Thunder Under The Lites 5 of 5

September 20-21, 2024

Thunder Under The Lites at Redding Motorsports Park

The California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA) finished off their season at Redding Motorsports Park Thunder Under The Lites. Ten funny cars showed up for an 8-car elimination show. Jim Maher was the System One Number one qualifier with a 5.913 on the 5.90 index and he also claimed the CP Carillo Best Package. and Pete Ortiz Jr won the Mike’s Transmission Burnout Contest & qualified number two with a 5.925. Chris Bates, who was driving for Ken & Denise Wynn, took home the control cables longest tow award and qualified 3rd with a 5.993. Breneisen also ran a 5.993 but had a slower MPH so that put him 4th. James Maher, the current CIFCA points leader, only had 1 shot at the track after not being able to back up in qualify session number 1, was able to get into the show at number 5 with a 6.019. Shaun Bryan clocked a 6.196 which put him in the 6th position. Mike Troxel & Jess Gutierrez both struggled a little to get down the track but did just enough to close out the 8-car field. Mark Tarabochia just missed the 8-car field after leaving before the tree was activated in qualifying session number two which led to not getting any time. Which was unfortunate as the race pack showed it would’ve been a low 5.90 pass. Marcus Lawson still working the bugs out on the new car but made some really good progress.  

Final Qualifying Order

1)      Jim Maher                          5.913

2)      Pete Ortiz Jr                       5.925

3)      Chris Bates                       5.993

4)      Ken Breneisen                 5.993

5)      James Maher                    6.019

6)      Shaun Bryan                     6.196

7)      Mike Troxel                        6.310

8)      Jess Gutierrez                  6.395

9)      Mark Tarabochia             6.764

10)  Marcus Lawson               6.855

The first round of eliminations kicked off with Ken Breneisen taking on the rookie of the year, Jess Gutierrez. Breneisen was able to win over Gutierrez as he was off the line first with an .031 and took the stripe with a 6.062. Gutierrez was .081 on the tree and 6.160 just didn’t have enough in the tank to get around Breneisen.  Mike Troxel defeated Chris Bates on a hole shot. Troxel was .113 on the tree to abnormal .310 by Bates. Troxel turned on the win light with a 6.257 over the quicker but losing 6.173. Bates had a transmission line break during the run and had to activate the fire system but was able to get the car stopped safely without injuries. Pete Ortiz Jr did well to get around Shaun Bryan. Ortiz was off the line first .120 to Bryan’s .264 and at the stripe Ortiz clocked a 5.954 over Bryan’s 6.37. The final race, of the first round, was a heavyweight matchup between Jim & James Maher for the CIFCA Championship. Jim went in deep and cut a killer .022 light which won him the Enderle quick reaction time but unfortunately was headed toward the center line and was forced to get off the throttle. James Maher went straight down Broadway and clocked a 6.109 to clinch the 2024 CIFCA Championship!

The semi-final kicked off around sunset between Ortiz & Breneisen. Breneisen had a slight starting line advantage with a .085 light, but Ortiz was right there with .098 and neither driver wanted to go too quick on the index so they both were in and out of the throttle, but Ortiz got the with a 6.089 over Breneisen’s 6.22. On the flip side of the ladder CIFCA veteran Mike Troxel was looking to take down the newly crown champ James Maher. Maher wasn’t going to let Troxel ruin the party as he ran a 6.017 to defeat Troxel’s 6.226.

The final round was between James Maher and Pete Ortiz Jr. Ortiz and Maher last faced off in a final round at Bakersfield in May of 2021. Maher had the starting line advantage with .076 over Ortiz’s .098 and then Ortiz drove around Maher before getting really close to the wall and had to abort the run. Maher took the stripe with a 5.971 over Ortiz’s 6.092 and took home the Thunder Under The Lites Wally!

Thanks to Redding Motorsports Park and Crown Motor for hosting the Thunder Under The Lites! We couldn’t do this without the support of our sponsors Good Vibrations Motorsports, Enderle Fuel Injection, CP Carriillo, Control Cables Inc, Mike’s Transmission, JAZ Products, System 1 Filters & Stith Printing Inc.