s with Hilton’s 5.770 taking down Bowen’s 5.776.
Austin “Double A” Arnerich made his Top Fuel debut in the Davis team entry at Famoso’s test and tune. The team and car looked great all weekend during its shakedown runs.
This story was originally published on October 30, 2024.
The post Pete Kaiser, KFR Top Fuel Team Take Tulsa Nitro Nationals Title at Famoso Dragstrip first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
