The 18th annual Quick Performance World Fuel Altered Nationals, recognized as the “biggest Fuel Altered race in the world,” lived up to every expectation at Eddyville Raceway Park in Oskaloosa, Iowa. The weekend might have been warm, but that didn’t stop some of the best side-by-side racing of super-charged nitro racers battling it out for the coveted championships.
For the third year in a row, John Umlauf of the “Mass Chaos” Racing Fuel Altered team from Rolla, Missouri, stormed to a victory. Umlauf entered this year as the defending ‘B’ Field Champion but raced to an ‘A’ Field victory. Scott Gaulter’s Iowa-based “Nitro Madness,” driven by Roger Lechtenberg, gave the “Mass Chaos” machine a fight in the final round. Umlauf won with a 3.86 E.T. at 185.95 MPH to Lechtenberg’s 3.92 E.T. at 200.89 MPH.
Gregg Teel photo
Reflecting on Umlauf’s performance, Eddyville Raceway Park Track Owner said, “That’s a nitro car they’ve won the ‘A’ Field with two years ago. After a ‘B’ Field win last year, they faced some challenges with qualifying this time. However, they continuously improved with every run down the track.”
He further stated, “They secured the sixth spot in the qualifiers, and from there, they gained momentum. It was an extremely tight finish.”
Paul Appelbaum of Lafayette, Indiana, won the’ B’ Field, defeating “Diamond Don” Wilcox. Appelbaum drove to a 4.51 E.T. at 153.06 MPH when Wilcox laid down a 4.59-second pass at 147.93 MPH.
“[Appelbaum] was the number nine qualifier, making him number one in the ‘B’ Field,” said Kramer. “And again, that was a very, very close race too.”
Kramer confirmed that plans for the 19th annual Quick Performance World Fuel Altered Nationals are in the works.
Lastly, Kramer shared, “It was a little warm. Saturday was the hottest day we’d had for a while. But despite that, we had some really, really good racing.”
This story was originally published on August 24, 2023. 
