Words by Darr Hawthorne - Photos by Darr Hawthorne and Stevne Bunker

While the teams of owners Steve Plueger and Gary Turner were slugging it out to see who would own the AA/FC speed record (it eventually went to Leah Pruett-LeDuc in Plueger’s car at an astounding 255.78 MPH) the father and son team of Jake and Mark Sanders concentrated instead on winning the historic Sacramento Raceway’s 29th Funny Car Fever event with their Nova-bodied AA/FC. They did just that with a car that was not only consistent in its performance but never hurt a part all weekend. They beat their faster opponents who were either smoking the tires or grenading an engine while “Mr. Explosive” just went down the track each lap. 

Tuner Jake Sanders gave his driver (his father) a consistent racecar to drive all weekend long. The pair qualifying fifth for the eight-car field with a 6.174/242.91 mph lap and improved to a solid 6.07 and stayed in that range with a 6.10 in the second round and a 6.094/247.57 mph final round pass to take home the trophy. His opponent in the final, Kris Krabill, was unable to answer the call due to a semi-final explosion that not only required a new block be installed but also damaged the fuel tank.

The Sanders’ victory was the Washington-based team’s first AA/FC race win since they came on the scene a couple of years ago.

The record speeds at this event came in part due to track owner Dave Smith’s decision to grind and smooth the historic Northern California starting line track surface, which in recent years has plagued the racers with bumps and traction issues. This year a standing room only crowd witnessed the quickest and fastest runs in the history of the young Nitro Funny Car class.