When Shayne Lawson showed up to Mo-Kan Dragway in Asbury, Missouri for the Funny Car Chaos Championship Finals August 30-31, he knew he needed everything to go right to win the 2024 points championship. And that’s exactly what happened.
A runner-up finish to Lance Van Hauen in the ‘A’ Field, combined with early exits from his closest competitors, earned Lawson his very first FCC championship by the slimmest of margins – a one-point advantage over Kirk Williams.
“Certain things had to fall in line, and they did fall in line,” Lawson said. “At the end of the day, the good Lord blessed us with a championship. We may have lost the battle, but we won the whole war, and this one counts.”
Lawson entered the Championship Finals in third place, seven points behind Williams and four back of Wayne Hoffman. When rain forced the cancellation of all racing Friday night, and Lawson’s Man O’ War II Mustang funny car shut off roughly 250 ft. into his run during the first qualifying session on Saturday, the pressure was on. On his final qualifying attempt, Lawson ran a 3.868 to bump into the ‘A’ Field at No. 6, setting up a season-defining first round matchup against Williams.
Lawson made his best pass of the weekend, running a 3.768 at 200.71 mph. Williams, meanwhile, went -.004 red, giving Lawson the opening he desperately needed. When Hoffman fell in the second round of the ‘B’ Field, Lawson could sense the title was nearly his.
“The stars were lining up, but I kept telling everyone, ‘We can’t count our chickens before they hatch,’” said Lawson. “Once we got past the semi’s, we were in pretty good shape. And we all stayed up there to see what happened with Wayne. When he got put out, that was a huge relief. At that point, I told everyone I thought it was done as long as we took the tree [in the finals].”
In the final round, Lawson unfortunately had a .110 reaction time – his worst of the weekend – and while he ran a 3.799, he lost on a holeshot to Van Hauen’s slower 3.812. While Lawson admitted he was initially upset with himself, the ensuing championship celebration with his team in the winner’s circle quickly made up for it.
Making Lawson’s championship run even more impressive is the unique structure to the FCC format, which creates incredibly close points battles. Depending on car-count, the qualified fields are broken down into three or four 8-car groups, with each field earning the same amount of points. In Lawson’s case, despite defeating Lawson in round one, he could only watch and wait to see Hoffman’s fate in the ‘B’ Field.
“It’s stressful, because everybody’s in different fields,” Lawson said. “They’re able to accrue the same amount of points that we can. There’s so many scenarios that can happen with the structure; but I like the fact that your budget doesn’t matter. Anyone can win a championship, which is why it’s so appealing to everybody. On the same token, when you’re running for a championship, it’s like, ‘Ugh, I need someone to take him or her out.’ You can’t do anything about it when they’re in a different field.”
Helping Lawson fulfill his quest for a championship was Ken Singleton, who won back-to-back-to-back FCC championships from 2019-2021. After suffering a horrific crash in 2022, Singleton joined Lawson’s team later that same year, and has tuned the Man O’ War II full-time the past two seasons. That championship pedigree quickly paid dividends this season.
“He’s had a huge effect,” said Lawson. “He told me from the get-go, ‘You’re not far off,’ which made me feel good. When he came in, I flat-out asked him, ‘What do I need to do to win a championship?’ And I did exactly what he told me I needed to do – from a new car to the latest and greatest cylinder heads. He’s been a huge asset. He’s just got the tune-up figured out in this series. I can make the thing run, but I can’t make it run like he does. And that’s what it takes to go to the next level.”
With the 2024 championship secured, don’t expect Lawson or his team to slow down any time soon. He knows Singleton has three-peated as FCC champion, and he’d like to join the club – with Singleton also doing it again, this time as a tuner.
“I’ve already been on the phone and we’re getting stuff going,” Lawson said. “We’re upgrading things to improve the program, looking at what we need to do for the next year or two to defend this deal. I would love to repeat what Ken’s done. We’ll be out there ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”
This story was originally published on September 5, 2024. 
